CULTURE AND THINGS
2021-1
MIDTERM
DR. SEUNG SOO KIM
EXAM QUESTION
Question (30 points):
Think of a few things (1 or 2 things) that have been essential to your
becoming of what you are now. The thing(s) could include infrastructure,
media device, and objects meaning to you or essential to your everyday
life. Discuss how the thing(s) has been shaping what you are now to the
extent it is seen as having a form of agency and subjectivity of its own.
Use the concepts, theories, and/or perspectives that you learnt from this
course to answer the question. Focus on the material, technological, and
formal aspects of the things you discuss, rather than their
contents/messages/meanings if any.
PROCEDURE
Your exam question will be presented on the GUIDE 8 “MID-TERM.” Word limit for the
exam is 2000 words (+/- 200 words). You can get maximum 30 points for this exam.
Please email your answer to your lecturer (punsu0307@gmail.com), no later than
11:59 pm the 6th of October Wednesday. You have about 14 days to answer the question.
Please submit your answer in a Word file. Indicate your name, student id, and the course
name in the title of the Word file.
Ex) Seung Soo Kim_62xxxxxxxx_cultureandthings.doc
Once the question is out, please do not email your lecturer to check whether you have
understood the questions correctly, or whether your answers fit. I can answer such
questions only AFTER the exam. Otherwise, this would compromise the fairness of the
exam.
1
GUIDELINE
The aim of this exam is to check your knowledge of the theories, approaches, and materials
discussed during the seven lectures. You can find all the necessary materials in the relevant
book chapters, articles, and PowerPoints from the Facebook Group
(https://www.facebook.com/groups/cultureandthings2021/learning_content).
The exam is meant to test a number of skills:
First of all, you should be able to summarize and synthesize the class materials learnt in
class to answer the question. This means that I expect you to be able to relate your answer
to my lectures and the assigned readings on them, use correct theoretical terminology, and
relate to the relevant theories/concepts and the people whose work affected the way we think
about the topic.
Secondly, I would like to see that you not only remember the material but also actually
understand it. At the very least, I expect you to paraphrase the text found in the weekly
readings and my lecture slides, and when necessary quote it with appropriate references. You
should not simply copy and paste what’s in the readings and lecture slides. This also means
that you should be able to come up with proper examples, situations, and other forms of
verbal or visual illustrations to demonstrate that you know what you are talking about. You
may come up with the examples already introduced in my lectures, the weekly readings, and
others’ Facebook discussions. But if your examples are not only appropriate but also creative
and on your own, you will get extra scores for your creativity. Please remember that if you
introduce an example, you are expected to fully discuss and develop it at length and not just
mention it in passing, so choose your examples wisely. In this part, I want you to demonstrate
your ability to describe and analyze how things and human beings relate to each other.
EVALUATION CRITERIA
Your exams will be evaluated accordingly.
Below are the basic evaluation criteria for the question you choose (max. 30 points)
Comprehension and
Application of Learned
Materials
(12 points)
Analysis of Concrete
‘object(s)’
(12 points)
Organization of Ideas
and Writing
(6 points)
Your ability to
comprehend, discuss, and
apply the learned theories,
perspectives, and concepts
is:
Your ability to critically
analyze your ‘object(s)’, with
specific details, is
Your ability to
communicate your ideas
with clear writing and
logical and effective
organization is:
12.0 points- Excellent
10.5 points- Very Good
12.0 points- Excellent
10.5 points- Very Good
2
6.0 points- Excellent
(above standard)
9.0 points- Good
(slightly above standard)
7.5 points- Fair
(satisfactory but room for
improvement)
6.5 points – Poor
(below standard)
5.0 points –Very Poor
(significant gap in your
knowledge)
/12.0
Total Score
(above standard)
9.0 points- Good
(slightly above standard)
7.5 points- Fair
(satisfactory but room for
improvement)
6.5 points – Poor
(below standard)
5.0 points –Very Poor
(No specificities and critical
thinking in your reflection at
all)
/12.0
5.25 points- Very Good
(above standard)
4.5 points- Good
(slightly above standard)
3.75 points- Fair
(satisfactory but room for
improvement)
3.0 points – Poor
(below standard)
2.25 points- Very Poor
(failing in communicating
ideas)
/6.0
/30.0
Amazing – 30 points – You’re a star. You have done everything you were asked to do and
more. You have demonstrated excellent critical thinking skills and plenty of creativity that
prove that you not only have the thorough knowledge of the subject but that you truly
understand the topics you have discussed and know how to apply the theories in practice.
Excellent – 27.5 points – Above standard. You have not only thoroughly discussed the topics
but provided plenty of support for your arguments through relevant examples. All your
examples have been discussed in detail and you have demonstrated excellent critical thinking
skills and at least basic creativity in tackling the assignment.
Very Good – 25 points – Slightly above standard. You have successfully discussed the topics
and provided good, comprehensive examples. You have discussed the examples at least
partially demonstrating satisfactory critical thinking skills, although you have not been very
creative in your choice of examples or your general argumentation.
Good – 22.5 points – At 75% this should be seen as the standard level, demonstrating that
you have good, functional knowledge of the topic and have managed to successfully
summarise and synthesize all the relevant information. At the same time, your examples have
been found rather basic or incomplete, you have not discussed them thoroughly and you have
not really shown complex critical thinking or creative thinking skills.
Fair – 20 points – Satisfactory but there’s room for improvement. You have partially
answered the question but you have not addressed all the relevant issues. Your answer is
incomplete with parts of the argument missing, there are few or no examples and your
examples have not been discussed in detail, or your arguments are confusing and go off topic.
You also have not demonstrated much critical thinking skills or creativity.
Poor – 17.5 points – Below standard. You have not answered the question completely and
have not provided sufficient examples to show that you understand the topic. Your
3
arguments are vague, confusing, and difficult to follow, there is no clear argument thread.
You have not demonstrated critical thinking skills and creativity.
Very Poor – 15 points or below – There’s work to be done. Your answers have exposed
significant gaps in your knowledge. You have provided virtually no examples, and it is
unclear whether you actually understand the material. Your arguments are vague, confusing
and hard to understand. You have not demonstrated critical thinking skills and creativity and
at times failed to establish clear logic in your argumentation.
4