Fall Final Exam Review Sheet
Make sure you understand the definitions of the following words:
Allusion
Anaphora
Antecedent
Anecdote
Allegory
Ad Hominem
Alliteration
Antithesis
Assertion
asyndeton
Connotation
Concession
Conclusion
Colloquialism
Denotation
Diction
Euphemism
Ethos
Exigency
Fallacy
Foreshadowing
Hyperbole
Imagery
Incongruity
Irony (Verbal, Situational, and Dramatic)
Juxtapostion
Logos
Metaphor
Motif
Non sequitur
Oxymoron
Pathos
Paradox
Personification
Point-of-view
Polysyndeton
Parallelism
Refrain
Rhetoric
Rhetorical Questions
Syntax
Simile
Syllogism
Tone
Theme
Thesis
All tone words and Scarlet Letter vocabulary may appear in questions on the test. Also, the specific fallacies we studied will appear which are:
Generalization
Statistical
Ad hominem
Begging the Question
Slippery Slope
Bandwagon
Either/or (black and white)
Straw Man
Poisoning the Well
Red Herring
Arguing from the negative
False analogy
Things to remember:
Diction is word choice, but not just individual words; it includes the phrasing of words. Diction builds tone.
What is the difference between connotation and denotation? Authors often choose words for their connotative power which sometimes creates a double layer of meaning. Often they do this in titles. Titles often point to theme, or the author’s main argument.
-Review all short pieces, your annotations of those pieces,and your notes from our class discussions of those pieces. You may see passages and analysis questions from the following pieces that will require you best literary analysis:
“Shame” by Dick Gregory (website)
“Fear” by Gary Soto (website)
“Crazy Horse” by Ian Frazier (website)
“Living Well. Living Good” by Maya Angelou (website)
Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address (website)
“In Search of the Good Family” by Jane Howard LOC pages 283-288
Chapter 1, pages 1-13 of The Language of Composition
The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
“Notes of a Native Son” by James Baldwin (website)
“The Red Candle” by Amy Tan (website)
“The New Community” Amitia Etzioni LOC pages 289-294
“Being a Man” by Paul Theroux LOC page 378-381
“ New and Newer Versions of Scripture” LOC page 405-406
" Ain't I a Woman?" by Sojourner Truth
“Sweat” by Zora Neale Hurston LOC page 393-402
Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
“Young Goodman Brown” byt Nathaniel Hawthorne(website)
“Why I Went to the Woods” by Henry David Thoreau (website)
“Design” by Robert Frost (website)
“A Good Man is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Connor (website)
Barn Burning” by William Faulkner (website)
The Surgeon as Priest” by Richard Selzer LOC p. 197-204
“High School Confidential” by David Denby LOC p. 709-714
One Nation, With Aunt Susan” from The Economist (website)
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
**Note: This is not a test covering plot; it is a test that demonstrates your ability to analyze for rhetorical devices and their effects.
Make sure you are familiar with the names of the characters in each piece as well as the authors. In the LOC be sure to notice how the paragraph about the author before the selection often builds the author’s ethos and summarizes the main argument. Be sure to locate a date and the original audience for every piece where possible. This information is important for understanding the exigency for each piece.
Be able to identify tone and tone shifts in the pieces. We suggest you look at each small piece and pick a couple of tone words from your tone words list that may describe it. That way you’ll have a good idea what kind of word you’re looking for on the test.
Consider the major symbols and themes in The Things They Carried. What is the role of story telling? How does O’Brien distinguish between truth and fiction and what implications does this message have for all works of literature? You may wish to review the names of major characters of the novel.
How is ethos, pathos, and logos defined in The Language of Composition? What is the rhetorical triangle? Review Lou Gehrig’s speech (pp 1), Jody Heyman’s “We Can Afford to Give Parents a Break” (pp. 6), and the cartoon on page 11.
Consider diction and syntax in “Fear”. Why does Soto story this piece with a sentence fragment? Who is telling this story and when? What literary/rhetorical devices does Soto use to characterize Frankie and contextualize the significance of the anecdote.
