ENGL 252: Great Books II:  Medieval, Renaissance, 17th Century Dr. Debora B. Schwartz English Department, California Polytechnic State University     Midterm Exam Information The closed book, two-hour Midterm will take place during class on the date listed on the course calendar.  It will cover assigned primary readings and background information (from online readings and study guides, additional required readings that are on e-reserve in the Library Resources section of Blackboard, assigned pages in textbooks, class lectures, and the "Text info" found on the class calendar of assignments).  Some exam sections will test your knowledge of the primary readings covered weeks 1-5: the prologues and epilogues by Marie de France and Chrétien de Troye; Béroul's Romance of Tristan and the anonymous episode of "Tristan's Madness"; assigned lais by Marie de France; Chrétien's two romances (Knight of the Cart and Cligés); and Heldris of Cornwall's Romance of Silence. Other sections will focus on background information, including (but not limited to) the online readings Medieval Attitudes toward Vernacular Literature, Translatio studii et imperii, Courtly Love, the Tristan tradition, and Allegory. The midterm exam will likely be worth 200 points, equally divided between the objective section and the essay.  Questions will test your understanding of thebackground information covered in lectures and assigned secondary readings, as well as 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 large-format scantron form.  Other sections you will answer directly on the exam.  The essay will be written in a large-format exam book.  You must turn in the exam book, your scantron form and the exam itself (with your name on each!) to receive credit for taking the midterm exam. The Objective Exam (50% of exam points) will test your knowledge of:  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). The individual primary texts, including both the contents of these works and the background information about them included under "text info" on the course calendar. 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 will likely 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 are those which require you to select from more than five available responses (i.e. questions that go beyond the capacity of a scantron form), and/or which ask you 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: 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, 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); and the Romance of Silence. There may be choice in this section. HINT: you class notes, and especially any passages you marked in your texts during lecture or discussion, are good beginning points for review!   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 , quizzes and the text 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. Now, PAY ATTENTION: Item IDs are worth TWO POINTS each.  You will receive one point for identifying the item and the role which it plays in the work(s) (e.g. Thessala = Fenice's nurse who brews magic 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 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: class 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.   Chronology: dates given under "text info" on the course calendar for each primary work / author; 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, required 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 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); and 5) the Romance of Silence. 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!)     ESSAY:  as a C1, writing-intensive class, at least 50% of the course grade must be based on written works.  The exam will therefore include an essay section that is likely to be worth 50% of the total exam points.  You will be given a choice of prompts to respond to.  Some will focus on a single author or work,  but most will ask you to make meaningful connections between works. You may NOT cover the same ground you have written on for one of your Personal Responses in Blackboard.  Substantial penalty if you do!! The safest way to avoid any overlap penalty is to write on an author or work on which you did NOT post a personal response.  But if you do end up writing on the same author or work, be SURE that you focus on a different aspect -- a different issue or topic within that work -- than you wrote on for your Personal Responses in Blackboard. The Essay Section (50% of exam points) will allow you to demonstrate your familiarity with and understanding of:  Individual primary texts, including key plot events; central issues and themes; and what we can deduce about the author's intentions or concerns; Common threads which link the primary works to one another as well as significant differences between them; and RELEVANT background information, i.e. what is essential to your argument only (NOT everything you learned about the text or author when preparing for the objective exam).   Additionally, it will test your ability to write an effective persuasive essay featuring:  a detailed and specific Opening Statement paragraph.  This meaty paragraph must do more than simply identify the work(s) you will write on and the topic which is your focus; you must tell me, clearly and upfront, what it is you will argue ABOUT that topic and work.  An effective Opening Statement paragraph begins by echoing the prompt and clearly articulates the interpretive argument you will offer in your essay; it more closely resembles what you may have been taught to put in the conclusion of a 5-paragraph essay rather than what you may have been taught to put in the introduction. a clear organizational structure (well focused paragraphs that appear in a logical order with adequate transitions between them); at least three body paragraphs, each with a clear topic sentence and ample supporting detail ( i.e. references to specific passages and scenes in the work or works under discussion); and some sort of concluding statement, typically one which sums up the evidence you have presented and offers a final insight or thought about the ground you have covered (and which may point to related issues or implications which go beyond the scope of the essay itself). 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, 2005-2009 Return to ENGL 252 homepage Return to Dr. Schwartz's Teaching Page Return to Dr. Schwartz's homepage Send me mail!