ENGL 252: Great Books II:  Medieval, Renaissance, 17th Century
Dr. Debora B. Schwartz
English Department, California Polytechnic State University
 
 

Midterm Exam Information

There will  be two closed book, two-hour Midterm Exams, in class on Wednesday, 4/20 (week 4) and on Wednesday, 5/11 (week 7).  These EXAMS will cover assigned primary readings and background information (from online readings and study guides, additional readings on e-reserve, assigned pages in textbooks, lectures and/or "Text info" found on the class calendar of assignments). 

Exam sections testing your knowledge of the primary readings will not be cumulative:  that is, the primary readings covered on midterm exam 1 (Béroul's Romance of Tristan and the anonymous episode of "Tristan's Madness"; prologues, epilogues and individual lais by Marie de France; and the three prologues and two romances by Chrétien de Troyes) will not be covered on midterm 2, which will focus instead on the primary readings covered weeks five and six, the five selections from Chaucer's Canterbury Tales: the GP, the KT, the MT, the WBP and the WBT. 

However, keep in mind that much of the background information covered in the first four weeks of this class is also relevant to the primary readings in weeks five through seven, and therefore will be covered on both exams (e.g. Translatio studii et imperii, Courtly Love and Medieval Literary Practices, as well as the e-reserve reading by Bolton on the "The Conditions of Literary Composition in Medieval England").

Each midterm exam will be worth 100-200 points.   They will test your understanding of the most significant issues in individual works and your ability to make meaningful connections among these works.  Some of the questions will be answered on a scantron form.  Other sections you will answer directly on the exam.  You must turn in both the scantron form and the exam itself (with your name on each!) to receive credit for taking the midterm exams.

The midterm exams will test your knowledge of: 

    1. Background readings (from online readings and study guides, additional readings on e-reserve, assigned pages in textbooks, and/or "Text info" found on the class calendar of assignment).
    2. The individual primary texts assigned in the period leading up to the exam, including both the contents of these works and the background information about them included under "text info" on the course calendar.
    3. Common threads which link these works and significant differences between them.
Be aware that my exams are meaty.  To do well on them requires both study and thought.  You may need the full two hours, and unless you know the material well, you may have difficulty finishing the exam in the allotted time.

In the scantron section, there will be factual questions (T/F, multiple choice and/or matching that involves up to five choices).  Some of these questions may resemble (or duplicate) questions that have appeared on scantron reading quizzes.

The questions to be answered on the exam itself may require you to select from more than five available responses (i.e. questions that go beyond the capacity of a scantron form), and/or to provide short answers or fill in blanks.  There will be choice on SOME but not all of these sections.  Expect some combination of the following types of question:

    1. Passage IDs: significant passages chosen from all assigned primary readings; you will be asked to identify work by title and author (if known) and answer some questions about the passage (e.g. who is speaking? to whom? when does this scene/dialogue take place? etc.). There is likely to be at least one passage from EACH primary reading covered on the exam -- so don't neglect the shorter selections assigned for class!  When identifying primary works on Midterm 1, be sure to distinguish between: 1) specific prologues and epilogues (to which works?); 2) specific lais of Marie de France (by their individual titles); 3) Béroul's Romance of Tristan and the anonymous episode of "Tristan's Madness"; 4) Chrétien's two romances (Knight of the Cart and Cligés).  On Midterm 2, be sure to distinguish between specific readings from Chaucer's Canterbury Tales (e.g. the General Prologue, the Knight's Tale, the Miller's Tale, the Wife of Bath's Prologue, and the Wife of Bath's Tale). There may be choice in this section. HINT: lecture notes, and especially any passages you marked in your texts during lectures, are good beginning points for review.

      2.  
    2. Factual questions concerning e.g. authors, titles, dates, languages, forms, historical developments, material presented on online background readings and other assigned background readings. There will NOT be choice in this section; you will be expected to answer ALL questions.  HINT: online background readings and the text info on the course calendar are good beginning points for review.

