Midterm Exam Review Sheet.docx

Midterm Exam Review Sheet Section 1: Close Reading 1\. Close Reading Process: \- Close reading involves reading a text thoroughly to fully understand its meanings and nuances. This process requires revisiting the text multiple times. \- Benefits of Revisiting a Text: \- Helps identify new theme...

Midterm Exam Review Sheet Section 1: Close Reading 1\. Close Reading Process: \- Close reading involves reading a text thoroughly to fully understand its meanings and nuances. This process requires revisiting the text multiple times. \- Benefits of Revisiting a Text: \- Helps identify new themes and notice subtle details that may not be clear in the initial reading. \- Encourages deeper comprehension of the author\'s intentions, arguments, and the text\'s underlying messages. \- It allows for analysis of language choices, literary structure, and devices used. 2\. Key Elements to Analyze During Close Reading: \- Language: Observe the word choice, tone, and diction. The words an author chooses can have connotations that contribute to the overall meaning. \- Structure: Understand how the text is organized, including paragraphs, sections, and chapters. The structure can often enhance or emphasize the message. \- Literary Devices: Look at metaphors, symbolism, irony, imagery, and other devices. These devices contribute to the depth and complexity of the text. 3\. Techniques for Effective Close Reading: \- Annotation: Writing notes in the margins helps track thoughts, questions, and insights while reading. It assists in retaining key details and noting areas for further analysis. \- Analyzing Literary Devices: Identifying metaphors, similes, or other devices helps understand how they support the text\'s theme or emotion. 4\. Importance of Identifying the Main Theme: \- Recognizing the main theme is crucial to understanding the text's purpose. It acts as the central idea that ties together different parts of the narrative, making it easier to see the big picture and connect seemingly unrelated details. 5\. Importance of Multiple Reads: \- First Reading: Gain a general understanding. \- Second Reading: Identify themes and major points. \- Subsequent Reads: Focus on deeper meanings, language, and structure. \- Each time you read, you engage more critically with the text, catching nuances and subtle details that contribute to a fuller understanding. 6\. Close Reading vs. General Reading: \- Close reading involves active engagement with the text, unlike reading for pleasure, which is often more passive. It demands constant questioning and analysis. \- Focus Areas: \- Themes: What is the underlying message? \- Literary Devices: How do they enhance the message? \- Structure: How does it support the content? \- What to ignore: The author\'s biography is generally less relevant unless the text is autobiographical or contextually significant. Section 2: Annotation 1\. Annotation Elements: \- Annotations often include: \- Vocabulary Notes: Definitions of unfamiliar words. \- Translations: Particularly for language learners. \- Cultural Context: Notes about cultural references that help understand the text. 2\. Effective Annotation Techniques: \- Highlighting Key Ideas: Only highlight the most critical points, such as themes, arguments, and evidence. Over-highlighting can make important information less distinct. \- Marginal Notes: Writing questions, reflections, or connections with other readings or topics. It helps recall your thoughts during discussions. 3\. Annotation Tools (Digital and Manual): \- Digital Annotation: Tools like Google Docs, PDF annotators, or specific apps for e-books. \- Manual Annotation: Sticky notes, highlighters, and pens for quick notes. 4\. Benefits of Annotation: \- Facilitates Discussions: Being able to refer back to your notes makes participating in discussions easier. \- Deeper Engagement: Encourages you to actively engage with the text rather than passively reading. 5\. Annotation Myths: \- Highlighting Alone: Highlighting without making notes is not effective as it lacks engagement with the material. Effective annotation means interpreting and interacting with the text. Section 3: Summary 1\. Length of a Summary: \- A summary should usually be about 25% of the length of the original text. It condenses the main ideas while excluding unnecessary details. 2\. Focus in Summarizing: \- Concentrate on main ideas and key arguments. Do not include minor details, anecdotes, or examples unless crucial to understanding the central point. \- Objective Restatement: Summarize what the author said without inserting personal opinions or interpretations. 3\. Steps for Writing an Effective Summary: \- Step 1: Read Carefully: Understand the author's arguments, main ideas, and supporting points. \- Step 2: Identify Main Ideas: Look for topic sentences and key concepts. Take notes to identify central arguments. \- Step 3: Write in Your Own Words: Avoid copying; instead, paraphrase to show your understanding of the material. 4\. Avoiding Plagiarism: \- Using the original text's phrases can lead to plagiarism. Paraphrase carefully, using your own language to reflect your understanding. 5\. Paraphrasing vs. Summarizing: \- Paraphrasing: Rewriting specific passages in different words while keeping the meaning intact. \- Summarizing: Condensing the entire text into a shorter version that focuses on main points only. 6\. Maintaining Objectivity: \- It is important to stay neutral and not include personal opinions. The summary should reflect the author\'s tone, purpose, and content accurately. 7\. Common Pitfalls in Summarizing: \- Summarizing too briefly may omit key points and lead to an unclear or incomplete representation of the text. \- Make sure to consider the audience. If your audience is unfamiliar with the topic, add context as needed while keeping it brief. Section 4: Application 1\. Literary Devices: \- Metaphor/Simile: Comparing two things to add deeper meaning to the text. A simile uses \"like\" or \"as\" while a metaphor does not. \- Irony: A contrast between expectations and reality, used to create humor or emphasize a point. \- Symbolism: Using symbols to represent larger concepts or ideas. 2\. Analyzing Tone and Mood: \- Tone: The author's attitude toward the subject, detected through word choice and phrasing. \- Mood: The emotional atmosphere experienced by the reader. Close reading helps to pinpoint how specific choices create these effects. Section 5: Advanced Understanding 1\. Tone vs. Mood: \- Tone is the attitude of the author toward the subject, as shown through word choice, sentence structure, and style. \- Mood refers to the feeling the reader gets from the text. It is influenced by setting, imagery, and the author's tone. 2\. Imagery: \- Imagery involves descriptive language that appeals to the senses (sight, sound, taste, touch, smell) to create vivid mental pictures. \- Understanding imagery is crucial because it helps in understanding how the author creates an emotional or sensory effect on the reader. 3\. Purpose of Literary Devices in Close Reading: \- Enhance Depth: Literary devices often add layers of meaning to a text, enabling a deeper reading. \- Convey Meaning: Devices such as symbolism or irony help convey complex themes in an indirect way, which may require interpretation. 4\. Connecting Literary Devices to Themes: \- Identifying literary devices helps understand how the author builds and develops themes. \- Literary analysis involves understanding the function of each device, such as how imagery might set the mood or how metaphors develop themes.