Name: _____________________________________ Period: ______ TEST DATE: _____________
Midterm Exam Study Guide
For the exam you must be able to identify each of the literary elements below within a literary text :
a) tone - ______________________________________________________________________________________________
b) point of view - ________________________________________________________________________________________
ex:________________________________________________________________________________________________
c) theme - _____________________________________________________________________________________________
d) direct characterization - _________________________________________________________________________________
ex:________________________________________________________________________________________________
e) first person narration -__________________________________________________________________________________
f) mood- _______________________________________________________________________________________________
ex:________________________________________________________________________________________________
g) genre- ______________________________________________________________________________________________
ex:________________________________________________________________________________________________
h) character - ___________________________________________________________________________________________
i) antagonist - __________________________________________________________________________________________
ex:________________________________________________________________________________________________
j) dilemma-_A problem offering two possibilities, but neither one is acceptable.________________________________________
k) foreshadowing - _______________________________________________________________________________________
Name: _____________________________________ Period: ______ TEST DATE: _____________
Midterm Exam Study Guide
ex:___________________________________________________________________________________________________
l) suspense- _______________________________________________________________________________________________
m) irony- __________________________________________________________________________________________________
n) protagonist- ______________________________________________________________________________________________
o) plot - ___________________________________________________________________________________________________
p) exposition - ______________________________________________________________________________________________
q) conflict - _________________________________________________________________________________________________
r) setting - _________________________________________________________________________________________________
s) climax- _________________________________________________________________________________________________
t) external conflict- __________________________________________________________________________________________
u) internal conflict- __________________________________________________________________________________________
v) indirect characterization- ___________________________________________________________________________________
You will analyze these within a short story you have NEVER read before so make sure you understand, not just what they are but how
to identify them within a text. There will also be questions from the following texts from this semester:
“The Cask of Amontillado”
The Odyssey
You must also know...
● The author of each story
●
The plot elements of each story (aka the exposition, conflict, climax, resolution for each)
Name: _____________________________________ Period: ______ TEST DATE: _____________
Midterm Exam Study Guide
●
The point of view each story is told in
●
The mood of each story
●
The theme(s) of each story
●
The character traits of each of the major characters from each story
Use the chart on the next page to help you identify most of these for each story.
Story
“The Cask
of
Amontillado”
“The Lottery/Gift
of The Magi/ The
Necklace”
Author
Conflict
Climax
Resolution
Point of View
Mood
Theme
Name: _____________________________________ Period: ______ TEST DATE: _____________
Midterm Exam Study Guide
The Odyssey
For each excerpt you read on the midterm you will be asked question in which you must decipher VOCABULARY IN CONTEXT. Use the
strategies below in order to help you determine the meaning of the words.
Vocabulary in context refers to the sentences or the whole paragraph surrounding an unfamiliar word. Context clues are used to make a good
guess at the word’s meaning. There are six different types of context clues:
1) definition/restatement
2) example
3) synonym
4) comparison
5) contrast
6) cause and effect
Examples
1. Writers sometimes restate a word in order to define it.
When Henry Gonzalez was elected to Congress, many of his Spanish speaking constituents, the voters in his district, felt he would fight for their rights.
2. Examples used in context may help reveal the meaning.
The scientist was accused of several acts of espionage, such as photographing secret documents and taping private conversations.
3. Look for familiar words that may be synonyms of words not known.
The club’s coffers were so low that the members had to ask for donations to refill the treasury.
4. An unknown word may be compared or shown to be similar to a more common word.
Name: _____________________________________ Period: ______ TEST DATE: _____________
Midterm Exam Study Guide
As in so many polluted cities, the air in our community is sometimes too contaminated to breathe.
5. An unknown word may be contrasted with a more familiar word.
The team’s uniforms were immaculate before the game, but by the end of the first half they were filthy.
6. An unfamiliar word may be related to the cause or effect of an action, feeling, or idea.
Will Rogers was considered to be a humanitarian because he worked to improve people’s lives.
The OdysseyOn the exam you will be asked to read a passage from The Odyssey that you have never read before. Use the skills and strategies used in
class in order to adequately comprehend the piece. Use episodes from The Odyssey in your test book as well as the excerpt in this
Study Guide to practice.
Strategies for reading the Odyssey
●
Paraphrase every few lines.
●
Develop a concise summary at the end of the passage.
●
Use context clues to determine the meaning of vocabulary you may not understand.
●
Keep going! It is ok to get stuck on a line, you may find that if you continue reading you will understand the general idea of what
the author was trying to say.
Keep in mind● Odysseus’ character traits-
●
The characteristics of epic hero-
Name: _____________________________________ Period: ______ TEST DATE: _____________
Midterm Exam Study Guide
●
Odysseus’ Quest-
●
Major themes of The Odyssey-
Below is an excerpt from The Odyssey that was only briefly mentioned in class, but not read, the Laestrygonians. See if you can figure
out which section of the text this is from, and the major events that occur on this island.
