The two-hour, 200-pt. closed-book midterm exam will take place in class on the date indicated on the course Calendar of Assignments. Expect to use the full two hours.  The objective exam will cover chronology (dates), authors/composers/directors, genres/medium, formal characteristics, and similar descriptive information, as well as key motifs, objects, episodes and characters in required primary readings and films assigned prior to the midterm exam (whether or not fully discussed in class).  Some factual questions may be drawn from REQUIRED secondary/background readings, but any additional readings that were recommended rather than required will NOT be covered on the exam. 

Scantron Section:  This part of the exam covers factual questions about assigned 19th- and 20th-century works, as presented in lectures, required background readings (introductory webpages for each reading/film, introductions to textbooks, and/or required supplementary readings / critical essays).  Know titles, authors/composers/directors, genres, dates of composition, and formal characteristics of 19th- and 20th-century PRIMARY WORKS listed on Calendar of Assignments (other than "The Lady of Shalott"); don't forget the online readings on the Camelot Project site (poems by William Morris, Tennyson poems not taken from the Idylls of the King, and the supplemental Merlin/Vivien/Nimue and Grail poems). You will need to keep these poems straight in your mind and be able to identify them by form (e.g. prose vs. rhyme vs. blank verse) and by the specific way in which each poem handles the theme or character which is its focus.  Know which authors, directors and composers were British and which American.
Know lyricist and composer and date of composition for the Broadway musical Camelot as well as date and director of the assigned film version of this musical; know directors and dates for the other assigned films.   Know authors of assigned essays for each film and basic argument made in those essays.   
NOTE 1: for Tennyson's Idylls, you should know the range of years when Tennyson worked on the collection (rather than the specific publication date for each individual Idyll); you should also know which of the Idylls were first published under the title "The True and the False," in what year, and how they were modified when the were incorporated into the broader collection of The Idylls of the King. 
NOTE 2: You will choose your responses from an alphabetical or chronologically ordered list of ALL relevant authors/directors/composers and ALL relevant dates; this list will use combinations of letters (i.e. there will be more than 5 answers to choose from: not just A, B, C, D, and E, but AB, AC, AD, AE, BC, etc.)  This means you will need to KNOW YOUR MATERIAL THOROUGHLY; you will not be able to rely on good test-taking skills and process of elimination to select a correct answer from only 5 choices.

ID Sections of the exam will list either brief quotes or characters, objects, and plot elements drawn from one or more of the primary readings/films.  You will have choose a certain number of them; to list ALL readings / films in which they appear; and to explain their role and significance (and/or key differences between their treatment) in different works. There will be choice in these sections.  Please note that  other than key lines (which should be easily identifiable if you have completed all readings/screened all assigned films and taken good notes in class discussions), there will be NO LONGER PASSAGE IDS on exam.

Essay:  likely to be worth 33%-50% of exam.  There will be a choice of prompts that ask you to discuss connections, similarities and (significant) differences between at least two readings/films (in some cases, different individual Idylls can be counted as different readings).  Prompts will focus on issues which should be familiar to you if you have attended class regularly -- no nasty surprises.  Exam prompts are designed not to trip you up but (I hope) to allow you to shine; there will be enough choices that you should be able to find a topic on which you can write a substantive essay.

You may NOT write on a work/author/film which you have presented in class OR which  will be a focus of your final paper. Likewise, you may NOT write on the same figure/motif/episode that you presented on in class or which will be a focus of your final paper (I will use your Paper Prospectus to determine the final paper focus).  Automatic and substantial penalty if you do! 

SUGGESTIONS:  Make an outline before you begin to write.  Once you have figured out the paragraph structure of your argument, you may find it helpful to leave a blank page for your intro and write up the body paragraphs before going back and writing your opening statement; this strategy can help ensure that you are adequately specific about the claims that you are making (rather than simply identifying your topic).  Your opening sentence should echo the prompt and make clear what works and characters/themes/motifs you are writing about.  The rest of the intro should briefly indicate what claims you are making about your topic and point to the steps you will use to construct your argument (i.e. what you put in the topic sentences of your body paragraphs).  Body paragraphs should provide specific details from the works under discussion to support your claims. PLEASE BRING A LARGE-FORMAT EXAM BOOK FOR THE ESSAY SECTION.

TO PREPARE FOR THE EXAM: make a note card for each work; note genre or medium, author/composer/director, his or her nationality, and dates of works (for the Idylls, know the overall timespan of composition AND which specific Idylls were included in the original and revised versions, their dates, and changes in titles if applicable; for Camelot, know the dates of both the original Broadway musical and the film).  List key plot elements/motifs (e.g. begetting of Arthur, marriage of Arthur, beguiling of Merlin, Grail quest, etc.) covered in the various works, and note any unusual character names (beyond e.g. Arthur, Lancelot, Guinevere and Merlin) which you might otherwise forget.  Be sure to include some notes concerning what episodes and/or significant objects/motifs and/or key lines are included in each case. Make separate notecards for each SPECIFIC reading (e.g. the different assigned Idylls, each of which counts in some sections as a separate work).  Also review the required background readings and make sure you are clear on the overall premise of each. Carefully review all primary readings (and catch up on any you may have missed!), including review of class discussion notes in each case.  As you review, consider differences between treatment of characters / episodes / motifs which play significant roles in more than one work.  

TIP 1) Get enough sleep the night before, and don't skip breakfast/lunch!

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

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