Study Guide for ENG 561 Midterm

The exam will consist of three parts:  (A) definitions (to be answered in a sentence or two, giving examples where appropriate); (B) identification questions (to be answered in a paragraph); and (C) an essay question.  The essay portion of the exam will be open-book and open-note; thus, you’ll need to turn in parts (A) and (B) before I give you the page that contains the essay question.

You’ll have the full class period to complete your exam. 

A.  Definitions. 3 points each (33 points total).

You will be asked to define 11 out a possible 13 names, terms or phrases, or references to small plot details; you should devote only a couple of sentences (maximum) to each definition.  Where appropriate, be sure to mention an example of what you are defining, drawing the example from one of the works that we’ve read.

Here is a list of terms like those that you'll see on the exam (though you may not see any of these particular items):
B.  Identification questions. 9 points each (36 points total).

I'll ask you to identify the author and title of 4 out of a possible 5 passages. Identify who is thinking or speaking the words contained in the passage. (In some cases, more than one character or character-narrator may be involved.) Next, describe what is happening in the passage, and explain how it relates to the use of narrative frames in the next from which it is taken. As much as time allows, discuss how the passage reflects both the larger structures and themes of the text—in other words, how it connects to the techniques of framing and thematic concerns being explored in the text as a whole. What other noteworthy techniques (imagery, metaphors, methods of characterization, etc.) are evident in the passage? Are any of the issues discussed in our secondary readings relevant for understanding the passage?

Sample passage:

But where were my friends and relations? No father had watched my infant days, no mother had blessed me with smiles and caresses; or if they had, all my past life was not a blot, a blind vacancy in which I distinguished nothing. From my earliest remembrance I had been as I then was in height and proportion. I had never yet seen a being resembling me, or who claimed any intercourse with me. What was I? The question again recurred, to be answered only with groans.

C.  Essay question. 31 points total.

The following paragraph contains the instructions that I will give you for the essay portion of the exam. I have also included a sample question from a previous class. This is not the question that I'll ask you on the midterm, but again it should give you a sense of the kind of question that you'll be asked to address. Do keep in mind, however, that our class focuses on framed narratives; hence the essay question on the exam (unlike the sample question below) will focus on some aspect of framing in connection with the texts we have been reading and discussing.

Please write a coherent, well-argued essay in response to the following question.  Include an introductory paragraph, as well as a conclusion summing up your overall argument.  Use plenty of textual evidence to support your claims. You are free to consult your books and notes; but to reiterate, don’t spend too much time trying to track down exact quotations to support your points. Here’s the prompt:

In the works that we’ve read thus far this quarter, the authors have focused in various ways on the importance of families, exploring how families shape people’s sense of self and act as a mediating link between past and present, other and self, social convention and individual desire. Basing your discussion on FOUR of the works that we have read so far, compare and contrast the role of families in these texts.  THREE of the works that you discuss must be (1) A Passage to India, (2) Mrs. Dalloway, and (3) “The Dead.”  The fourth work can be any other story from Joyce’s Dubliners.

The following are some “brainstorming” questions to think about as you formulate a response.  (Please note that you don’t have to address all of the questions in your response.)  In each work, how does the relation between individual and family play itself out?  In what ways do families constrain or limit the characters’ attempts to make their own choices and shape their own identities? Conversely, do families play an enabling as well as constraining role in these works? Do families transmit influences from larger cultural institutions? If so, how? Can you comment on how the form of each work (narrative techniques, modes of characterization, use of images or symbols) relates to its treatment of the issue of family?