Home

Schedule

Policies

Work

Assignments

Handouts

Library Resources

Online Resources

WebCT

Course Blog

Syllabus (.pdf)

Schedule (.pdf)

Final Overview

Time: Tuesday, December 20, 8:00-9:50 A.M.

The final will consist of four sections, three in-class sections and one take-home section to be turned in during our final.

Literary Works Covered: "Leaf by Niggle," "Troll Bridge," poetry by Millay, poetry by Byron, and Early in Orcadia.

In-class Sections:

• Section 1: Identification: As with the midterm, you will be given a list of names, places, and objects drawn from our readings and you will be asked to 1) identify each character, place, or object (explain who or what they are), 2) identify the text it is from, and 3) explain its overall significance to the text.
  
• Section 2: Theoretical Positions and Practical Approaches: As with the midterm, you will be asked to match a series of definitions to a list of the theoretical positions and practical approaches we have discussed this semester, which are Practical Criticism, New Criticism, Formalism, Functionalism, Psychological, Marxism, Cultural Materialism, New Historicism, Feminism, Gender, Sexuality, Poststructuralism, and Postmodernism.
  
• Section 3: Passage Identification: Much like the midterm, you will be given a selection of passages taken from the works we've read and you'll be asked to 1) place the passage into its context (who's speaking to whom, or to whom the passage refers) 2) its immediate context within the plot/structure, and 3) its overall significance (the theme or themes it engages).
  

Take-home Section

Choose either Millay's "Three Songs of Shattering" or Byron's "On This Day I Complete My Thirty-sixth Year" and do the following:

1. Discuss the poem in terms of versification (see "Versification: Rhythm, Metre, and Rhyme" sections of The English Studies Book, the Poetry Handout available at http://pages.slu.edu/student/walterj/courses/fall2005/202/handouts.html, and the Rhyme's Reason handout).
   
2. Discuss the poem in terms of language (includes the Common Topics of "accent and dialect"; "addresser, address, addressee"; "discourse and discourse analysis"; "poetry and word play"; "speech and conversation, monologue and dialogue"; "standards and standardization, varieties and variation"; "text, context, and intertextuality;" and issues of grammar, semiotics, and punctuation which are all discussed in the glossary of The English Studies Book). See The English Studies Book pp. 50-59.
   
3. Discuss the poem in terms of literature (includes the Common Topics "absence and presence, gaps and silences, centres and margins"; "addresser, address, addressee"; "aesthetics and pleasure, art and beauty"; "author": "bibles, holy books and myths"; "canon and classics"; "character and characterisation"; "creative writing"; "difference and similarity, preference and re-valuation"; "discourse and discourse analysis"; "foreground, background, and point of view"; "genre and kinds of texts"; images, imagery and imagination"; "poetry and word play"; "speech and conversation, monologue and dialogue"; "text, context, and intertextuality;" and "writing and reading, response and rewriting;"as well as the New Critical and Formalist approaches). See The English Studies Book pp. 59-63.
   
4. Discuss the poem in terms of culture (includes the Common Topics "absence and presence, gaps and silences, centres and margins"; "accent and dialect"; "addresser, address, addressee"; "aesthetics and pleasure, art and beauty"; "author and authority': "auto/biography and travel writing: self and other"; "bibles, holy books and myths"; "canon and classics"; "character and characterisation"; "creative writing"; "difference and similarity, preference and re-valuation"; "discourse and discourse analysis"; "foreground, background, and point of view"; speech and conversation, monologue and dialogue"; "standards and standardization, varieties and variation"; "subject and agent, role and identity"; "text, context, and intertextuality;" and "writing and reading, response and rewriting;" as well as the theoretical approaches of Functionalism, Psychological, Marxism, Cultural Materialism, New Historicism, Feminism, Gender, Sexuality, Poststructuralism, and Postmodernism). See The English Studies Book 63-70.
   

Your discussion of the poem should be between 2-3 pages. While it need not be a formal essay, it should be organized. Do revise, edit, and proofread your response before turning it in.

While you need not refer to materials beyond the texts and handouts discussed above, you are welcomed, even encouraged, to consult outside sources (the library and online resources are a great starting point as is the course blog) or to work with others in the class. Please cite all sources and please list the names of anyone you work with, and if you specifically take information from a classmate (i.e. they tell you that the poem is written in free verse or that something is a direct reference to an aspect of Millay's or Byron's life, cite that classmate as a source-you will be held accountable for the accuracy of the information, however).

This syllabus is subject to change. Announcements will be made in class and to the course Web site. It is your responsibility to keep track of such changes.