English 2342Exam 1 Review Notes Besides knowing the different sets of introductory material assigned from our texts, handouts, and website, be sure that you can show familiarity with the assigned readings and lecture discussions. The exam is 40 questions (multiple-choice and passage ID) with one essay question, and does not allow you to use your book or notes.

The exam will consist of the following:

We will not have the definition matching section on our final exam.

3-6 questions in which you match the definition to the term it defines.  Know the following terms from the historical periods and readings covered in the last half of our course. 

o Psaltery o Phylactery o modernism o postmodernismo Realismo iatrophobico catafalqueo tenebrouso chignon

8-20 questions in which you match a passage to its titled work.  Review the assigned readings, especially passages that we discussed in class.

20-30 multiple-choice questions over the assigned readings we discussed.  You will need to be familiar enough with the tales we have read to be able to answer questions without having the textbook in front of you. If we discussed a reading in class at any length, then it is safe to assume that it could be included on the exam.

An essay question that asks you to analyze and evaluate a Zola short story.

The exam covers all the works we have read since “Carmilla” and “The Outsider” on October 11 th, including Memoirs of a Survivor, “Secret Observations on the Goat-Girl,” “Jordan’s End,” “The Vampire of Kaldenstein,” “Blood Disease,” and the other readings from the last half of the semester. That includes all the introductions from Dracula and Lovecraft’s Collected Works as well as the introduction to Cambridge Companion to Gothic Literature. Know some of the key concerns and themes from these works that we have discussed in class. For the historical period, know some of the key social, economic, and technological events, especially the 1880s to the 1990s. Rely on the handouts in class, class discussion, and the introductions and Baldick (for more background). For the essay component please analyze Emile Zola’s short story “The Death of Olivier Bécaille” (pp. 158-179 in our The Penguin Book of Horror Stories, and linked on the course website). Do not simply summarize the plot of the story. Instead, initiate a thoughtful and perceptive discussion of the intertwining themes, symbols, and problems the story presents. Your thesis should represent the conclusion or principal finding of your analysis. You might begin by discussing how the story evokes the horror effect and where this effect either fails or is carried through. You might also discuss how the story uses Gothic and Romantic as well as realist elements (Zola was a famous 19th century realist writer) to produce its meanings. (It is always, for instance, interesting to see where realist representation breaks down, despite its confident denial that any such failure could happen.) Please attempt to formulate your analysis in a formal essay. You should have a short introduction with a specific thesis statement, preferably mapped with supporting topics, at least three body paragraphs, topic sentences that identify each body paragraph’s main idea, quotations or paraphrased examples used to support your claims, and at least a short conclusion. A good conclusion goes a long way.