ENGL 331: Renaissance Literature
Dr. Debora B. Schwartz
English Department, California Polytechnic State University
Information on the Final Exam
The Final Exam will be worth approximately 300 points, equally divided between the objective sections and the essay (possibility of GWR certification). In format it will resemble the midterm. It will be semi-cumulative: all works read this quarter will be covered in some parts (as noted below), but particular emphasis is on readings since the midterm. You are also responsible for material covered in lectures, study guides, handouts and assigned background pages. Cumulative exam score (based on total number of exam points for midterm and final) will be worth 50% of final course grade; 50% of exam points will be for the essay. Be aware that my exams are meaty; you will probably need the full three hours. If you do not know the material well, you may have difficulty finishing the exam in the allotted time.
HINT: Even if you prepare thoroughly and 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! Instead, use that time to PROOFREAD 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. (Unlike the reading quizzes, there is NO E.C. for doing more than the specified number of IDs; you will simply lose time and points, since any answer that's wrong or incomplete will count off!) Go back over your essay, PROOFREADING for spelling, punctuation, grammatical errors, and effective argumentation (clearly stated thesis; logical development of argument; adequate and relevant textual support for each step in the argument; clear conclusion). This is particularly advisable if you are seeking GWR certification. If you find that you STILL have extra time, add more detail (or more examples) to the textual support in your essay.
The essay will be worth 50% of the exam points. While you may pace yourself as you see fit, the essay is supposed to take half of the three-hour exam period. There will be a number of essay questions to choose from; all will ask you to make meaningful connections between works read this quarter. Some questions will ask you to "compare and contrast" two works; others will ask you to discuss the development of a genre, theme or motif over time. Be sure that your thesis argues an interpretive point (rather than being merely descriptive or factual); that your paper is organized into paragraphs that represent logical steps in your argument; and that each paragraph contains allusions to specific textual evidence in support of your argument. You may NOT choose a topic that closely resembles the topic of your out-of-class paper or midterm exam essay.
Because I evaluate exam essays according to the same standards that I apply to out-of-class writing (except that there's no documentation on a closed-book exam), you should be THOROUGHLY FAMILIAR with the GUIDELINES and the CHECKLIST provided for your out-of-class writing and endeavor to apply them to your exam essay. Pay particular attention to the instructions concerning the introductory paragraph and argumentation. Unless I can tell from your opening paragraph which prompt you selected, what work(s) you are writing on, and precisely what you will argue about it/them, your exam essay will NOT earn GWR CERTIFICATION--and is unlikely to earn more than a C, regardless of the quality of your observations.
PLEASE NOTE: You MUST write on a DIFFERENT TOPIC than you chose for your midterm exam and out-of-class essays. AUTOMATIC 50% PENALTY for writing on same topic (e.g., if you wrote on Spenser's poetic ambitions for Paper 1 or the midterm exam essay, you may NOT write on Spener's poetic ambitions; but you MAY write on some other aspect of Spenser or on the poetic ambitions of other authors than Spenser).
To Prepare: Review names of main characters in readings. Review textual questions on study guides, looking for the reoccurence of motifs and themes, genres and techniques. Come up with several questions which you would write for exam and think about how you would answer them. Do not neglect the extremely helpful practice of brainstorming with classmates!
Please: don't forget to purchase a LARGE FORMAT EXAM BOOK and bring it with you to class!
A substantial amount of objective material will be thoroughly covered on the exam.. This 50% of the exam will test your knowledge of:
You will have the opportunity to demonstrate your understanding of the most significant issues in individual works and your ability to make meaningful connections among these works .
- Humanism, the Reformation, and the relationship between religion and politics from Henry VIII through the Restoration, with special emphasis on the Jacobean and Puritan eras (James I through the Restoration), as well as the readings which illustrate these contexts for English literature of the 16th and early 17th centuries.
- The development of three principal Renaissance genres: the lyric (esp. sonnets and pastoral poetry), the epic (Spenser's The Faerie Queene and Milton's Paradise Lost), and the theater (Marlowe's Dr. Faustus and Shakespeare's Twelfth Night).
