UPDATED Monday, 1 November 1999
When you receive the midterm exam on Wednesday, I encourage you to spend a few minutes skimming the entire exam before you start writing (all answers will be on your own paper): start picking out the questions that you plan to answer, and note that a detail or quotation that appears in one question may help you to answer another.

Some of the short-answer questions on Wednesday's exam will be multiple choice.  Unless you're directed otherwise, clearly copy the letter of the correct response (don't bother to write out the full response itself).  Be sure to read carefully the directions as well as the multiple choices for each of these questions.  In some cases, for instance, you will be asked to identify the one sentence that is inaccurate.  

Some of the short-answer questions on Wednesday's exam will call on you to identify the authors of  particular passages (i.e., from an assigned reading, from class discussion, or from a note on the class web site).  Unless you're directed otherwise, "identify" means simply name the author.  (So be sure that you know the names of the authors we've studied.)

  Sample short-answer Q&A's:
Q: The industrialization of 19th-century America is represented at Walden Pond by (a) ------- and in Thoreau's own life by his experience working in his father's (b) -------.
A: (a) the railroad  (b) pencil factory.

Q:  In a sentence, summarize Philip Gerard's description (in Chapter Ten of Creative Writing) of the relationship between an editor and a writer.
A:  Typically, the editor is not an adversary but an ally intent on helping the writer do her job--to help the writer focus her approach, sharpen her style, and clarify her distinctive voice.

  Sample paragraph-length Q&A's:
Q: Discuss (and illustrate specifically) how E. B. White employs the strategy of identification in any two of his essays.
A:  In "Once More to the Lake" and "The Ring of Time," E.B. White employs the strategy of identification (i.e., establishing bonds of sympathy and resemblance) in detailing the persona's relationship with his subjects.   In "Once More to the Lake," driven to compensate for the loss of the things of his childhood (the railroad, Moxie, and, most importantly, his father), White seeks out things that apparently have not changed (the grocery store, the lake itself, and the enthusiasm of a boy) to affirm his connection with the past.  Throughout the essay, White indulges in the fancy that "nothing had changed" (though of course he knows differently) as he deliberately confuses his own role through his identifications with his deceased father (whose role he has now adopted) and his son (who has assumed the role played years ago by White himself).  Metaphorically, the final two paragraphs dramatize the thematic significance of these identifications: the thunderstorm over the lake represents the continuity of past and present and the comic celebration of the life cycle; more darkly, the "icy cold" felt by White at the end signifies the simple truth that death is an inevitable part of this cycle.  Similarly, in "The Ring of Time," White identifies with the young circus rider (who herself is linked with her mother) as a way of dramatizing life's "circle game."  On one level, the identification serves merely to link two performers: the rider (who excels at her craft) and the writer (White, who serves as a humble "recording secretary").   By the end of the essay, the deeper connection emerges: as White realizes that the girl's youth (and thus his own) is passing even as she rides once more around the ring.   In both essays, White's ultimate identification is with the reader, who is drawn into and made to experience these sharply rendered encounters with the circle of life--and death.

NOTICE how this answer begins with a direct response to the question (not simply a restatement of the question) and how parentheses are used throughout to provide brief specific examples from the texts.

  Visit the postscript for October 27 to review class answers to questions on assigned readings.  As you prepare for the midterm exam, consider these various responses--and be prepared to support these observations (some of which may be more perceptive than others) with specific examples from appropriate works studied during the term. 

The midterm exam will be held on Wednesday, November 3.  Following are a few tips on preparing for the exam.  Additional tips (including a few sample questions and answers) will be added over the next few days. 

  You will have one and one-half hours to complete the midterm exam.  (If everyone agrees, we'll start at 1:15 [instead of 1:30] and finish by 2:45.)   Bring pen and paper to the exam--no books or notes. 

  The exam will be a combination of short-answer questions (i.e., fill in a word, phrase, or sentence) and questions that call for paragraph-length answers (roughly 75 to 140 words each--depending on the question, your talent for conciseness, and your knowledge of the subject).   In any case, make sure that you (1) carefully read the directions (you'll have some choices) and each question; (2) write (or print) clearly; and (3) get straight to the point (don't waste words by restating the question, belaboring the obvious, or hurling hooey).   A few sample questions and answers will appear on this page by the weekend.

   As a guide to the expected length (and depth) of your answers, consider the point values of the various exam questions: don't spend ten minutes answering a two-point question--or just two minutes answering a ten-point question.  Despite your best efforts, should you find yourself running out of time during the last few minutes of the exam, outline your remaining answers: in other words, rather than perfect a single sentence or two, jot down key points that will give me some basis for awarding you partial credit.