Eng2800: The Ancient World

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Final Exam Structure:

We are reviewing this in class today (Wed, 5/14), but here it is for your future reference. The exam is taking place Monday, May 19 3:30-5:30 PM in our classroom

Passage Section, Part 1 70%:

Because we have only read Othello and The Confessions since the midterm, this exam is a bit different than the midterm. In the passage section you will be asked to close read three passages (taken from The Oresteia and The Confessions). You will have choice, but it will not be possible to write only on one of the two texts. This is different than the midterm: The idea here is that this is a close reading (and so you should be using the techniques that you learned in writing your two close readings). This is not just passage ID and discussion of general themes (as it was on the midterm).  You should be talking about the meaning of the passage, its significance to the rest of the text and its language. Thus you are being assessed not only on your knowledge of the texts, but on your ability to close read. Obviously though the expectations are not as high as your out of class close readings! You should plan to write one or two detailed paragraphs for each passage, and plan to spend about 20 minutes on each. This DOES NOT mean the expectation is that you spend 20 minutes furiously writing, but rather you should take the time to really read and think about the passage (underlining, etc) before you begin writing.

 

Interpretative Short Answer Questions, Part II (30%):

You will be asked two short answer questions here (in a style similar to the ‘creative’ short answer questions on the midterm). While it will be possible to write only on Othello and The Confessions here (as the exam is not intended to be cumulative), you will have some question choices that incorporate material from earlier in the semester. Thus you will have the option to talk about the other texts that you might want to talk about – so if there is anything you know well, you should go back and look at it!