- Basic biographical information on writers read and historical figures (as indicated on study guides).
This part of exam will have multiple-choice, matching, T/F and fill-in-the-blank questions covering background information, as well as a passage ID section (similar to part 2 on reading quizzes). There will be choice on SOME sections only. Expect:
To prepare for these sections, review general and individual author/work introductions in The Norton Anthology as well as general questions/information on study guides. You are also responsible for material covered in HANDOUTS and LECTURES (review class notes!) Review background questions on quizzes; quiz questions MAY reappear on exam!
- Passage IDs: passages chosen will be similar to those in quiz section two (in fact: some quiz passages may reappear on exam!!) There is likely to be at least one passage from EACH reading/author from the second half of the quarter -- so don't neglect the shorter selections assigned for class. You will be asked to identify work/author and to answer a number of questions about the passages. There will be choice in this section.
- Factual questions concerning genres, poetic forms, literary influences, literary terms, biographical information and historical events. One section will provide titles for the most significant works read in the WHOLE quarter and ask you to identify authors, genres and forms. But most other background factual questions will focus on material covered since midterm. There will NOT be choice in this section; you will be expected to answer ALL questions.
- Item IDs: you will be asked to identify various elements--characters, objects, themes, motifs, Latin phrases, and terms--in or associated with works read since midterm AND to list the reading(s) in which the particular item is found. NOW PAY ATTENTION: Item IDs are worth TWO POINTS each. You will receive one point for identifying the item (e.g. Red Crosse Knight = a knight symbolizing Holiness who fights a dragon) and one point for identifying the work OR WORKS in which the item appears (e.g. RCK is a character in The Faerie Queene). If you ONLY identify works and omit to identify the items, you will miss half the points in the section. Likewise, if you identify items but do not say what work OR WORKS they appear in, you will miss half the points in the section. For items that are foreign terms or phrases: identify the language, translate the term AND explain its relevance to or role in which specific reading(s). If the item is from an individual lyric poem (not part of a larger collection or cycle) you need not specify the title, but you should identify the author and type of poem (sonnet, pastoral, etc.). There will be choice in this section. As you choose which items to identify, take care to cover a broad spectrum of readings. A certain number of DISTRIBUTION POINTS will be awarded for correctly identifying items in or associated with a specified number of DIFFERENT readings.
- Chronology: dates given in Norton for works and lifespans of most significant authors read since midterm, and significant historical events relevant to these authors and readings (from James I through the Restoration). You should also know the date (and two events) that mark the beginning of the "Renaissance." As on midterm, you will NOT be required to come up with these dates "out of thin air"; you will be asked to match dates with a list of events/works/authors. This section will NOT represent a major part of the points on exam, so don't spend all your time worrying about the dates and forget to think about why they are of interest! There will NOT be choice in this section; you will be expected to answer ALL questions.
Some hopefully obvious remarks: you should know (and be able to spell correctly) the titles and authors, as well as genres and forms, for ALL works read this quarter; also, know DATES of works/authors since midterm exam, as well as significant historical milestones in period covered since midterm (e.g. early 17th century through the Restoration). Know literary terms relevant to ALL genres and forms read this quarter and the differences between these genres and forms.
HINT: you should know (and be able to spell correctly) the titles and authors of works read so far this term, the language in which these works were written, the genres of these works, and be able to describe their form. Also, review names of principal characters in works. Note: you need not know titles of individual lyric poems, but you should know titles (if given) of collections of poems -- e.g. sonnet cycles, the Shepherde's Calendar -- and should be able to identify the AUTHOR of lyric poems.
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 complete all sections of the exam in the allotted time; expect to use the full two hours!
4) Get enough sleep the night before and don't skip breakfast or lunch!
5) IT IS FREQUENTLY HELPFUL TO STUDY WITH A FRIEND!!
Contents of this and linked pages Copyright Debora B. Schwartz, 1997-2002
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