Final Exam Study Guide: Engl 325

The purpose of this study guide is not to indicate exactly what will be on the exam. The ideas (which have discussed in class) below are intended to help you think about the works we've studied this semester and organize your studying. Use these ideas with your notes and own ideas to think about the poems, prose, and novel we have read. Don't forget the Intro. to the Victorian Age and the Queen Victoria's Empire video discuss many of these ideas, along with the author bios.

A main focus should be the themes are course is organizied around. (See the syllabus and course description.)  Think about how each work we've read and discussed reflects its theme.  But also consider how individual works address more than one theme:  Empire; Education; Individualism & Society; Play and Games; Victorian Short Story 

Focus on your notes and the texts. Write out practice responses to previous quiz questions and questions you make up. Also, review your midterm responses. Remember the quiz and midterms examples we have gone over in class. The card (Tennyson) you used for group work in class has good notes. Course Notes (website) also have info. to help you study.  Review your midterm exam.

Question types:

  1. Identifications: You will identify a passage (title of a work) and explain its significance. (I will not give you obscure passages.)*
  2. Multiple choice or fill in the blank*
  3. Short Answer*
  4. NEW:  Longer essay question (1 1/2-2pgs) focusing on a single work or on comparing/contrasting works. Also, you will have some choices.

*1-3 are like quiz/midterm questions.

Carry-Over Works: Jane Eyre; "The Man Who Would Be King"; The Idea of a University, Lark Rise

Time you will have to complete the final exam: 2 hrs for thinking, planning, writing, and reviewing. Actual exam time is approximately 1 1/2 hrs.

Key Concepts:  Mirror Stage; Separate Spheres Doctrine &New Woman; Homosocial/-erotic/-sexual; Divided Self/Doubles; Dramatic Monologue; Commodity Fetishism; Play Theory, Victorian Short Story
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Below are some issues/themes we have considered this semester. Expand on these issues and add works not listed here. Also, works might fit in more than one category. Remember, the exam questions will not necessarily be taken literally from this list.

  1. Individualism and Society:  This theme encompasses a number of subthemes we explored: social class, science, religious faith, gender, (laissez-faire) capitalism, industrialization.  What defines individualism in the Victorian period? What struggles and conflicts does the individual face? How does/Can one remain an individual and belong to society? How is individualism affected by societal concerns, such as class, gender and sexuality, capitalism and industrialization?  Is religious faith an expression of individualism and societal values? What about industrialization as a social criticism of urban life and social/economic conditions of workers/Victorian citizens?  Connected to all of these ideas are the concepts of liberty and freedom, defined in numerous ways. Consider works we read this semester: e.g., "Goblin Market," "Dover Beach," In Memoriam, The Great Towns, the painting we discussed: Work.  Finally, you might look at this theme on the midterm study guide.
  2. Play and Games: The Gospel of Play is central to an understanding of the Victorian Age.  What does play provide individuals?  Why is it needed? Necessary?  (Think of our readings about Victorian education.) What does play do for individualus and society?  Is play the oppposite of work or an extension of it?  What is play (as a noun)? Consider that play is the raw material of games.  What features/characteristics do we associate with play? With games? Difference between playing (at) play and playing a game? (See Course Notes page: "The Victorian Gospel of Play.")  What is the significance of competition?  Of rules?  Consider our selections from The Pickwick Papers and Carroll's Alice.  Also, "A Toy Princess"?  Finally, The Gospel of Play is related to The Gospel of Work. (See Course Notes.)
  3. Gender and sexuality address the role and position of women in Victorian England, a subtheme of the Individual and Society.  What issues were important for women--domesticity, education, (economic) independence? How was marriage viewed? What attitudes reflected but also shaped ideas about gender and sexuality? Separate spheres doctrine? And what about men?  How is masculinity defined? And are men caught up in gender definition as women are?  Consider Jane Eyre, "Porphyria's Lover," Lark Rise.  Also, the view of masculinity in The Idea of the University.
  4. Poetry and poetic form/style.(**I will not ask you the scan lines of poems.**)  Consider how form and meter reinforce themes we have discussed. For example, consider In Memoriam, "Porphyria's Lover," "Goblin Market," "Dover Beach."
  5. The Victorian Short Story: Why was the short story a popular genre?  How does it differ from the novel?  Given its more concentrated focus (e.g., dramatic conflict) and conception of desired or single effect with a well-designed plot, what themes does the short story reveal? Consider "Eveline's Visitant," "A Toy Princess," and "The Man Who Would Be King." 
  6. Consider works we've read this semester that fit in more than one category, e.g., The Pickwick Papers (Play and Games and Individualism and Society), The Idea of the University (Education and Individualism and Society),
    "The Man Who Would Be King" (Empire and the Victorian Short Story).  Also, what works might you compare and contrast to explore the meanings of the Victorian Age?  For example, "A Toy Princess" and Alice in Wonderland. Jane Eyre and "Goblin Market." Or In Memoriam and "Dover Beach."