1. Exam preparation, notes and tips
English 102/102G, sem
Exam preparation, notes and tips

3. Date and time! Thursday June 23, 2.15- 4.30 pm
Please write this down somewhere prominent now.
Exam location is posted the evening before on the University website under “Exam Room Allocations:
Please note that 102 and 102G room allocations may be different. Make sure you have the right room!

5. Form of the exam: Two hours
All comparative questions (two or more works)
Choose TWO questions;
Choose to discuss two different works in each question (i.e. minimum of FOUR on the whole exam).
Total: two questions, weighted equally, 25 marks each.
Worth 50% of your grade

6. Choice of works in exam
You MUST write on at least FOUR different works in the two questions you choose (two in each).
You MAY write again on your close reading work;
You may NOT write again on your essay work;
you may make passing reference to your essay work or works already discussed in another question for additional comparative purposes, but it may not form part of your main discussion.

7. Revision as review Make sure you know the plot! Revision tips:
List of characters
First, random and last scenes/chapters/pages
Use your notes.
Use Canvas posted materials:
Reading lists
Lecture slides and recordings
Practice timed essays using dummy topics.
Get together in discussion groups and talk about the works.

8. Revision as synthesis Think actively as you review.
Build comparisons and connections in your head.
Note themes or common topics across lectures:
varying narrative styles and structures;
use of character to shape story;
categories of character (old, young, male, female, hero, villain, etc.)
holding/managing/releasing the reader’s/viewer’s attention;
use of looking forward/looking back;
emotions as elements of reading;
reading that recruits/repels/rewards…
(your ideas here)

9. Revision as practice
Select some previous topics and plan how you would answer them several different ways.
Write an exam-timed practice essay and get a peer to read it and comment on clarity, legibility, argument, use of materials.
Note some key moments or passages in each work that seem to you important for what happens in the plot or design or style, for use in essays:
you do not have to memorise passages;
you do not have to refer to secondary sources (unless you want to);
you DO have to show that you recall and are familiar with works;
you do NOT have to refer to lectures (unless you want to);

10. In the exam Get there on time! (Take an early bus, etc.)
Use the official reading time to plan in your head
Read the entire examination;
Read it again;
Match works you know well to questions that appeal to you (there are EIGHT questions to choose from).
Plan during the exam!
Take time (10 mins or so) to plan each essay before writing, in your head or in notes;
Spend 60 mins per essay; go on to the other one.
Write legibly, double-spaced.
Reread and:

12. A good answer: Exists: so write SOMETHING; don’t write NOTHING;
Has an argument and states clearly what it is;
Is clearly and logically organised;
Uses specific evidence to support the argument;
Refers to secondary sources if, as and when appropriate (NB these are NOT required);
Considers counter-arguments or contrasting evidence when appropriate;
Has a clear conclusion.
Is legible.
Remember: we are reading LOTS of these: we like answers that are easy to read and understand: help us!

13. A not-so-good essay on Richard 3
“How does Richard’s personality change over the course of the play?”
The course of Richard’s personality throughout the play is a remarkable journey. His likes, dislikes, moods, and alliances change throughout the course of the action and so it can be said that his state of mind is protean. As modern scholars know, Richard was buried in a parcel of land that ended up becoming a parking lot in Leicester, England. Richard, a man of religion like all powerful men were at the time, would have likely preferred to be buried in a cemetery and was, at the end of the play, disappointed that he was about to be killed and probably anticipating the fact that his body would be placed somewhere other than in a church yard. In this instance alone, Richard experiences two changes: he goes from being not angry about being killed to, for a second just before he does, being angry about getting killed; he also changes from being alive to being dead.

18. Date and time! Monday Thursday June 23, 2.15 pm
Please make sure you wrote this down somewhere prominent.

19. Good Luck! From: Tom John Bryonny Alex Claudia Brian

20. Your questions?