I found a bunch of my old midterms the other day. I did really well on midterms in anthropology. This answer earned me full points and a smiley face:

(In answer to “What are Durkheim’s criteria for social facts)

In order to be a social fact, a thing must fit 3 criteria: it must be general, external and have an element of compulsion. That is, it must be observable in multiple individuals, be an idea which was generated outside of those individuals, and be something which those individuals, in some sense, are forced to do. Midterms are excellent examples of social facts.

Now that I’ve marked lots of midterms, I can say with reasonable surety that this is exactly what one should strive for in a short answer. It is coherent, it’s short, it answers the question, it’s short, and it causes the marker to smile (and it’s short).

Did I mention that short answers should be short?

Filed under: Teaching Anthropology