How to Prepare for the Mid-term

•    My Antonia  (1918)
•    A Farewell to Arms  (1929)
•    An American Tragedy (1925)
•    The Great Gatsby  (1925)
•    They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?  (1935)
•    Bush’s 2002 Inaugural Address

Part I: Five quotation identifications (10 points each)

•    Novel Title, Author (spelled correctly), precise date of publication, and the specific character or situation in the novel=3 points.
•    Significance=7 points.

Sample Quotation and Statement of Significance
Quotation: “Well, these books are all scientific . . . . This fellow has worked out the whole thing. It's up to us who are the dominant race to watch or these other races will have control of things . . . . The idea is that we’re all Nordics . . . “ (17-18).

Significance: Tom Buchanan has been impressed a book on white supremacy. With Tom’s dialogue about this book, Fitzgerald establishes that Tom’s (1) a racist, (2) that he is not too bright on the topic—therefore, his weak intellect contrasts his powerful body and position in society, (3) that even in the boom years ethnic minorities are still on the margins of American life and the American Dream; and (4) Fitzgerald also unknowingly foreshadows the Nazi fascist plan to exterminate Jews and other “non-Nordics”; therefore, Tom is a fictional, American prototype of things to come in 20th century history.

Grading Scale:  (10=A, 9=A-/90, 8=B-/80).

Part II: Create an essay (in response to the topic and directions given).  (50 points)

You will be asked to:
•    write about Vision + Form:  the novel’s artistic vision of human life and experience and the most significant formal elements used to create and convey that vision to the reader.
•    Make comparisons and contrasts between novels
•    make a brief assessment of the novel’s contribution to America’s “house of fiction”
•    draw a conclusion (state the significance of your analysis and findings). The “So What?”

Be prepared to write about each of the novels, but on the exam itself, you will have choices among the novels.

Tips:
•    Read the essay question carefully and be sure to respond to each element—number the topics you must address.
•    Organize your essay: create an introduction; develop body paragraphs with clear main ideas with exemplification from the texts and analysis; provide transitions that tie your main ideas together, and a provide a conclusion that states the significance of the ideas you have developed in your essay.
•    Always provide well chosen examples from the texts to support your assertions.
•    Avoid generalizations: be specific about the texts.
•    Avoid vague statements and ideas: write clearly and directly.

Grading Standards for the Essay
•    “A” indicates outstanding work—fresh, insightful, and original in substance and writing.
•    “B” goes beyond average, demonstrating skillful analysis and writing.
•    “C” indicates that you did the job—no more no less.  Remember that you have to do a lot of things right to “do the job.” A “C” is a good grade.
•    “D” indicates that you very nearly did the job but fell short in one or two areas.  
•    “F” indicates an inadequate or incomplete or off topic response. A  lenghty plot summary does not take the place of analysis and will earn an “F.”

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