8th grade test from 1895

 Eighth Grade Graduation

 As mentioned earlier, most schoolhouses only went up to 8th grade. However, their

education was much more difficult than even high school education nowadays. Back

then, very few people went to college so they would be starting their adult lives much

sooner. In order to graduate from 8th grade, students had to pass a final exam.

Below is a snippet of a typical 8th grade test from 1895:

GRAMMAR

(Time, one hour)

1. Give the nine rules for the use of Capital Letters.

2. Name the parts of speech and define those that have no modifications.

3. Define: Verse, Stanza and Paragraph.

4. What are the principal parts of a verb? Give the Principal Parts of do, lie, lay, and run.

5. Define Case. Illustrate each case.

6. What is Punctuation? Give rules for principal marks of punctuation.

7-10. Write a composition of about 150 words and show there in that you understand the

practical use of the rules of grammar.

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ARITHMETIC

(Time, 1 1/2 hours)

1. Name and define the Fundamental Rules of Arithmetic.

2. A wagon box is 2 ft. deep, 10 feet long, and 3 ft. wide. How many bushels of wheat will it hold?

3. If a load of wheat weighs 3,942 pounds, what is it worth at 50 cts. per bu., deducting 1050 lbs. for tare?

4. District No. 33 has a valuation of $35,000. What is the necessary levy to carry on a school seven

months at $50 per month, and have $104 for incidentals?

5. Find cost of 6,720 lbs. coal at $6.00 per ton.

6. Find the interest of $512.60 for 8 months and 18 days at 7 per cent.

7. What is the cost of 40 boards 12 inches wide and 16 ft. long at $20 per in.?

8. Find bank discount on $300 for 90 days (no grace) at 10 per cent.

9. What is the cost of a square farm at $15 per acre, the distance around which is 640 rods?

10. Write a Bank Check, a Promissory Note, and a Receipt.

U.S. HISTORY

(Time, 45 minutes)

1. Give the epochs into which U.S. History is divided.

2. Give an account of the discovery of America by Columbus.

3. Relate the causes and results of the Revolutionary War.

4. Show the territorial growth of the United States.

5. Tell what you can of the history of Kansas.

6. Describe three of the most prominent battles of the Rebellion.

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ORTHOGRAPHY

(Time, 1 1/2 hours)

1. What is meant by the following: Alphabet, Phonetic, Orthography, Etymology, Syllabication?

2. What are elementary sounds? How classified?

3. What are the following, and give examples of each: Trigraph, Subvocals, Diphthong, Cognate, Linguals?

4. Give two uses of silent letters in spelling. Illustrate each.

5. Define the following prefixes and use in connection with a word: Bi, Dis, Mis, Pre, Semi, Post, Non, Inter, Mono, Super

6. Mark diacritically and divided into syllables the following, and name the sign that indicates the sound: Card, ball

mercy, sir, odd, cell, rise, blood, fare, last.

7. Use the following correctly in sentences: Cite, site, sight, fane, fain, feign, vane, vein, raze, raise, rays. Write 10

words frequently mispronounced and indicate pronunciation by use of diacritical marks and by syllabication.