ENGL 380: Love and Death: The Tristan Tradition
Dr. Debora B. Schwartz
English Department, California Polytechnic State UniversityAs stated on the class website, the semi-cumulative FINAL EXAM will cover assigned readings, lectures, and required videos from the WHOLE QUARTER, but with special emphasis on works covered since the midterm exam. The three-hour exam 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, take care to avoid the sorts of problem you were asked to correct on your paper rewrite. Also, be sure that you are thoroughly familiar with the paper guidelines provided for the out-of-class essay. Exam hint 3: please note that you may NOT write your exam essay on the same works which you chose as the focus of EITHER your midterm exam essay OR your out-of-class paper! SUBSTANTIAL PENALTY IF YOU DO!
Final Exam InformationThe Final Exam will be worth 300 points, equally divided between the objective sections and the essay (possibility of GWR certification). Remember that my exams are meaty; you will probably want to use the full three hours, particularly if you are hoping for GWR certification. NOTE: If you know the objective material well, you can do those portions of the exam quickly, and will be able to devote more time to writing a solid, GWR-certifiable essay!
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 (a CLEAR AND SPECIFIC OPENING STATEMENT that covers not only your topic, but what, specifically, you are arguing ABOUT your topic; a logically developed argument with SPECIFIC SUPPORTING DETAIL from the work(s) you are discussing; 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, at least some of which will be structured in the same manner as the prompt for your out-of-class essay. All will require that you write on at least one (and possibly more than one) work covered in the second half of the quarter. Some prompts may allow you to compare a work or works covered in the second half of the class to a work or works from the first half of the quarter. Whichever prompt you choose, keep in mind that one focus of this class has been to consider what a specific version of the legend tells us about the author/director/composer's understanding of and/or attitude toward the characters and events s/he is reinterpreting; what target audience s/he is trying to appeal to; and what overall themes are emphasized. In many cases, the ways in which a specific version of the legend DIVERGES FROM the standard story are more significant than the similarities.
Please note: you must write your exam essay on DIFFERENT WORKS than you chose as the focus of your out-of-class paper OR your midterm exam essay! Keeping this stipulation in mind, the Paper 1 Prompt and your CLASS NOTES are 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 any issues you needed to correct on your rewrite of the out-of-class essay. Also, you are advised to review the Paper Guidelines 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 as the focus of your midterm exam OR your out-of-class essay. AUTOMATIC 50% PENALTY for writing on one of the same 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. 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 assigned critical essays which are on e-reserve for this class).
- The individual texts and films assigned throughout the entire quarter, but with special emphasis on works covered since the midterm exam.
- Common threads which link these works and significant differences between them.
Expect factual questions (T/F, matching, multiple choice, short answer) about assigned works for the entire quarter (including background readings and critical essays) and key concepts covered in lectures and background materials. You should also know the Author/composer/director; title; genre; language (English, French or German); and FORM of language (prose, rhyme, blank verse) for ALL works studied this quarter.
Additionally, a chronology section will ask you to match works covered SINCE THE MIDTERM ONLY to relevant dates (of composition, publication, performance or film release, as noted on course calendar).
You should also expect an ITEM ID section similar to that found on the midterm exam. On this section, you should refer ONLY to works covered SINCE THE MIDTERM EXAM. Should your memory require refreshing, Item IDs ask you to choose a number of names, objects, brief quotations or episodes from a list, and IDENTIFY the items (i.e. explain their role in the work or works in which they are found) AND list all work(s) covered SINCE THE MIDTERM EXAM in which that specific item appears or plays a role (taking care to distinguish between them, should the item play a significantly different role in more than one work).
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/films SINCE THE MIDTERM ONLY; 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 since the midterm -- 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, languages, forms, historical development of the legend, dates of works studies since the midterm exam, and all 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. Elen = Tristan's wife, also called Iseult of the White Hands, whose marriage is never consummated because she is a rape victim who is afraid to have sex); and one point for identifying the work OR WORKS since the midterm in which the item appears (e.g. "Elen" is a character ONLY in Prince of Dreams, although she is analogous to the Isolde of the White Hands figures in many other works). REMEMBER: 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 since the midterm they appear in, 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 works. 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 are good beginning points for review.
- Chronology: dates given on course calendar for all works covered SINCE THE MIDETERM. 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 original language of these works/authors, the genre and 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 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/item 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!
5) IT IS FREQUENTLY HELPFUL TO STUDY WITH A FRIEND!!
Contents of this and linked pages Copyright Debora B. Schwartz, 2004-2006
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