English 2204 / Summer 2008

Review for the Final Exam

Things To Study:

1.) Know these authors (from TAOTSS book) and a few "major" biographical and "writerly" facts about each one:

• Chinua Achebe

• Margaret Atwood

• Willa Cather

• Jon Hassler -- separate book / novel

• Ernest Hemingway

• Ha Jin

• Yukio Mishima

• Alice Munro

• Leslie Marmon Silko

2.) For each of the authors listed above, review the stories we read and know the following:

• Titles

• Major characters

• Settings -- times and places

• Narrators -- points of view

• Conflicts

• Themes

3.)  Know these things above -- that is, know the story -- well enough so that you can answer "2-point" questions about the story -- question that go beyond the objective facts, questions which ask about significance of some of the elements of the story.  For example:

• In Achebe's story, what do the gardens symbolize?

• In Achebe's story, what is significant about the conversation between Michael Obi and the village priest?

• In Atwood's story, how do the stories change from "A" to "F" -- and why do they change?

• In Atwood's story, how does the structure suggest a theme for the story?

• In Cather's story, how and/or why is Cordelia Street so confining for Paul?

• In Cather's story, why doesn't Paul want to be an actor or a musician?

• In Hassler's novel, how does Agatha's fern relate to the events in the story?

• In Hassler's novel, what role do the "What I Wish" papers play in the story?

• In Hassler's novel, what is Coach Gibbon's significance to the story?

• In Hemingway's story, how and/or why is it significant that the old man is deaf?

• In Hemingway's story, why does a place have to be clean and well lighted?

• In Jin's story, what role does Mr. Chiu's health play in the various parts of the story?

• In Jin's story, why have the police singled out Mr. Chiu?

• In Mishima's story, how and/or why is it significant that the lieutenant decides to kill himself in this way?

• In Mishima's story, how and/or why is the love-making scene before the suicides significant?

• In Munro's story, what role does Loretta Bird play in the story?

• In Munro's story, how and/or why does Edie change in her behavior toward Chris Watters?

• In Silko's story, how and/or why is it significant that Ken and Leon gather the sheep before attending to their grandfather?

• In Silko's story, water is obviously an important symbol, but what is one other symbol, and what does it symbolize?

4.) Know the "basics" about these critical approaches to literature:

• Historical criticism

• Mythological criticism

• Sociological criticism

• Cultural Studies criticism

The Exam:

1.) Expect some "identification" kinds of questions. For example:

• Matching authors' names to biographical facts and story titles
• Matching story titles to characters, settings, points of view, etc.
• Matching characters to quotations
• Matching literary terms to definitions and/or examples
• Identifying a quotation by the author's name and story title
• etc.

2.) Expect some "short answer" questions -- see #3 above.

3.) Expect more of the "short essay" (one full paragraph) questions. For example:

• You might have to select and identify 2-3 quotations and then explain how each quotation relates to a major theme and the main character in each story.
• I might give you a quotation you haven't seen before -- perhaps a quotation by another writer or critic -- and ask you to respond to it using a story we've read.
• Bring your Flash Fiction book! The flash fiction stories we've read -- since the midterm exam -- have been grouped by "themes" -- "Work," "Different Forms," "War," and "Culture Clashes." I might ask you to select 2-3 of the themes and, for each one, answer a question about the theme using one of the flash fiction stories.