Format of the Midterm

Format of the Midterm

The midterm examination will consist of three sections. You will need a bluebook or several sheets of lined paper that can be stapled together. Questions will be limited to texts, authors and terms that have been discussed in class or assigned on the syllabus up to and including October 10. The exam is closed book. The midterm counts as 20% of your course grade.

Part I

20 Questions—0.5 point each (10 points possible)

The first section of the midterm will assess your knowledge of the literary texts, authors, and terms important to an understanding of British Romanticism.

• Some questions will focus on the facts of literary history, such as who wrote Lyrical Ballads (it’s a trick question).

·         Some questions will focus on the historical and social context of Romantic era texts discussed in class and specifically outlined in the “Introduction” to Volume 2A of the Longman Anthology of British Literature.

·         Some questions will focus on literary forms and terms. For this part, refer to the “Terms” page listed along the top (under the picture) of the course web site (http://csula-engl4406.blogspot.com/). Be prepared to match the following terms to their definitions (some but not all of these terms will appear on the exam):

ballad

blank verse

emphasis

enjambment

Enlightenment

gothic

image

irony

persona

poetic diction

rationalism

verse paragraphs

Part II

5 Passages—5 points each (25 points possible)

The second section of the midterm will assess your knowledge of the literary texts, authors and techniques important to an understanding of British Romanticism. You will be asked to identify five out of seven passages. For each identified passage, you will need to write the name of the author (1 point), the title of the text from which the passage was taken (1 point) and a brief paragraph (3 points) explaining what the passage tells us about the text.

Part III

1 Short Response—15 points possible

The third section of the midterm will assess your ability to write a clear, detailed and coherent response on a short passage of text. The author and the title of the text will be provided.

The following scoring guide will be used to assess your response written for Part III of the exam:

15	Excellent: Fully and effectively developed on most issues; effectively organized; insightful and/or original argument; clearly and effectively written
14	Superior: Fully and effectively developed on most issues; effectively organized; clearly written
13	Solid: well developed on key issues; clearly organized; makes an argument
12	Adequate: developed on some issues, but some issues missing; organization might be mechanical; argument might be routine; language control might be an issue
11	Minimal: developed on some issues, but key issues missing; might be somewhat incomplete; simple organization or problems with organization; might not make an argument; language problems might confuse and/or distract
10	Weak: tends towards summary and simple analysis; might be substantially incomplete; might be ineffectively organized or logically flawed; might have serious problems with expression
9 and below	Inadequate: Miscontrues the question, mistaken or logically flawed; most key issues missing; might be unfocused and disorganized, or might have severe language problems