Semester Exam Study Guide
2nd Block – Wednesday, May 25 at 9:46 A.M.
3rd Block – Tuesday, May 24 at 7:55 A.M.
Exam Procedures: The semester exam will be given during normal class time on the day scheduled, as listed above. The test must be completed in the time allotted. You will need pens (not required), pencils, and paper to take the test. The exam will start as soon as class begins; use your time well and don't rush. This test will count as 20% of your semester grade if you are not exempt. If you are exempt from the exam and choose to take it to improve your grade, it will be counted only if the exam grade raises your semester average (combination of the two nine-weeks grades).
Books: Bring all issued books--The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Elements of Literature, The Scarlet Letter, Everyday Use, and The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass--to use during the literature portion of the tests. You will turn in all issued books after the test.
PART A: Vocabulary. Words will be selected from lists given in class during the second nine weeks. To review these lists, look under "Class Notes" on the English page of the website, www.speakwrite.net. This will make up about 20% of the exam. The questions will be multiple choice, based on the definitions as the words are used in the literature.
PART B: Rhetoric, Research, and Literary Skills and Terms About 25% of the exam will be based on class notes and activities on rhetoric, writing, research, and literary terms. Study Chapter 2 of Everyday Use. You should also know the literary terms we covered in our study of the novel, short stories, poetry, and nonfiction essays.
Part D: Literature. About 55% of the exam will be questions on the literature we studied. This part of the test will be multiple choice, short answer, and essay questions on the individual works. Expect one or more questions asking you to compare and contrast elements of literature (character, setting, theme, etc.) in two or more works. This part of the test is open-book but not open-notes; however, you should be familiar with the material and use the books only to refresh your memory quickly. You will not have time to reread all or even portions of the literature during the test. The test must be completed in the time allotted. Questions will be on the literature listed below.
 |
The Autobiography, Benjamin Franklin (EL p. 67+) |
|
|
Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, Olaudah Equiano (EL p. 52+) |
|
|
"Speech to the Virginia Convention," Patrick Henry (EL p. 80+) |
|
|
"The Crisis, No. 1," Thomas Paine (EL p. 89+) |
|
|
Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson (EL p. 97+ & handout) |
|
|
The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Frederick Douglass |
|
|
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain |
|
|
Walden and "From Resistance to Civil Government," Henry David Thoreau (EL pp. 215+ & 234+) |
|
|
"From On Nonviolent Resistance," Mohandas Gandhi (EL pp. 243+) |
|
|
"From Letter from Birmingham Jail," Martin Luther King, Jr. (EL pp. 245+) |
|
|
"The Devil and Tom Walker," Washington Irving (EL pp. 177+) |
|
|
"Young Goodman Brown," Nathaniel Hawthorne (Scarlet Letter book pp. 181-92) |
|
|
"Eldorado" & "The Fall of the House of Usher," Edgar Allan Poe (EL p. 304, 313) |
|
|
"The Tide Rises" & The Cross of Snow" Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (EL pp.196-97) |
|
|
"To a Waterfowl," "Thanatopsis," & "Sonnet to an American Painter," William Cullen Bryant (EL p. 190 & handout) |
|
|
"Old Ironsides" & "The Chambered Nautilus," Oliver Wendell Holmes (EL pp. 308+ & handout) |
|
|
"From Nature," "From Self-Reliance," & "Concord Hymn," Ralph Waldo Emerson (EL pp.205+, 208+, & handout) |
Literature from 1st nine weeks (may be used in discussion questions)
|
|
Of Plymouth Plantation, William Bradford (EL p. 119+) |
|
|
"Upon the Burning of Our House" & "To My Dear and Loving Husband," Anne Bradstreet (EL p. 28 & 150) |
|
|
"The Spirit and the Flesh," Anne Bradstreet (handout) |
|
|
"For Deliverance From a Fever," Anne Bradstreet (handout) |
|
|
"Before the Birth of One of Her Children," Anne Bradstreet (handout) |
|
|
"The Author to Her Book," Anne Bradstreet (handout) |
|
|
"Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God," Jonathan Edwards (EL p. 45+) |
|
|
"Huswifery," Edward Taylor (EL p. 128) |
|
|
"Upon Wedlock and Death of Children," Edward Taylor (handout) |
|
|
A Narrative of the Captivity, Mary Rowlandson (EL p. 36+) |
|
|
The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne |