1. Final Exam Tips
You take one final for HumCore – given by your instructor and based on our discussion time)
3 P.M. Section: Monday 4-6 p.m. (HH 217)
4:30 P.M. Section: Wednesday 4-6 p.m. (HH 217)
Synthesizing the Quarter, Discussion, Test Format, Study Tips, Timed-Writing Tips, and practice Q&A will be posted for your review.
Fall 2015 “War” .

2. Reflecting on the Quarter
How do you think about war differently than you did coming into the course?
How has your writing changed or developed over the quarter?
What was your favorite text or unit this quarter and why?
Which text or unit surprised you the most and why?

3. Final Exam Structure 2 Hour Exam Worth 100 points (50% Grade)
Part One: Short Answer (6 of 8) (48 pts)
Weeks 6-10 (Writer’s Handbook Ch., Images, Readings Weeks 6-10, Study Questions, Discussion Materials)
Readings/Viewing: Theater of War, Mother Courage, Sun Tzu, Machiavelli, Walzer
Part Two: Passage Analysis (26 pts)
From Either Walzer or Sun Tzu
Part Three: Long Essay (26 pts)
Comprehensive: Based on Larger Themes
Sets 2 or more texts in dialogue with one another (Mother Courage will be required text)

4. Organize Study Sessions in Person or On-Line
Have a purpose, assign tasks, check each other’s work, and stay on task.
Practice writing short answers in a timed situation. Compare and discuss your answers.
Practice discussing short passages from Walzer and Sun Tzu or long essay possibilities
take turns in the group
say something different from other group members
make connections to other parts of the text, to other texts and to course themes
continue until nobody can contribute something new

5. Part One: Short Answer.
Answer SIX of the following EIGHT questions. You should spend about 36 minutes on this section of the exam (about 6 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 in question. (48 points)

6. Short Answer- 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/event depicts, etc.)      
3) express why this person or idea/thing/event was important or meaningful (especially with respect to the themes of our course)      
4) Use specific details from lecture, texts, discussion as support rather than personal opinion.
You have had a test taking experience (midterm) – Remember make choices/timed situation/details

7. Sample Short Answer Question
What are specific differences between a political theory of war based on realism vs just war?

8. Sample Short Answer Question
What are specific differences between Jus ad bellum and Jus in bello? (see pg. 21)
Is it possible that the conduct in war is justified, but the reason for going to war is not just (and vice versa)? Provide examples in your answer.

9. Sample Short Answer Question
What does the “domestic analogy” refer to, and when does it cease to work? (see pp )
When is it considered a “crime” to go to war?

10. Sample Short Answer Question
What have been the benefits and drawbacks of attempts to create international “peace keeping” organizations like the League of Nations or the UN?

11. Sample Short Answer Question
In lecture, Prof VdA explained what specific claims led to the conflict between Kosovo and Serbia. Which claim is more justified and on what grounds?
See pp. 53-4

12. Sample Short Answer Question
According to Walzer, what does the principle of “non-intervention” hold? What exceptions are there to this principle, and what is problematic about this kind of limit case?

13. Final Exam Review Groups
Group 1: Sun Tzu The Art of War
Group 2: Machiavelli The Prince
Group 3: Walzer Just and Unjust Wars
Group 4: The Theater of War
Group 5: Writing and Writer’s Handbook Chapters: Analyzing Drama, Analyzing Film, Analyzing Philosophical Texts

14. Final Exam Group Share (don’t forget to check out the great materials you posted for the midterm review)
In your groups, review your lecture and discussion notes and post the following to the class message board :
5 excellent sample short answer questions
10-15 key words, people, events, etc.
2 excellent long essay possibilities (this might place your group topic in dialogue with any texts from throughout the quarter)
NOTE: You can include a short quote from the text and ask a question about the quote
(1 post per group – due by Sunday 11:59 p.m. 50 pts LP)

15. SECTION THREE: First Long Essay - Passage Analysis (ca
SECTION THREE: First Long Essay - Passage Analysis (ca. 40 Minutes) 26 pts (26% of final exam grade)
The following passage is taken from (Walzer or Sun Tzu). Read it carefully and then write a passage analysis in which you clearly explain what is going on in this particular excerpt and describe the way Walzer/Sun Tzu depicts or characterizes what is going on. Then, relate the passage and the argument to the concerns and themes of the text as a whole and to the course theme of war.
Your answer should include warrants and specific reference to class discussions, lecture and the text. Remember, pay attention to the implications of word choice and applicable examples, and realize that claims about the text as a whole derive from a close-reading of particular details.

