Friday, May 5, 2006

No class: work on your papers and prepare for the exam!

Notes

Bring to the exam the following items:

• 2 writing implements of your choice
• your essay: both the final draft and my graded rough draft
• drinking water, as you won’t be allowed to leave the exam until you’re done
• your thinking caps (I had to throw in one cliché!)

Please don’t bring anything else to the exam.

In order to prepare for the exam, you’ll want to review your class notes, the reading assignments, this class site, and the midterm exam. You should review the plays’ quotation handouts: you will be responsible for these quotes. In addition, I expect you to have a general understanding of each of the plays and the assigned reading from The Bedford Companion — and to be familiar with the following terms:

• concordia discors
• sprezzatura
• Machiavel / Machiavellian
• iambic pentameter
• blank verse
• tragedy
• comedy
• quarto
• folio
• agon (also: protagonist, antagonist)
• Shakespearean & Petrarchan sonnet
• quatrain
• octave
• sestet
• holograph
• fortune’s wheel

The exam will run approximately 90 minutes (if you’re well-prepared) and will consist of passage identification and explication; short-answer questions (on the above terms and other “general knowledge”); and two 3-4 page essays (from a choice of three essay questions).

If you have any questions about the exam, do not hesitate to contact me.