The two-hour, 150-pt. midterm exam will take place on Thursday, February 14. It will cover chronology (dates), authors and titles, and other factual information, as well as key motifs and characters in the primary readings to date (selections in the anthology, the four romances by Chrétien de Troyes, Wolfram's Parzival, assigned portions of the non-cyclic Lancelot of the Lake, photocopied canto 5 of Dante's Inferno), as well as the background handouts, assigned introductions, and assigned readings in the Arthurian Handbook. You are NOT responsible for remembering the details in the Chapter Summaries for the whole Lancelot-Grail cycle, but you ARE expected to know the five branches of the cycle, their order of composition, and the chronological order of the events they recount. You must also provide a preview of your final research paper: subject, readings, thesis you will argue, and list of critics (authors and titles) whose work you have found helpful thus far.

Factual questions will be based on the background information in the Arthurian Handbook, introductions to primary readings, handouts and lectures. Be sure to review handouts on "courtly love" and translatio!

The chronology section will require you to match titles and key historical events to a list of dates provided. Since some of these dates are difficult to pin down, they are not necessarily the same in every source (i.e. different dates may be provided in the Handbook and the anthology). In the event of discrepancy, please rank the sources in the following order: 1) the translatio handout; 2) the Arthurian Handbook; 3) the introductions found with the primary texts (in anthology or specific editions). This means I will expect you to learn the dates found on the translatio handout; dates provided in the chronological table in the Handbook for any works/ authors/ events not included on the translatio handout; and dates found in the anthology or introductions to the specific texts if a date is not provided on the translatio handout or in the handbook.

Identifications test your knowledge of key characters and motifs from the assigned readings; you will identify a certain number of items AND list the primary reading(s) in which they occur. While there will be choice in this section, you will need to demonstrate familiarity with the full range of texts covered in class.

The Term Paper Preview will cover not only the general topic of your final paper and the primary texts you will discuss, but also the thesis you will argue (which should be based on interpretation and analysis, not just description) and some of the critics you will use (authors and titles of secondary works).

You will write an Essay discussing a topic different than that chosen for your term paper, which you will trace through 2-3 readings. No more than one reading discussed on exam essay may also be a focus of your term paper. E.g.: if your final paper  will be on Gawain in Chrétien's Perceval and Wolfram's Parzival, you may NOT write an exam essay about Gawain (even in other works), but you MAY write on a topic unrelated to Gawain in either Wolfram OR Chrétien's Perceval AND in 1-2 OTHER texts. (You may NOT discuss both Wolfram's Parzival AND Chrétien's Perceval.) There will be a substantial penalty if you do not follow these rules! DON'T FORGET TO BRING AN EXAM BOOK WITH YOU TO CLASS.

To prepare: review class notes, handouts and readings. Make a list of all works and key historical events; write in dates from translatio handout; fill in gaps by referring to chronological table at the front of the Handbook and if necessary to individual text introductions. Identify key character names in primary readings; note which characters play important roles in more than one work. Decide on the topic, works and thesis of your paper; know titles and authors of some useful works of criticism.

TIP 1) Get enough sleep Wednesday night, and don't skip lunch!!

TIP 2) The best way to prepare is to study with friends!!!

Contents of this and linked pages Copyright Debora B. Schwartz, 1999-2002

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