Midterm Exam Study Guide PDF

Dr. Bouchard EL 128 Midterm Exam Study Guide Study all class materials including: Texts: Tedtalk, Essays, Short Story, Poetry, and Novel You should be able to recognize a passage from any of the...

Dr. Bouchard EL 128 Midterm Exam Study Guide Study all class materials including: Texts: Tedtalk, Essays, Short Story, Poetry, and Novel You should be able to recognize a passage from any of the assigned readings and be able to tell me the title, author, connection to disability, genre/form, and what is significant about the passage (i.e. who is speaking, what is happening, if it’s addressing a major theme of the text, how it represents disability etc.). I recommend studying so that if you are given a title, author, passage, genre/form, or disability, that you’re able to provide the other information. It would also be helpful to know main characters and major plot points. I will primarily choose passages that we have spent the most time with in class. Disability Visibility: Disability Visibility: John Lee Clark [BB and in lecture Introduction by Alice Wong (pg xv- Harriet McBryde Johnson notes] xxii) "Unspeakable Conversations” (pg “A Deafblind Poet” 3-27) “Approach” “The Rebuttal” Stella Young Raymond Carver “Cathedral”[BB] Disability Visibility: “I’m not your inspiration, thank you Elsa Sjunneson "How to Make a very much” Paper Crane from Rage" pg 134-140 Disability Visibility: Disability Visibility: A Time to Dance Haben Girma "Guide Dogs Don't June Eric-Udorie "When You Are Lead Blind People. We Wander as Waiting to Be Healed" pg 53-58 Padma Venkatraman One" pg 101-103 Theory & Context Review the theories, frameworks, and contexts we’ve established through the semester: Rosemarie Garland Thomson selection from Extraordinary Bodies. Use the expanded Reading Guide notes from our in-class activity. Disability myth’s from the excerpt from Jay Dolmage's book Disability Rhetoric Theory of “narrative prothesis” from Mitchell and Snyder found in the class notes. Context on disabilities provided by Dr. B and group presentation Models of disability You should understand them and make connections to the Tedtalk, essays, short story, poetry, and novel listed above. Dr. Bouchard EL 128 Class Notes Use the posted lecture notes to help you study author backgrounds (focusing on details significant to their writing), characteristics of different genres and forms of writing, and the reading questions we focused on in discussion. Weekly Preparation Revisiting your Inklings would be useful for reviewing the texts. In particular, think through the Reading Questions provided at the bottom of each Inkling assignment. The essay section of the exam will resemble the Reading Response. Review your response and my feedback to help you prepare for the level of clarity and support I will be expecting on the exam. Logistics: The exam will be graded out of 100 points and is 15% of your overall course grade. It will be divided into two sections, Part I Objective and Part II Short Essays. Part I will be given on paper. You have the option to use your laptop to type Part II. I will also provide paper. Part I: Objective Section ~50% of the exam. Many of the questions will begin with a passage from a reading and then ask you questions. Questions may include identifying and/or providing examples of: Titles, authors, main characters, settings, and major plot points from a provided passage Genres and form: their characteristics and authors Characteristics of authors that are relevant to their writing Literary devices we’ve discussed in class Types of disabilities in relation to our readings You should be able to explain and apply the theories we covered to readings Part I: Short Essay Section ~50% of the exam Content: You will be given three of the prompts below and you’ll have two options: Option One: answer TWO prompts with one 150+ word paragraph each Option Two: answer ONE prompt with at least 300+ words 1. Choose one text where a person’s disability affects their relationship with another person. Make an argument about how the disability influences their interactions, being sure to discuss the broader consequences of how they choose to interact. For example (choose any or none of these to help you develop your thoughts): Does the disability bring them together in interesting ways? Does it create tensions—how and why? Are there different reactions depending on the type of relationship or situation they are in? Dr. Bouchard EL 128 Use specific examples from your chosen text as support for your argument, using quotations whenever possible to illustrate how you see disability affecting the relationship. 2. Choose one text and make an argument for the relationship between the genre or form of that text and how a disability is portrayed or used. Be sure you address the characteristics of the form or genre as well as develop your support through specific examples from your chosen text. For example (choose any or none of these to help you develop your thoughts): Is the disability being used as a metaphor? To teach a lesson? Create suspense? Evoke pity? How does the genre or form shape the presentation of the disability? What characteristics does that poem/short story/verse novel/essay or coming-of-age/personal narrative/gothic/etc. text have that influence the way the disability is portrayed? 