Exam Checklist

This is not so much a guide, as a checklist.  You could be asked about anything from the course--on this list or not.  You should know the following information, at the very least.

WEDNESDAY:  Objective.  Matching.  Fill-in-the-blanks.  Quotation identification.  No notes.  No books.

THURSDAY:  Essay.  Short and longer answer essays.  Open notes and books.

Final Exam Study Checklist

YOU SHOULD KNOW THE NAMES OF ALL THE PIECES OF LITERATURE WE READ THIS TERM, WHO WROTE THEM, AND THEIR GENRE.

Be prepared to define (or give the important characteristics of) the following genres of literature. Also, be prepared to give examples of each.

Myth

Poem

Novel

Short Story

Sermon

Speech

Autobiography

Captivity Narrative

Letter (or Missive)

Essay

Be prepared to define (or give the important characteristics of) the following terms. Also, be prepared to give examples of each or explain how they relate to specific pieces of literature we've read.

Canon

Oral Literature

Puritan

Pilgrim

Geneva Bible

Plain Style

Old/Middle/Modern English

Great Chain of Being

Age of Enlightenment/Age of Reason

John Locke

French Revolution

Tabula Rasa

Deism

Nostalgia 

Unreliable Narrator

Double Consciousness

Parable

Be prepared to identify passages, as you were asked to do on the last quiz, and to 1) explain the context of the quotation; 2) discuss the significance of the quotation to the text specifically and/or to the work of the author generally. 

Answer these questions in short-answer form (4-6 thoughtful sentences). [These are examples. They may or may not show up on the actual exam.  This will be the content for the exam on Thursday]

What are three differences in Puritan and Deist theology or philosophy?

What are some of the changes that occurred in the literature toward the middle of the 19th century?

What were some of the factors that led to changes in literature toward the middle of the 19th century?

Discuss one text that we have read in which the writer seems to have some sense of nostalgia. What is the name of the piece? Who wrote it? And for what is he/she nostalgic?

What are some of the American institutions that were founded during the 18th century that still exist? How do these institutions reflect 18th Century values?

Compare and contrast the audiences and purposes that Benjamin Franklin and Frederick Douglass had in mind for their autobiographies. Do the autobiographies have anything in common?

Which of the texts written in the age of discovery most surprised you and why? Be specific. Give examples from the text.

What are some of the differences between oral and written texts? Why do you think that your editor (Giles Gunn, in this case) felt it necessary to include pieces of oral literature in a print anthology?

Be prepared to write about some of the "American" aspects or themes that we have seen in the literature this term.