Name:
Date:
Period:
Study Guide: English 9
A.
Grammar:
Reminder: all grammar sections will be multiple choice. This does not mean you should not study or
practice your grammar concepts; you still need to know what you are doing and what you are looking
for in order to do well on this section. The grammar section will cover only the following concepts:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Run-on sentences
Parallel structure (or parallelism)
Dangling and misplaced modifiers
Subject/verb agreement
Commas
We have already been spending time in class reviewing (as I am sure you noticed). Therefore, since
there will not be any review packets or anything of that sort, I would recommend you study your notes,
pay attention during review in class, and do your homework.
B.
Literature:
For the final exam, I will only be using the last two pieces of literature we read during this semester.
These pieces are:
a. Things Fall Apart- Chinua Achebe
Essential Questions for Things Fall Apart:
1. What is a community?
2. What role does ritual and tradition play in a community?
3. How might the cultural fabric of a community be stretched or altered when it
encounters new ideas and members?
4. Can progress be made without conflict?
b. Siddhartha- Herman Hesse
Essential Questions for Siddhartha:
1. How do education and experience lead to wisdom?
2. What is the value of relationships (friendly, familial, and romantic)?
3. Why do people find religion attractive?
For the literature section, you will be writing two essays during the exam. Since this is a two-hour exam,
when you are writing, I would recommend you spend 25 minutes per essay- or definitely no longer than
30 minutes, tops.
Below are a total of four prompts; for the exam, you will be writing on two. Your prompts will come
from two categories-literary analysis and responses based on essential questions:
 Literary Analysis:
1. How is Siddhartha affected by the different “teachers” he chooses on his journey? Why do you
suppose he chooses these unlikely figures to be his teachers?
2. How do Siddhartha’s beliefs and teachings apply to modern life?
 Essential Question Based:
1. In Things Fall Apart, we see that the Ibo are a tribe who takes their tradition and ritual very
seriously. In fact, these rituals and traditions make up the core of the Ibo value structure.
Explain why Achebe begins the novel with an elaborate description of the central character
Okonkwo? What do we learn about the values of the Ibo through this presentation?
2. One of the essential questions we discussed with Things Fall Apart asked the following: How
might the cultural fabric of a community be stretched or altered when it encounters new ideas
and members? Keep in mind that the stretching or altering of a community with the coming of
new ideas is not always a bad thing: Good things can evolve as well. As we saw in this novel,
the power of religion can both guide a society and destroy it. Discuss the ways in which
Christianity, as promoted by the missionaries, does both.
In order to prepare fully for the exam (and to help you review the books, I am asking you to create
outlines for each of the prompts. Be sure to follow the outline format we have discussed in class for the
past few weeks. As promised, you will be able to use the outlines during the exam. Since I will be
choosing which two prompts you will be writing on during the exam, I would recommend that your
outlines are as complete as possible.
Like your midterm exams, I will also allow you to bring in a 3x5 index card with whatever you want
written on it- but it must be written on only one side. You can put whatever you like on to this index
card- grammar notes, literature concepts, whatever- but please follow the parameters I stated above.
Any questions? Please ask in advance of the test.