Please bring a large, clean blue book to exam (pens only). Test Format, Study Tips and Q&A See Questions answers posted on the eee MessageBoard Midterm Review Chat Session Tuesday, 8-10 p.m. (eee, click on “chat,” “enter chat”) Midterm Exam: Thursday, Week 6 in our classroom

 Part One: Short Answer  You will have a choice of 6 out of 8  About 25 minute (4 minutes each question)  However, Remember …Quality over Quantity  10 points each (60 points) 60% of grade  Included in this section:  Civil War Unit (lectures/discussions, assigned readings, images)  WH Chapters (Ch. 24 (Morse) Analyzing Visual Images: Participating in a Visual Culture – See Wk 1, Ch. 14: Historical Analysis, Ch. 15: Analyzing Primary Sources, Ch. 21: Integrating Quotations and Citing Sources,Ch 16 "Writing Opinion Pieces" (Lazo)  Lazo Unit (lectures/discussions, assigned readings through Coetzee, Thursday Wk 6 lecture as well)  NOTE: I always include one image for image analysis and may draw questions from the posted study questions in addition to questions I write based on all above materials.

The Exam Itself – 100 points  Part Two: Long Essay  You will answer ONE long essay from a choice of TWO.  About 25 minutes  (40 points) 40% of grade  This section asks you to place 2 or more texts from Week 6 in dialogue with one another along a particular thematic line.  Note: You may or may not have a choice in the texts, so be sure that you have read all texts and reviewed lecture notes carefully.  I’ll be posting sample questions and a “starter” list of terms.

Some study and preparation tips  Begin preparing now. Your retention will be much better, and your answers will be more thoughtful and thorough.  Don’t cram for the exam the night before the exam. It will be much less stressful if you study and review every day between now and the midterm. (20 minute rule applies)  The midterm will ask you to make connections between texts and lecture/discussion and to synthesize rather than just regurgitate information that was memorized.  The midterm asks you questions that require you to interpret or to apply your knowledge.  Practice answering questions in a timed-situation.  The midterm asks you to understand and use the terms and definitions and language that is focused on in lecture, discussion and in the texts.

REVISIT THE QUARTER THEMATICALLY.  Review your notes, lecture notes, reading notes, texts, etc. and make a list of key terms, ideas, people, events, etc. (See “Starter List”)  Group information according to the major themes/motifs/symbols of the quarter.  Ethos, Agency, Contingency, Sentimental Domesticity, The Good Death, Torture, Competing Memory/Rewriting History, Genres for Narrating War, Hermeneutics of Truth, Crisis of Memory, Re-Presentation and Mediation  Organize according to binary oppositions  Action/Consequence, Identity Construction/”Writing Self” into National Memory, Celebration of War/Consolation of War, Crisis of Memory, Sight/Blindness – epistemological crisis/Hermeneutics of Truth  It is also very important to know when the texts were written, who the audience was, what the genre of the text is (and characteristics of the genre), as well as historical and social context.  How does a historian approach war differently from a literary scholar?  What are the differences between writing a slave narrative and Op-Ed or first person narration?  Be sure to think about why these elements matter with respect to the major theme of “war”

On the day of the exam…  Select the identification questions you know the best first (this will help relieve some test anxiety).  Budget your time accordingly (4 min each Short Answer – don’t think in terms of sentences)  Must make choices in timed situation – you will likely know more than you can write or type in 4 minutes.  Get to the point (Don’t waste your time with wordiness or tangential and unnecessary information or personal opinion).  Be Time Efficient…Don’t repeat yourself

On the day of the exam…  It is the QUALITY of the answer that matters (long answers don’t necessarily mean full credit).  Be specific! Give explicit details from the text and lecture and section rather than Personal Opinion)  Count your answers to make sure you have answered 6 questions (you don’t want to lose 10 points).  Write in complete sentences.  Use academic English- avoid slang.  Please write legibly – If I can’t read it, it will not count.

Part One: Short Answer  Part One: Short Answer. Answer SIX of the following EIGHT questions. You should spend about 24 minutes on this section of the exam (about 4 minutes per answer). Answer thoroughly and include detailed and specific reference to the course material being tested including texts, lecture and discussion. Your answer must show knowledge of the texts and images in question. (60 points)  (Short Answer will include anything from weeks 1-6 readings, lectures (through Th Wk 6), reading questions, WH readings, images, discussion materials)

Short Answer Tips-Let’s Review  1) who/what is it (when it took place, general information identifying the individual, what event was it, etc.)  2) whenever possible provide an example of or elaborate on the term, etc. from a text we read, from lecture, from discussion (or express what the individual was known for)  3) express why this person or thing was important (especially with respect to the themes of our course)  4) Use specific details from lecture, texts, discussion as support rather than personal opinion.

Fair Game…  I may ask any questions based on:  Lectures (Don’t Skip Thursday Week 6 lecture – It’s Fair Game – maybe even one required question)  All assigned readings (including the Writer’s Handbook)  Any materials assigned or discussed in section  Sketches, Paintings, Maps or other Visual Texts (lecture/discussion)  One of the short answer questions may:  Ask you to identify and discuss a short passage  Come directly from your reading questions  Come from class discussions of writing and revision strategies  I’ll post “Starter Terms” list and Sample Questions

Part One: Long Essay  Long Essay. Answer ONE of the following two choices in a substantial, well-organized essay that takes into account each part of the question. Be sure to provide specific information about the texts that you discuss. Your opinions are always interesting, but an examination requires detailed reference to the material being tested, so answers that do not demonstrate knowledge of the material will not receive credit. This segment of the exam should take about 25 minutes and is worth 40% of your grade (40 pts).

Sample Long Essay  In the first unit of the quarter we read and discussed a number of primary source texts and documents from the Civil War and then moved ahead to WWII. In a thoughtful essay compare and contrast how 2 of the following artists construct a particular narrative of war in their work. Be sure to draw attention to any shifts or developments in their writing by the end of the war:  Walt Whitman, Louisa May Alcott, Emily Dickinson,

 Bring 1 large blue book to exam in our class room  Don’t try to cram study time into one night!  Get a little sleep in between!  Don’t forget the 20 minute rule!  Midterm Chat Session Tuesday 8-10 p.m. eee