Study Guide for the Final Exam

The questions on the final exam will be comprised of material tested on the previous three exams. Questions will be pulled from each of the three exams to produce the cummulative final. The only questions that you will not have seen before will be the ones on poetry, since that was a take-home essay exam. The questions I create for poetry, will, however, be based on the questions I asked on the take home exam. To study for the fiction exam, refer to the following material.

Study Guide for the Fiction Portion

Be prepared to recall and analyze the following short stories, which were assigned and discussed in class:

The Story of an Hour
A Sorrowful Woman
A&P
Eveline
Miss Brill
Bartleby the Scrivener
The Birthmark
How to Tell A True War Story
Popular Mechanics
Girl

You can also use the following questions to further prepare:

• What are several ways (discussed in class) we can distinguish literature that's worthy of study?
• What are several ways (discussed in class) to define the short story?
• How have several influential fiction writers (Poe, Chekov, Conrad, Hemingway, Carver, and Bambara) helped illuminate the "art" of the short story?
• What are several formal elements (discussed in class) common to many short stories, what's the meaning of the terms we used to discuss these elements, and how do these elements apply to the short stories you were assigned to read?
• What is the meaning of literary terms like theme, ambiguity, irony, paradox, and symbol, and how do these terms apply to the short stories you were assigned to read?

Study Guide for the Poetry Portion

Be prepared to analyze "Those Winter Sundays" (p. 531), explaining how it employs specific, concrete words to vividly convey the speaker's message.

Be prepared to explain the use of figurative language in "Mirror" (p. 628).

Be prepared to explain the irony in "Richard Cory" (p.640) or "First Party at Ken Kesey's with Hell's Angels" (739).

Be prepared to interpret the symbolism in William Blake's "The Tyger" (p. 698) or Dorothy Parker's "One Perfect Rose" (p. 699).

Be prepared to analyze the ambiguity in "My Papa's Waltz" (p. 701).

Be prepared to define terms relating to a poem's sound based on your understanding of the material on pages 662 - 672; 687-692; and 706-733 in your textbook.

Study Guide for the Drama Portion

Oedipus the King

Study pp. 981-1037 in The Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature.

• Who was Sophocles? In what ways did his work stand out and how was he innovative?
• What were the theatrical conventions of Greek theater?
• How were ancient Greek plays structured? Define prologue, parados, episodia, stasimon, exodus.
• What is literary tragedy? How did Aristotle define tragedy? What effect should tragedy have on its audience? What is catharsis? How does Aristotle define the qualities of a great tragic character?
• What is dramatic irony and is it present in Oedipus the King?

After studying the play, you should be prepared to answer questions about:

• the names, identities, character traits of all the characters in the play (you should know who is who)
• details concerning what happens throughout the play and how certain scenes advance the plot or develop character

After studying the play, you should be prepared to answer questions which ask you to analyze:

• the role of the chorus, how it responds to the action in the play, particularly on pp. 993, 1001-02, 1011-12, 1017-18, 1029.
• the ways in which the play illustrates Aristotle's declarations about tragedy and tragic character

A Doll House

Study pp. 1137-1202 in The Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature. These pages include introductory information regarding the play, the play itself, and a series of supplemental readings that comprise a "critical case study" of the play.

• What is realism? What is a "problem play"?
• What are some of the theatrical conventions of modern drama?
• Who is Henrik Ibsen and what is the "common denominator" in many of his dramas?

After studying the play, as before, you should be prepared to answer questions about:

• the names, identities, character traits of all the characters in the play (who is who)
• details concerning what happens throughout the play and how certain scenes advance the plot or develop character

After studying the play, you should be prepared to answer questions which ask you to analyze:

• Nora's character, particularly what her personality traits are and how she changes from the beginning of the play to the end
• The roles Nora and Torvald play in their marriage
• The way in which Krogstad and Kristine provide a contrast to Nora and Torvald
• Nora's relationship with Dr. Rank