The final exam is not comprehensive, covering only units seven through eleven.
The exam opens at 7:30 AM on 12/6 and closes at 11:30 PM on 12/12. There is no makeup final exam since the semester will be finished.
To ask questions about the exam, click here.
For a refresher on documenting sources, please click here.
There are four short response questions. These are worth twenty points each and require a well-developed paragraph as an answer (one per question). Please see the four points column on the grading rubric below to understand what constitutes a well-developed paragraph. Additionally, there will be ten multiple choice questions based upon the introductory pages in the anthology (both to the time periods and to the authors) as well as line identification from the primary readings (assigned works from the anthology) and interpretation questions based upon the lectures. The multiple choice questions are worth two points each.
The list of short response questions are included below, but the multiple choice questions are not posted. If you want to create answers for your short responses ahead of time and then copy/paste them into the exam, you are welcome to do so. This is more of a take home exam than a proctored exam, but there is a time limit: three hours once the exam is opened. Although you may use the material you submitted for the forums, do NOT use the work of others. It will show in the plagiarism check. NOTE: Be sure to adjust your submitted forum responses to score full points. See the grading rubric below. Do NOT share your work with others though. The Academic Honesty Policy still applies even though this is a take-home style exam.
CAUTION: Your answers will be submitted to Turnitin for a plagiarism check.
Please study the exam grading rubric. Notice that the number of analyzed quotes is important!
If you have questions or need help with any of the primary readings, please click here.
Short Response Questions Grading Rubric
0 points
5 points
10 points
15 points
20 points
The thesis is incorrect and no analyzed textual references are provided.
The thesis is correct, but there is no analyzed references.
OR
The answer is incorrect, but there is at least one analyzed textual quotation that expresses a correct idea.
The thesis is correct, and there are two analyzed textual references.
The thesis is correct, and there are three analyzed quotes from the assigned primary source that provide clear support for the thesis. It is a well articulated response.
The thesis is correct, and there are four analyzed quotes from the assigned primary readings that provide well-developed support. Its level of textual analysis is superior to a score of three. The ideas are also well articulated and the analyzed quotes are smoothly synthesized.
CAUTION: The exam seeks to measure your ability to analyze literature and to discuss it in ways that align with the mainstream interpretation of the different assigned works. Consequently, you should not conduct outside research. However, if you do so, it is imperative you give proper in-text credit (signal phrase, parenthetical reference, and direct quotes when needed. Click here(Links to an external site.) for information regarding documentation.) so the exam does not fail due to plagiarism.
NOTE: You must use the assigned readings. Responses that use primary readings not assigned will not score points.
There are only five questions on the exam, but for questions two through five, you get to choose what you will answer for that question. You do not need to answer all lettered questions. Instead, choose one lettered choice for each of the five questions, one for each module. Do NOT submit your answers to the final exam public forum. The Academic Integrity Policy applies.
Question #1 Romanticism (Be sure you underline your thesis. Remember, four pieces of separately analyzed textual evidence are needed for full points).
Analyze both “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” and “Rip Van Winkle” as satire of fast-paced change.
Decide whether or not Brown really meets the devil and be able to support your decision with textual analysis.
Question #2 Gothic Literature Choices (choose and answer only one; include the letter and the question prior to your response. Be sure you underline your thesis. Remember, four pieces of separately analyzed textual evidence are needed for full points).
Analyze how Poe’s physical settings/descriiptions serve to heighten the terror in each story.
Analyze how the quotation attributed to Joseph Glanville comments on the action of “Ligeia” and helps to develop its theme.
Explicate the poem “The Haunted Palace” and explain why it is important in “The Fall of the House of Usher.” Note: The poem is embedded within the story itself.
Analyze the siblings as representatives of the mind and body split in “The Fall of the House of Usher.”
Question #3 Transcendentalism Choices (choose and answer only one; include the letter and the question prior to your response. Be sure you underline your thesis. Remember, four pieces of separately analyzed textual evidence are needed for full points).
Using the CRIT technique, explicate any one of the assigned Dickinson poems.
Using at least two poems, explore Dickinson’s views on death. Analyze textual evidence in support of your ideas.
Using at least two poems, explore Dickinson’s views on sanity/insanity. Analyze textual evidence in support of your ideas.
Question #4 Realism Choices (choose and answer only one; include the letter and the question prior to your response. Be sure you underline your thesis. Remember, four pieces of separately analyzed textual evidence are needed for full points).
Analyze a chosen theme for “Life in the Iron Mills.” Remember to use analyzed textual evidence to support/illustrate your chosen theme.
Analyze the mill scene when the visiting men discover the Korl woman. What aspects of it make a comment on class issues? What aspects of it make a comment on art or the impulse to create art? Remember to use analyzed evidence to support your ideas. This question requires close reading of the specific scene.
Analyze how Davis uses a frame & framed story to engage readers and help develop her theme in “Life in the Iron Mills.” Remember to use analyzed textual evidence to support / illustrate your ideas.
A Note About Analytical Theme Statements
Many aspects of the course will ask that you analyze the theme of a poem or short story. If you recently took ENGLISH 1302 and remember how to use “The Method,” this technique can work well. Additionally, CRIT is another strong heuristic to use when analyzing literature.
Remember, a theme identifies the work’s universal subject and explains what overall message it conveys about that subject. A subject alone is a topic: love, war, death, etc. The message must be included for it to be a theme. When stating the message, avoid referencing details from the poem or story. Save those for analytical support.
EXAMPLE FORMAT:
The _[genre]___________ ___[title]________________, by _____[author]____________, is about _[universal topic/subject]___________________________ and reveals/conveys the message _______[explain the theme].
Example: The poem “There’s a certain slant of light” by Emily Dickinson is about depression and conveys the idea that internal hurt is more powerful, more destructive than external wounds.
The next sentences would then analyze the poem’s lines and symbols to argue how they create this theme. The CRIT video walks you through how to do so, but with a different primary source example.
This differs slightly from how you analyze historical documents. For works such as Paine’s, examine the work’s purpose, audience, and rhetorical appeals, deciding which appeals are effective and why.
