ENGL 380: Love and Death: The Tristan Tradition
Dr. Debora B. Schwartz
English Department, California Polytechnic State UniversityAs stated on the class website, EXAMS will cover assigned readings, lectures, and required videos. The two-hour Midterm Exam (closed book, in class on the date indicated on the course calendar) will include an essay, worth 50% of exam points, on which you may try for GWR certification.
Exam hint 1: Reading quizzes are excellent study guides; use them as you prepare for the objective portion of exams. Exam hint 2: For the essay section, be sure that you are thoroughly familiar with the paper guidelines provided for the out-of-class essay, but please note: you may NOT write your exam essay on the same works or on the specific focus which you chose for your out-of-class paper!
Midterm Exam InformationThe midterm Exam will be worth 150 to 200 points, equally divided between the objective sections and the essay (possibility of GWR certification). Be aware that my exams are meaty; you will probably need the full two 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 questions; 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 two-hour exam period. There will be a number of essay questions to choose from, at least some of which will be structured in the same manner as the prompt for your out-of-class essay. But please note: you must write your exam essay on DIFFERENT WORKS and on a DIFFERENT CHARACTER, OBJECT, INCIDENT OR MOTIF than you chose as the focus of your out-of-class paper! Keeping this stipulation in mind, the Paper 1 Prompt is A GOOD PLACE TO START YOUR PREPARATION FOR THE ESSAY PORTION OF THE EXAM!
Because I evaluate exam essays according to the same standards that I apply to out-of-class writing (except that there's no direct citation and thus no need for documentation on a closed-book exam), you should also be THOROUGHLY FAMILIAR with the PAPER 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 DIFFERENT WORKS than you chose for your out-of-class essay. AUTOMATIC 50% PENALTY for writing on one of the same works. Similarly, you MUST write on a DIFFERENT CHARACTER, OBJECT, INCIDENT OR MOTIF than you chose as the focus of hour out-of-class paper. AUTOMATIC 50% PENALTY for writing on the same character, object, incident or motif, even if you discuss its use in different works.
Please: don't forget to purchase a LARGE FORMAT EXAM BOOK and bring it with you to class!
The remaining 50% of points will be for the objective portions of the exam. Expect factual questions (T/F, matching, multiple choice, short answer) about assigned works read to date (including background readings and critical essays) and key concepts covered in lectures and background materials. There will also be item IDS: choosing from a list of names, objects, and/or episodes, you will identify the work(s) in which the item appears and explain its significance and the role which it plays in each of those works. 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 .
- Background readings (both online readings provided on Dr. Schwartz's webpages and required critical essays which are on e-reserve for this class).
- The individual texts and films assigned through the date of the midterm exam, including both the contents of these works and the background information about them included on the course calendar.
- Common threads which link these works and significant differences between them.
This part of exam will be a combination of multiple-choice, matching, T/F and fill-in-the-blank questions covering background information, as well as a passage ID section. There will be choice on SOME sections only. Expect:
To prepare for these sections, review class notes, background information on course calendar, assigned e-readings and the online background readings. Review background questions on quizzes; quiz questions MAY reappear on exam!
- Passage IDs: significant passages will be chosen from assigned readings; you will be asked to identify work/author (or director) 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 reading/film this quarter -- so don't neglect the shorter selections assigned for class! There may be choice in this section. HINT: class notes, and any passages you marked in your texts based on class discussion, are good beginning points for review.
- Factual questions concerning e.g. authors (or directors and actors), titles, dates, languages, forms, historical development of the legend, material presented on online background readings and assigned critical essays. There will NOT be choice in this section; you will be expected to answer ALL questions. HINT: Reading quiz questions, the online background readings and the text/film info on the course calendar are good beginning points for review.
- 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: Item IDs are worth TWO POINTS each. You will receive one point for identifying the item (e.g. Thessala = Fenice's nurse who brews potions for her which are reminiscent of but different from the love potion in Tristan poems) 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 and explain the role which they play in the work(s) in which they appear, you will miss half the pointsin the section. Likewise, if you identify the items correctly but do not say in what work OR WORKS they appear, you will miss half the points in the section. A certain number of DISTRIBUTION POINTS will be awarded for correctly identifying items in or associated with a specified number of DIFFERENT readings. As you choose which items to identify, take care to cover a broad spectrum of assigned works (readings and film). There will be choice in this section. HINT: Reading quiz questions about specific characters and/or episodes are good beginning points for review.
- Chronology: dates given under text/author/film info on the course calendar for each work/author/film read/screened thus far. There will NOT be choice in this section; you will be expected to answer ALL questions.
HINT: you should know (and be able to spell correctly) the titles and authors/directors of works we have covered, the dates and original language of these works/authors, the form in which works were written. Review which episodes/characters appear in which works, and know by what names parallel characters are designated in each work. Exception: I don't expect you to keep track of the diffferent spellings and variations on the names "Tristan" and "Isolde" in each work. But, a word to the wise: on the passage IDs, I will spell names as they appear in the text, so specific spellings may be a clue to the work from which a passage is taken!
1) Yes, you will have choice on many sections of the exam, but you are strongly advised to have read/screened 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/lunch!
5) IT IS FREQUENTLY HELPFUL TO STUDY WITH A FRIEND!!
Contents of this and linked pages Copyright Debora B. Schwartz, 2004-2008
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