Skip to main content

Sophomores: Midterm Review


The midterm will be objective, with multiple choice and matching sections.  The exam will be longer than normal because you have more time – an hour and a half, as opposed to fifty minutes. 

Note that although the midterm could not possibly include everything we’ve covered so far, it will be comprehensive. Below is a list of everything we have read; however, the notes include the introductions to periods, as well as biographical information.

Summer Reading – Red Badge of Courage

Early American
  • Native American Myth
  • “The World on the Turtle’s Back”
  • “Coyote and Buffalo,” & “Fox and Coyote and Whale”
  • Non-Fiction – Historical Narrative
  • La Relacion – Cabeza de Vaca
  • The Interesting Life of Olaudah Equiano
 The Puritans
  • Of Plymouth Plantation – Bradford
  • Anne Bradstreet “To My Dear and Loving Husband,” “Upon The Burning of Our House”
  • The Examination of Sarah Good
  • Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God – Jonathan Edwards
  • THE CRUCIBLE – Arthur Miller
American Revolution
  • Persuasive Rhetoric
  • Patrick Henry “Speech to the Virginia Convention”
  • Thomas Jefferson “Declaration of Independence”
  • Letters – Phyllis Wheatley, Jane Adams
  • “What Is an American?” – Jean de Crevecouer
  • Benjamin Franklin – Almanac, Virtues
  • “Lecture to a Missionary” – Red Jacket
American Romanticism
  • Longfellow  - “Psalm of Life”
  • Emerson – “Self-Reliance”
  • Thoreau – “Civil Disobedience,” Walden
  • Walt Whitman – “O Captain, My Captain,” “I Hear America Singing,” “I Sit and Look Out,” Song of Myself
Gothic Literature
  • Irving –  “The Devil and Tom Walker” (Faustian)
  • Edgar Allan Poe – “The Masque of the Red Death”
  • Nathanial Hawthorne – “Young Goodman Brown”
  • Shirley Jackson – “The Lottery”
Ambrose Bierce – “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge”

Popular posts from this blog

O Brother, A Response Paper

Hello Freshmen... Your assignment for the weekend is to write a 250-word (one page) response paper on O Brother, Where Art Thou . Please type and format according to MLA. You may choose from the two topics below: (1) Respond to the lyrics of one song from the film. Using your lyric sheet (or the internet ), connect the lyrics of one song to the movie's characters/setting/events. In other words, explain how the lyrics are relevant to the film. (2) Choose one of the historically relevant elements of the movie and look up an article on Wikipedia . Print out the article; then, summarize it and connect it to the movie's characters/setting/events. Be careful not to plagiarize the article, which should be stapled to your reponse. Ideas discussed in class include The Great Depression, con artist, chain gang, Populism (George Wallace, Huey P. Long, W. Lee O'Daniel), Ku Klux Klan (William Joseph Simmons), and George "Babyface" Nelson.

Monty Python & The Holy Grail

Before you start scoffing and claiming that I am merely killing time until midterms, hear me out. Okay, it's true that this is a perfect time to NOT start anything new, and I do have grading, of course; however, there is more merit to this than you may realize. First, Monty Python -- the British comedy troupe -- has become inextricably associated with all that is "British" in the minds of many. Their educated humor and sharp-minded wit have helped to define what we think of as British comedy, certainly. Their biting satire has taken aim at the British government (and our own), and Britain's monarchy, institutions and social customs. In a sense, their humor (like Shakespeare's) is timeless; no period of history is safe from ridicule (or illumination), and no taboo is too taboo. Second, the movie is a send-up of everything we've studied so far regarding the Middle Ages. They touch on Arthurian Lit and the Grail quest motif (of course), and also feudalism, k...

Senior End-of-Year Schedule!

Seniors, the end is near, and there are a few assignments left to schedule. Here is a list of everything due in the next two weeks: Career Update - a one-page addendum to your research paper, updating your plans for college and beyond. Be sure to include what you originally planned and if that's changed. Whether plans have changed or not, please explain why and what steps you've taken towards reaching your goal -- i.e. where you've decided to attend and what major you've declared. This is due WEDNESDAY 4/24. Letter to Future Self - this is an OPTIONAL assignment, but I encourage you to take it seriously. As discussed in class, this letter will be sent to you in about five years. Think about what you'd like to tell yourself five years from now. For example, maybe it would be interesting to reflect on your plans at the time, what values you held dear, what you wanted to remember. In addition, you might think about your current likes/dislikes related to pop cultur...