What is the effect Gregory achieves including dialog in “Shame”? How does Dick Gregory use both the connotation and denotation of his diction? How effective is the last anecdote about the homeless man? What connection does it have to the other anecdote about Helen Tucker? Recognize the symbolism in “Shame.” (Not just the symbolism of Helene Tucker)
What are the premised of Jane Howard’s arguments in “In Search of the Good Family” (pp. 283 of LOC)? How does she utilize ethos, pathos, and logos? What is her conclusion? How does diction convey her tone? Look at the questions on page 288 of LOC for more review.
Why is it important to Ian Frazier that “they never used a diminutive for [Crazy Horse]”? How is imagery utilized in this piece? What is the effect of the anaphora in “Crazy Horse”?
What argument is made through anecdote in “Living Well. Living Good?” What is the tone and where does it shift in this selection?
What is the tone of Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address? Who is his audience? What rhetorical devices does Lincoln utilize? What is the purpose of the speech? Why does he call the Civil War the “great contest”? What does it mean, “It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just God's assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men's faces?” How and why are “War” and the “Nation” personified by Lincoln? Re-read the last paragraph especially closely!
Consider the tone and argument in In Cold Blood. How does Capote create suspense for the murders when he tells the audience in the first pages that six people will die? How does he create a garden of Eden motif and symbolism from a supposedly factual account? How are all three types of irony used?
Diction is word choice, but not just individual words; it includes the phrasing of words.
What is the difference between connotation and denotation? What is the difference between anaphora and general parallel structure? What is the difference between polysyndeton and asyndeton? How does each of these techniques contribute to meaning of the work?
Motif is a repetition of elements, such as symbolism, in literature. You may wish to review the list of motifs in Song of Solomon posted on the website as well as major characters and themes.
The test will include a “cold reading” section which means you will be expected to analyze literary elements such as figurative language and tone in passages with which you may not be entirely familiar, though often the passages will be drawn from our novels.
**Note: This is not a test covering plot; it is a test that demonstrates your ability to analyze for rhetorical devices and their effects.
Consider the major symbols and themes in Song of Solomon. What is the role of story telling and names? What is the role of songs and flying? Does Milkman fly at the end of the novel? How does your interpretation of that passage affect how you read Morrison’s overall message?
How is ethos, pathos, and logos used in the argument pieces from the LOC? Be able to identify the premise, premise, and conclusion of each piece. How does original date and place of publication indicate each author’s original audience? What assumptions does each speaker make about their audience? What social views have changed since each argument was originally published? In other words, pay attention to the exigency of each piece.
Consider the symbolism in “The Red Candle.” How is the symbolic element of gold used differently in “The Red Candle” from Song of Solomon. Why is the narrator unnamed, though she is not Amy Tan. What is the effect of the framing technique used in that story? How are the conclusions that the narrator of “The Red Candle”, James Baldwin, and Milkman come to similar? What is the role of personal identity in each? What is the role of family?
How is gender defined in “Being a Man”? What assumptions does Paul Theroux make about his audience? How is diction used? What is Theroux’s overall message? How do Theroux’s assertions apply to Milkman’s struggles in SoS?
How does diction affect meaning in the various translations of the Bible?
How are ethos, pathos and logos established by Sojourner Truth? What is her premise? What evidence does she offer to support her premise? How does she appeal to the racism/prejudice of her audience (ad hominem)? This speech that was supposedly made by Sojourner Truth was written down some time later by others. Several versions of it exist. To what extent does the historical accuracy of this speech matter? How does Truth utilize refrain, metaphor, and biblical allusions in her speech?
What role do gender expectations play in “Sweat” by Zora Neale Hurston? How do the two scenes where Delia reaches into the hamper serve as contrasting parallels to emphasize changes in her character? What biblical connections do you find between this story and Genesis? What is the meaning of the title of this story? What message does Hurston suggest in Delia’s actions? Is Delia justified? How does the gender relations of this story compare to Milkman and Hagar? What is the function of the Roman numerals in this story? How does it compare to the use of Roman numerals in “Notes of A Native Son”?
The Southern Gothic notes we covered in class will appear on the test. The presentations for this is on the website. What works have we covered are considered Southern Gothics?
Make sure you can identify the thesis and conclusion of each argumentative passage. Also be able to identify major structural features and the author’s primary mode of persuasion such as ethos, pathos, and logos. Be prepared to identify rhetorical fallacies in the context of passages.