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Final Exam Review Guide
Test Date: Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Time: 7:55 a.m.
Rosevear Period 1: Room 125 (Sutera)
Rosevear Period 5: Room 239 (Weissman)
Rosevear Period 7: Room 236 (Laux)
The final exam will be 100 minutes (1 hour, 40 minutes) in length; if you have 50% extra
time, you will have up to 150 minutes (2 ½ hours) to complete the exam.
It will consist of three parts:
1. Short story: read a short story and answer questions based on the story
2. Poetry: read 2 poems and answer questions based on the poems
3. Essay: write an essay – you will have the option to use a work of literature we have
read during the year
You should be familiar with the setting, plot, themes, characters, and authors of the
piece you choose to write about for your essay. When preparing for the exam, pick
two or three texts that have greatly impacted you during the year. Make sure to know
those pieces well enough to write about them.
You may choose from, but are not limited to:
Mythology (Prometheus and Pandora)
Haroun and the Sea of Stories, Salman Rushdie
Somehow Tenderness Survives (short stories)
Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare
Farewell to Manzanar, Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston and James D. Houston
Siddhartha, Hermann Hesse
This review guide will help you prepare for the final exam. You should also review your
class notes on the literature we have read during the year, how to write a formal essay,
and literary terms.
GOOD LUCK!
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Some Literary Terms You Will Need to Know
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Alliteration
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Allusion
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Apostrophe
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Caesura
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Inference (to infer)
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Mood
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Narrative structure (1st person, 2nd person, 3rd person)
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Omniscient narrator
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Dialogue
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Repetition
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Simile
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Speaker
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------POETRY
For the poetry portion of the exam, you will be asked to read and analyze a poem and
answer questions related to that poem.
When you read the poem, read it twice for understanding and break it down line by line.
You will be asked to identify some of the following:
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Theme
Setting
Speaker
Mood
What is happening
Poetic devices (such as alliteration, metaphor, simile, apostrophe, consonance,
personification, assonance, mood, tone, and imagery)
Here are some practice poems and questions:
SONNET 130
My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;
Coral is far more red than her lips' red;
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.
I have seen roses damask'd, red and white,
But no such roses see I in her cheeks;
And in some perfumes is there more delight
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.
I love to hear her speak, yet well I know
That music hath a far more pleasing sound;
I grant I never saw a goddess go;
My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground:
And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare
As any she belied with false compare.
SONNET 18
Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade
Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest;
Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou growest:
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this and this gives life to thee.
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Directions: Read each sonnet at least twice. Read each questions and all the answers
carefully before making your choices. Feel free to take notes on the sonnets and on this
sheet. Choose the letter of the BEST answer for each question.
1. What does the speaker mean when he says that he “mistress’ eyes are nothing like the
sun”?
a. That she is blind
b. That she has blue eyes
c. That her eyes are dull
d. That her eyes shine brightly
2. What does the speaker say about his mistress’ hair?
a. That it is thin
b. That it is blonde
c. That it is rubbery
d. That it is curly
3. Sonnet 130 is about:
a. a man who’s love is not physically beautiful, but is a beautiful person
b. a man who loves a woman’s beauty, but not her personality
c. an ugly, horrible woman
d. a beautiful, caring woman
4. “My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun” is an example of what literary device?
a. metaphor
b. theme
c. simile
d. personification
5. What does the speaker mean when he says, “I have seen roses damasked, red and
white, / But no such roses see I in her cheeks”?
a. That she has roses for cheeks
b. That her cheeks are full of color
c. That her cheeks are pale
d. That her lips are not red
6. What is the tone of Sonnet 130?
a. honest
b. sarcastic
c. bitter
d. joyful
7. All of the following are true about the woman in sonnet 130 EXCEPT
a. her breath stinks
b. her voice is obnoxious
c. she has a heavy step
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d. her teeth are brown
8. How does sonnet 130 differ from sonnet 18?
a. the woman in sonnet 18 is beautiful, where the one in 130 is not
b. the woman in sonnet 18 is loved, where the one in 130 is not
c. the woman in sonnet 18 is not loved, but the one in 130 is
d. the woman in sonnet 18 has been immortalized through words, but the one in
130 has been immortalized in stone
9. “I grant I never saw a goddess go” is an example of what literary device?
a. alliteration
b. allusion
c. assonance
d. personification
10. What is the rhyme scheme of both sonnet 130 and sonnet 18?
a. abbcabbcdedeff
b. ababcdcdefefgg
c. abbaabbacdecde
d. abcdabcdefefgg
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ESSAY
For the Essay portion of the exam, you will be asked to compare and contrast texts you
have read during the year.
Read the essay question carefully and spend at least 5 minutes brainstorming ideas and
planning out your essay.
Make sure to proofread your work and make corrections as needed.
The next few pages include:
- A formal essay planner
- A formal essay checklist
Formal Essay Planner
Introduction:
- Hook/Opening
- Mention the Title, Author, and Protagonist (Main Character)
- Thesis Statement
1st Body Paragraph:
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- Topic sentence
- Example from the book (Quote with citation if available)
- Supporting Details
2nd Body Paragraph:
- Topic sentence
- Example from the book (Quote with citation if available)
- Supporting Details
3rd Body Paragraph:
- Topic sentence
- Example from the book (Quote with citation if available)
- Supporting Details
Conclusion:
- Restate Thesis Statement
- Closing Statement – leave the reader with a conclusive thought about your topic
Formal Essay Writing Checklist
Whenever you are writing a formal essay on literature, follow the format below and
check off each item after you have completed it.
Introductory/First Paragraph:
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I use a hook to start the introduction
I identify the title and the author (Italicize the title of a book. If the piece is
handwritten, underline the title. The title of a short story or poem is in quotes.)
I concisely explain the book
I provide a plan for the essay
I end with the thesis statement
Body Paragraphs:
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I begin with a topic sentence that introduces the main idea of the paragraph
I use three pieces of evidence to support my argument (quotes, describe an
incident or incidents, use examples, etc.) and elaborate on the main idea
When I use a quote: (1) I introduce it; (2) I use it in the paragraph; and (3) I
explain how it is relevant
I have at least five sentences
Concluding Paragraph:
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I restate the introduction
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I restate the thesis statement
I leave the reader with an idea, thought, or impression
Throughout the Essay:
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I use present tense
I use third person (avoid I, you, me, our, etc.)
I cite quotes correctly
I have revised my essay
I have edited my essay for correct spelling, capitalization, punctuation and
grammar
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