Final Exam

Availability, Procedure, Due Date

Aka, the "how" and the "when" of the test.

As announced, this is an online take-home exam. The exam paper (this document) will be shared via myCourses announcement the morning of 13-May. You will type your responses into a document saved in word format (.doc, .docx, .rtf). You can use Word, Google Docs, etc. to create and edit your answer document). When you are done (and make sure you feel satisfied with your work!), upload your document to Turnitin via the "Final Exam Download/Upload" link on the myCourses course site.

You'll have till 12 noon the following day (14-May) to submit via upload your completed document. That should be plenty of time. When you upload, please make sure you receive confirmation from myCourses that you have successfully completed the upload process. If you experience technical difficulties, please let me know.

Coverage, Format

Yes, this will be a true comprehensive final. But it is better thought of as having dual coverage:

• Part 1 addressing readings since midterm. That's 26-Mar Euripides Iphigenia at Aulis through 5-May Anouilh Antigone.
• Part 2 seeking to give you the chance to demonstrate your ability to put it all together, to draw some tentative conclusions about it: opening and final lectures, everything in between
• Education is always a beginning, never an ending. Hence for this part 2 I'm not looking for a finalized, meaning-of-life essay from students, but for evidence that you have read, brain-stormed, thought critically.

In preparation you'll want to study:

• Relevant assigned texts, as per above
• Your notes on lectures and discussions
• Your myCourses course site journal entries
• That terms list, with a focus on 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 certain key historical events, will be important for, for instance, political themes in various plays.

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 you have explored for this class.

Grammar, style, spelling. I don't expect quite the same level of writing that I would on a formal paper, but this is a take-home exam — pretty close. Please proof-read for grammar, style, spelling (including ancient words and names), and clarity: all of that counts. Arguments should make sense and need to be defended with evidence. You must cite the texts (title, author) you are discussing, with the exception of the materials I have prepared for this class: study guides, PowerPoints, etc. These last you don't need to cite. Arguments made from the gut with no support will not earn credit.

The open-book aspect. As you take the test, you may certainly pore over the texts you've purchased, downloaded, or otherwise accessed for the purposes of completing assignments.

What you may not do is use additional reference materials (other than those assigned or that form part of the Bingweb or myCourses sites) without citing your sources. Word to the wise: try to stay away from everything third-party.

For clarity on the academic-honesty dimension of this exam, I quote the following from the Syllabus:

Expect two basic types of questions/prompts:

1. Shorter essay, requiring 200 (or more) words of your writing, and focused mostly on factual matters (know your plays, know your terms). Questions/prompts like this:
   • What is a [term]. In what scene of what play might it have been used? How would it have been used?
   • The [term] is an important part of any tragedy. What is it, how does it function? Name a tragedy in which one does not appear?
   • [character's name] appears in which three plays that we have read? Identify and define what "job" that character has in each of those plays.
2. Longer essay: "What is tragedy?"
   • No, I'm not asking you to define tragedy for all time. I'm asking you to think about what others have said tragedy is/does/can do, and how that may or may not contribute to your own understanding of it
   • For this part, you'll have only one question/prompt to respond to. You'll write about 800 or more words. (If you go above 2,000, I might stop reading). That question will be an adapted version of the Anouilh Antigone class 2 journal prompt, with the requirement that a selection of texts from throughout the semester be cited to support your argument — more on that on the test itself

Suggestions for Studying, Test-Taking

In studying, don't re-read every play. Rather, . . .

• Note down on a study sheet the authors, titles, characters/speakers (from plays), main issues. Quiz yourself on those
• Scan through your texts and try to recall important passages, points, etc.
• Read through the notes you've taken on those assignments
• Read through your journal responses
• Go through study guides for further guidance to important themes, issues, concepts, etc.
• Ditto for PowerPoints
• Study terms below

As to taking the test itself, whether you feel prepared or not, enter the room in a calm state of mind: adrenalin won't necessarily help. That sort of cold-blooded, couldn't-care-less attitude can often get us over our nerves and give of the courage to trust our recall.

Terms/Concepts Relevant to Material to Be Tested

For the purpose of Part 1 of the final, along with studying content of readings since the midterm (along with relevant facts, etc.), study the following terms, definitions for which you'll find on the "List of Key Terms with Definitions" page:

• crepidata
• mos maiorum
• parody, parodic, paratragedy, paratragic
• perverse exaggeration
• praetexta
• satyr
• satyr drama
• Senecan formula
• sententia
• Silenus/silenos/silen, Papposilenus
• trope of decline