Thu, 2-May Journal Prompt
The last one!
So, this could be a shorter entry — I'm not going to hold you to the 150-word lower limit. Please come up with one or more (not too many!) questions relating to course content, not to exam coverage or format (which we will discuss in class); in other words, something — a concept, term, plot-point, something else — that seems important but could use clarification.
Needless to say, we'll explore in class. Come to class!
Coverage
This will be a comprehensive final — think of it as having dual coverage:
- Parts 1 and 2. Here, you'll address assignments since the midterm. That's 14-Mar Euripides Iphigenia at Aulis through 30-Apr Anouilh Antigone. You will, though, need to review certain terms/concepts that were the focus of the midterm (12-Mar) exam — see below
- Part 3. Here, you'll be writing on readings and topics addressed over the course of the entire semester, 16-Jan through 2-May
Preparation, Expectations
To prepare, you'll want to study/review:
- Relevant assigned texts
- Your notes on lectures and discussions
- Your Brightspace course site journal entries
- Terms listed below
- Study guides
- PowerPoints
- You won't be required to know exact dates, but a basic grasp of chronology of plays, and of how that chronology relates to historical developments, will be important.
Outside texts, issues, etc. I am sometimes asked if you can discuss texts, concepts, or issues not dealt with in our class. Well, sure, but the focus of your writing must still be on texts, concepts, and issues we have explored for this class.
Grammar, style, spelling, argumentation. I don't expect quite the same level of writing that I would for a formal paper, but we need at this point to be able to spell correctly play titles, playwrights' and character names, important terms — that kind of thing. Arguments need to be defended with evidence. You must cite the texts (title, author) you are discussing.
Academic honesty. For clarity on the academic-honesty dimension of this exam, see the Syllabus.
Format
Part 1 (30 points, 30 minutes)
For Part 1, you will address:
- Post-midterm terms/concepts drawn from the "post-midterm" list, below
- Named characters from plays (including Anouilh's Antigone) assigned since the midterm
In either case, you will be offered a choice of terms/characters to choose from.
Unlike on the midterm, Part 1 of this final will ask you to write a generous paragraph, approximately half a page or more (100+ words), on each item or question you select. You will need to cite playwrights, play titles, anything relevant.
Examples (though neither of these will be on the test):
- What is an ekkuklema? How does it relate to a play or plays read since the midterm?
- Who is Pylades? How does he relate to a play or plays read since the midterm?
Part 2 (30 points, 30 minutes)
This will be a shorter essay, two or more single-spaced blue-book pages (300+ words), on just one of two or more topics listed on my exam paper. You will be asked to address your topic using a certain spread of plays read since the midterm. Built into these topics will be the comparison of Greek and Roman drama. You will need to cite playwrights, play titles, anything relevant. In preparing, it will be useful to review, among other things, certain pre-midterm terms.
Topics to choose from (choose only one!) will be closely modeled on two or more of the following. Though I'm not announcing in advance exactly which of these topics/prompts/questions will be on the test paper, these are topics we have explored, and it should help to know what sort of thing to expect.
- How do [specified plays read since the midterm] vary in terms of their treatment of gender?
- How do issues of performance and staging change our perspective on [specified plays read since midterm]?
- How do [specified plays read since the midterm] vary in terms of structure, style, theme, and/or motif? Are there lenses that help?
- Compare and contrast the handling of politics in [specified plays read since midterm]
- Compare and contrast rhetorical features of [specified plays read since midterm]
Part 3 (40 points, 40 minutes)
This will be a longer essay, a minimum of four, single-spaced, hand-written blue-book pages (roughly, 600+ words). You will be asked to respond to a question/prompt based on the 30-Apr journal entry. (I won't give you the exact question now, but it'll be close to the journal prompt, with the Anouilh quotation included.)
For your Part 2 essay, you naturally will be saying something about Anouilh's play. You will also address (a) Aristophanes' Frogs and (b) an otherwise yet-to-be-determined spread of plays read since the beginning of the semester. You will need to cite playwrights, play titles, anything relevant.
Terms/Concepts to Study
Find out more about each of the following items by consulting the List of Key Terms with Definitions page.
Part 1 of the exam addresses post-midterm terms and concepts directly. Beyond that, studying both lists, pre- and post-midterm, will enrich your writing on the exam, especially for the two essays.
As for the Terms page itself, it includes a number of items not listed below: some not dealt with in class (they can be safely ignored), others that we have dealt with (if you have time, go ahead and review them). But the crucial stuff is listed below.
Post-Midterm
- crepidata
- empyrosis
- fascination, fascinatio, fascinum
- praetexta
- rhetoric
- satyr drama, satyr play
- Senecan schema, Senecan formula
- sophist, sophistic
- trope of decline
- tyrant, tyranny
Pre-midterm
- anagnorisis ("recognition," see Aristotle's Poetics — not the same as "learning through suffering")
- ate ("delusion," "ruin")
- catharsis (see Aristotle's Poetics)
- dike ("justice")
- hamartia ("error," "crime," "sin")
- hubris ("insult," "arrogance," "injury"), hubristic
- koros ("excess")
- pathei mathos ("learning through suffering," tragic learning)
- peripeteia ("reversal of fortune," see Aristotle's Poetics)
- tragic cycle (cycle of suffering/violence/retribution, etc.)