      3.  
    3. Item IDs: you will be asked to identify characters, objects, themes or motifs in or associated with a specified number of different works read in class AND to list the reading(s) in which the particular item is found. PAY ATTENTION:  if there is an Item ID section on the exam, Item IDs will be worth TWO POINTS each.  You will receive one point for identifying the item (e.g. Thessala = Fenice's nurse who brews potions for her) and one point for identifying the work OR WORKS in which the item appears (e.g. Thessala is a character in Chrétien de Troyes's romance, Cligés). If you ONLY identify the work(s) in which the item appears but omit to identify the items themselves, you will miss half the points in the section.  Likewise, if you identify the items correctly but do not say what work OR WORKS they appear in, you will miss half the points in the section.  If this type of question is included on the exam, a certain number of DISTRIBUTION POINTS will be awarded for correctly identifying items in or associated with a specified number of DIFFERENT primary readings.  So, as you choose which items to identify, take care to cover a broad spectrum of assigned primary readings. There will be choice in this section.HINT: your lecture notes, especially any passages you noted in your texts during the course of lectures, as well as passages pointed to by questions on the study guides, are good beginning points for review.

      4.  
    4. Chronology: dates given under "text info" on course calendar for each primary work / author read during the period covered by the exam (since the previous exam); additional historical context dates (e.g. those found on the translatio or Tristan tradition online readings).  You will not have to come up with these dates out of thin air; you will be asked to match authors, works and/or events with a list of provided dates. There will NOT be choice in this section; you will be expected to answer ALL questions.
To prepare for these sections, review class notes, background information on course calendar, assigned e-reserve readings and the online background readings. Think about the type of background questions asked on quizzes; quiz questions MAY reappear on scantron section of exam!

HINT 1: you should know (and be able to spell correctly) the titles and authors of primary works we have read, as well as of other primary works alluded to for historical context in lectures and on background readings (e.g. translatio or the Tristan tradition online readings); the dates and original language of these works/authors, the form in which these works were written. Review which episodes / plot events / characters appear in which primary works.  For this purpose, be sure to distinguish between (on Midterm 1):  1) specific prologues and epilogues (to which works?); 2) specific lais of Marie de France (by their individual titles); 3) Béroul's Romance of Tristan and the anonymous episode of "Tristan's Madness"; 4) Chrétien's two romances (Knight of the Cart and Cligés).  On Midterm 2, be sure to distinguish between specific readings from Chaucer's Canterbury Tales (e.g. the General Prologue, the Knight's Tale, the Miller's Tale, the Wife of Bath's Prologue, and the Wife of Bath's Tale).

HINT 2:  Even if you prepare thoroughly and are able to breeze through the exam, you are strongly advised to use the full time allotted to you. Should you be tempted to leave before the end of the allotted time, don't do so before PROOFREADING THE  EXAM CAREFULLY. Verify that you have followed instructions exactly in each section.  Make sure you have answered all required questions on objective portion, but NOT more than are required on a section where there is choice. (There is NO E.C. for doing more than the specified number of questions; you will simply lose time and points, since any answer that's wrong or incomplete will count off!)
 
 

Words of Wisdom:

1) Yes, you will have choice on many sections of the exam, but you are strongly advised to have read ALL material covered in class -- it will not be possible to camouflage large gaps. 

2) While I am known as a demanding tester, I am proud that students consider my exams to be fair. (I don't believe in playing "Gotcha!" with my students.) If you are well prepared, there should be no surprises on the exam -- unless you are surprised by the fact that the exam really DOES cover everything I say it will!

3) Again:  you will need to be well prepared in order to do well on the exam.  You may need the full two hours to complete all sections of the exam!

4) Get enough sleep the night before and don't skip lunch!

5) IT IS FREQUENTLY HELPFUL TO STUDY WITH A FRIEND!!
 

Contents of this and linked pages Copyright Debora B. Schwartz, 2005

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