Final Exam Review Sheet

Final Exam Review and Reminders

The final will be divided into three portions:

• Short Answer (30 minutes). These will include fill in the blank, author recognition questions, and brief historical facts.
• 2 Short Essay (15 minutes each). Each essay is only expected to be about 5-6 sentences, where you answer two of three questions in a thorough way.
• 1 Long Essay (30-45 minutes). Of two given essay topics, you will write a more thorough and detailed essay. I do not expect you to be able to quote from memory the texts here, but I do expect you to be able to refer to specifics of the author or authors in question. This essay requires use of your formal writing abilities, so make sure you take time to organize your points, outline, and develop a thesis.

Study Tips

• As stated above, quotation will not be expected. Know the specifics of each writer’s work, and be able to think and write extemporaneously about each.
• Although I will give extra time should you need it, don’t think that taking 90 minutes for the final essay will guarantee an A. Make productive use of your time and understand I expect the kind of quality essay that can be written in the specified time.
• Think thematically, particularly for the essay questions. The midterm is a chance to synthesize the all the readings we have done and make some connections across writers and time periods.
• Know the trajectory of the writers we’ve read, but don’t get hung up on dates or the specifics of history. I won’t ask questions like “what year was Weiland published?”

Some Recurring Themes to Consider

--Homes and Domesticity
--Representations of Slaves, Black Americans, and Native Americans
--The poetic developments of Whitman and Dickinson
--Nature and the changing landscape of the nineteenth century