History and Demographics

Final Exam Study Guide

All of the questions will be answered with short or longer essays.

Be sure that you have a thesis, or at the very least a focus, for each answer. Choose a point (an argument), then prove it.

Use complete sentences. Edit your work for logic and consistency. Proofread your work for spelling, grammar, and mechanics.

DO NOT use outside sources without citing them. If you copy and paste from Internet sources without citing them, EVEN IF you change the wording, you will receive a ZERO for the entire exam. (NOTE: If you use online texts FROM OUR COURSE, you may simply note that they are from our course - the "outside sources" I note here are those some students use in order to "plump up" their answers.)

Use your own words and give credit for any examples you use to back them up - YOU are brilliant! Show your stuff!

FOR EVERY ANSWER, USE EXAMPLES FROM OUR COURSE READINGS.

1. Understand the literary and historical significance of the literary essay (Orwell from Week 1). How does this essay fit into Western history? What does it tell us about the Imperialist approach, individual humanity, and ultimately ourselves?

2. Decide whether an essay or poem is more reflective of an author's personal truth. Consider aspects of the two genres - structure (length and line breaks), prose vs. poetry, and audience, for example.

3. Understand the cultural and historical significance of Fitzgerald's novel. What was the author's point, and what does the novel tell us about this period of American history? How have American youth changed since the novel's era? How have they stayed the same? What does Fitzgerald's approach to his topic show us that may have been new at the time of his writing?

4. Understand how to apply the critical theories to works we have studied in class. Consider critical approaches (like New Historicism, Marxism, feminism, and structuralism) in relation to specific texts. How do they illuminate the texts?

5. Be prepared to discuss an incidence of irony (verbal, situational, or dramatic) studied in this course. Use examples from our texts