3. Choose one text where a person or character’s disability is just one part of a complex identity comprised of many layers and parts. Make an argument about how their disability interacts with another aspect of their identity to affect the way they live in society. For example (choose any or none of these to help you develop your thoughts): Is their disability in conflict with another part of their identity? Does it exasperate difficulties already occurring because of another part of their identity? What assumptions do the people around them make about how these aspects of their identity fit together? Some examples of other aspects of identity you might consider include: gender, race, ethnicity, age, social class, economic status, level of education, employment, sexuality, faith, etc. Use specific examples from your chosen text as support for your argument, using quotations whenever possible to illustrate how those aspects of the person’s identity come together and interact. 4. Choose one or two texts where a character with a disability copes with the difficult aspects of their disability. This difficulty could arise directly from their experience with their disability, or it could be the result of others’ reactions to their disability. Why do they choose these coping mechanisms? How well do they work? What are the consequences? Use specific examples from your chosen texts as support for your argument, using quotations whenever possible to address these coping mechanisms and their effects. 5. Choose one or two texts where there is a misperception of a disability or how a disability affects a person. This can be a case of stereotyping, outright prejudice, simple ignorance, or something else. Discuss how the disability is perceived incorrectly and discuss the effect this has on the characters or people (if you’re writing on an essay) involved and their subsequent behavior. Be sure to consider what judgement the texts make on this misperception (Are they critical? Forgiving? Educational?). Use specific examples from your chosen text as support for your argument, using quotations whenever possible to address those misperceptions and their effects. Note: if you choose two texts for these last two prompts, make sure that your comparison is interesting and significant, rather than incidental. There should be a reason you've paired the two texts and it should contribute to your overall argument. Like your RRs, each short essay should begin with a clear thesis sentence addressing the prompt and then present textual evidence (as specific as possible) and analysis to support your argument. A good rule of thumb is twice as much analysis as evidence—show HOW Dr. Bouchard EL 128 the examples you provide support the point you are making. To receive full credit, you’ll need at least one quote from each text you write on. You can write the essays in however many paragraphs you’d prefer; just make sure it is organized clearly. Make sure you read the prompts carefully and address all required components. Note when a prompt requires response to a question and when the question is just intended to help you develop your thoughts. Proofread! Leave a few minutes to read back over your short essay and prioritize a clear statement of your argument at the beginning + evidence to support that. Logistics: You will be most successful if you study and prepare ahead of time, rather than starting from scratch day of. You have the possible prompts, so outline out some essays and practice writing the ones you’re most interested in. Be sure you prepare enough that you aren’t caught off-guard by the three I choose to include in the exam. This essay section is open-book, so you will be able to bring your texts to reference. However, they cannot be online (cheating concerns) so print out any text you’d like to reference and/or bring hard copy of the novel. Note: if you’re concerned about print credit, reach out to me. You will also be allowed a 3x5 notecard (both sides) to use for this section of the exam. I recommend including quotes from the texts that you hope to write about, so you aren’t flipping unnecessarily through your texts. You should try and incorporate at least one, but ideally two quotes per essay, in addition to specific, paraphrased examples from the texts. You can also include some outlining, but your space is limited. Do not attempt to write your essays on your notecards. I will collect them when you turn in your exam. You may type this section of the exam or handwrite (I’ll provide paper), so bring a tablet or laptop if you wish, along with any necessary charging cords. If you choose to type, when you are finished, raise your hand to get my attention. Then you can retrieve your phone for DUO and submit to the Midterm Exam assignment link on Blackboard. You can find it in your To Do list or in the Week Six folder. Because you’re taking the closed note/book Objective section first, be sure your notecard and book/texts are put away until you turn it in. After you receive the Short Essay section from me, you can pull those materials out. I encourage you to study together! You are also welcome to use my office hours if you want to review anything specific.