[87] "When we had come thither into the goodly harbor, about which on both sides a sheer cliff runs continuously, and projecting
headlands opposite to one another stretch out at the mouth, and the entrance is narrow, then all the rest steered their curved
ships in, and the ships were moored within the hollow harbor close together; for therein no wave ever swelled, great or small,
but all about was a bright calm. But I alone moored my black ship outside, there on the border of the land, making the cables
fast to the rock. Then I climbed to a rugged height, a point of outlook, and there took my stand; from thence no works of oxen
or of men appeared; smoke alone we saw springing up from the land. So then I sent forth some of my comrades to go and learn
who the men were, who here ate bread upon the earth—two men I chose, and sent with them a third as a herald. Now when
they had gone ashore, they went along a smooth road by which wagons were wont to bring wood down to the city from the high
mountains.
PARAPHRASE: _________________________________________________________________________________________
What does wont mean? _____________________________________________________________________________
[105] "And before the city they met a maiden drawing water, the goodly daughter of Laestrygonian Antiphates, who had come
down to the fair-flowing spring Artacia, from whence they were wont to bear water to the town. So they came up to her and
spoke to her, and asked her who was king of this folk, and who they were of whom he was lord. And she showed them forth with
the high-roofed house of her father. Now when they had entered the glorious house, they found there his wife, huge as the peak
Name: _____________________________________ Period: ______ TEST DATE: _____________
Midterm Exam Study Guide
of a mountain, and they were aghast at her. At once she called from the place of assembly the glorious Antiphates, her husband,
and he devised for them woeful destruction. Straightway he seized one of my comrades and made ready his meal, but the other
two sprang up and came in flight to the ships.
PARAPHRASE: _________________________________________________________________________________________
What does woeful mean? _____________________________________________________________________________
[118] Then he raised a cry throughout the city, and as they heard it the mighty Laestrygonians came thronging from all sides, a
host past counting, not like men but like the Giants. They hurled at us from the cliffs with rocks huge as a man could lift, and at
once there rose throughout the ships a dreadful din, alike from men that were dying and from ships that were being crushed.
And spearing them like fishes they bore them home, a loathly meal. Now while they were slaying those within the deep harbor, I
meanwhile drew my sharp sword from beside my thigh, and cut therewith the cables of my dark-prowed ship; and quickly calling
to my comrades bade them fall to their oars, that we might escape from out our evil plight. And they all tossed the sea with their
oar-blades in fear of death, and joyfully seaward, away from the beetling cliffs, my ship sped on; but all those other ships were
lost together there.
PARAPHRASE: _________________________________________________________________________________________
What does loathly mean? _____________________________________________________________________________
[133] “Thence we sailed on, grieved at heart, glad to have escaped death, though we had lost our dear comrades; and we came
to the isle of Aeaea, where dwelt fair-tressed Circe, a dread goddess of human speech, own sister to Aeetes of baneful mind; and
both are sprung from Helius, who gives light to mortals, and from Perse, their mother, whom Oceanus begot. Here we put in to
shore with our ship in silence, into a harbor where ships may lie, and some god guided us. Then we disembarked, and lay there
for two days and two nights, eating our hearts for weariness and sorrow.
PARAPHRASE: _________________________________________________________________________________________
Name: _____________________________________ Period: ______ TEST DATE: _____________
Midterm Exam Study Guide
What does begot mean? _____________________________________________________________________________
Summary: _____________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
Essay- On the midterm you will have the option to choose between two different essay topics. It will be 5 paragraphs and
worth 50 points of your grade (a.k.a.: the essay counts as HALF of your midterm grade, so be prepared!!!)
The first essay option on the midterm will be concerning CONFLICT.
Remember Conflict is a struggle between two or more opposing forces.
There are four (4) types of conflict:
1) Man vs. Man -- (Conflict with Other People)
- pits one person against another.
In it the reader seeks to know how a character reacts to the stress of conflict.
2) Man vs. Nature -- (Conflict with Nature)
- pits man against the elements.
In it the reader observes how a run-in with nature tests the limits of a person’s strength and maybe even his will to live.
3) Man vs. Society -- (Conflict with Society)
- Sometimes a person’s values, beliefs, and actions result in conflict with just about everyone in a group, in a
community, or in all of society in general. The individual is challenging the values and customs everyone else lives by.
4) Man vs. Himself -- (Internal Conflict)
Two conflicting elements struggle within a character for mastery. This is a good test of a character’s values.
The second essay option on the midterm will be concerning THEME.
Name: _____________________________________ Period: ______ TEST DATE: _____________
Midterm Exam Study Guide
Remember- A THEME is a statement of opinion the author is making about life or society. Themes are seldom stated directly. One way
to discover the theme of a work of literature is to think about what happens to the central character. The importance of that event,
stated in terms that apply to all human beings, is the theme.
To prepare for the essay choose TWO texts from this semester that you consider yourself familiar enough with so that you will be able to identify the
various conflicts or themes that exist within that piece. use the graphic organizer that follow to prepare.
Essay Pre-Write
Option 1- Conflict
Literary Text & Author
Conflicts within the Story & Explanation
●
_____________ VS _____________:
●
_____________ VS _____________:
●
_____________ VS ______________:
●
_____________ VS _____________:
●
_____________ VS _____________:
Name: _____________________________________ Period: ______ TEST DATE: _____________
Midterm Exam Study Guide
●
_____________ VS ______________:
Essay Pre-Write
Option 2- Themes
Literary Text & Author
Themes within the Story & Explanation
●
__________________________:
●
__________________________:
●
___________________________:
●
____________________________:
●
____________________________:
●
____________________________:
Name: _____________________________________ Period: ______ TEST DATE: _____________
Midterm Exam Study Guide