16. 2) Locate the passage in the text
On the Final Exam I might ask a basic question or identify specific themes to guide you through your analysis. Below are some strategies for this essay…
1) Describe the meaning of the passage (summarize the main point, purpose, argument of the passage)
2) Locate the passage in the text
3) Write an analysis of the passage (identify main theme, point out significant key terminology and logical connections between claims and concepts, word choice, use and function of example, etc. and explain meaning, purpose etc.)
4) Relate the passage to the concerns and themes of the text as a whole (Make connections that go beyond the passage)
5) Demonstrate how the themes present in the passage relate to the themes of the course theme of war (make connections to other texts or to specific lecture arguments)

17. Sample Passage
“Agression is the name we give to the crime of war. We know the crime because of our knowledge of the peace it interrupts – not the mere absence of fighting, but peace-with-rights, a condition of liberty and security that can exist only in the absence of aggression itself. The wrong the aggressor commits is to force men and women to risk their lives for the sake of their rights. It is to confront them with a choice: your rights or (some of) your lives!” (Walzer 51)

18. Sample Passages for Practice
Walzer: “some wars…can’t be called unjust.”
Walzer: pp “The case of mercenaries…rightly called criminals”
Walzer: pp 30-1 “The tyranny of war…takes on a new significance.”
Walzer: pp “The rules of war…both of these things later on.”
Walzer: pp “Among professional soldiers…to its reality and strength.”
Walzer: pp “The rights of states…disputed territory”

19. Part Three: Second Long Essay - Choose ONE of the following TWO questions and answer it in a thoughtful and substantial essay. Be sure to make specific reference in your answer to the texts in question as well as to specific themes, terms and narrative elements discussed in lecture and in discussion. You should spend about 40 minutes on this section and it counts for 26% of your grade. (26 pts)
Note: You may be asked to discuss two or more texts (this include images, film and written texts )

20. Long Essay Tips
Read each essay option carefully and select the one you understand and feel most confident about.
Take a couple of minutes to write down key points and vocabulary and outline connections or points you want to make etc. before you begin writing your long essay.
Although you are graded primarily based on content, you are expected to have a point or purpose and to write a well organized, structured essay.
Don’t waste your time including information that is unnecessary, irrelevant or based on personal opinion.
Don’t repeat yourself and get to the point.
Explain why your points are important or how they connect to the course theme of war.
Keep track of and budget your time.

21. Sample Long Essay
In a thoughtful essay compare and contrast how the form of each text (the genre) shapes the meaning of the story of war being told. In other words, how does Grimmelshausen’s Simplicius Simplicmus tell a different story of war than ONE of the below texts?
The Iliad
The Theater of War
Mother Courage and Her Children
Sun Tzu’s Art of War

22. Sample Long Essay
Compare and contrast Machiavelli’s position on power and authority with Sun Tzu’s. Be sure to identify and explain how Sun Tzu and Machiavelli apply explicit situations or examples to their positions.

23. 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.

24. 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 Your List on MessageBoard)
Group information according to the major themes/motifs/symbols of the quarter.
Honor, Commemoration, Epic, Picaresque, War, Force, Artefactualization, Similes, Re-presentation, Metaphor of Seeing, Moral Responsibility, Power and Authority
Organize according to binary oppositions
Male/Female, Shame/Honor, Reason/Imagination, Action/Consequence, Commemoration/Challenge
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 comparative literatures scholar approach a text differently from a literary scholar or from a historian?
Be sure to think about why these elements matter with respect to the major theme of “war”

25. Be Time Efficient…Don’t repeat yourself
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 (5-6 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 5-6 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

26. Write in complete sentences. Use academic English- avoid slang.
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)   
Explicate: Explain why details you draw attention to are important or meaningful.          
Count your answers to make sure you have answered 6 questions (you don’t want to lose 8 points).
Write in complete sentences.
Use academic English- avoid slang.
Please write legibly – If I can’t read it, it will not count.