Two practice midterms

In section tomorrow we will be working through not only key points on the Chart o' Poets, but also a few entries on a poetry-only practice midterm. For the last fifteen minutes of discussion tomorrow, I am going to ask you to name two poems you would like to discuss -- poems that baffle you, or that we haven't had a chance to discuss yet, or just poems you'd like a chance to talk about some more.

I have also put together a second practice midterm involving a mix of poetry and Middlemarch. This might be a useful tool to spur studying over the weekend. There are a couple different ways you might use it:

1. To figure out areas where you are weak -- if it turns out you can't identify any of the second-generation Romantics, then that tells you to spend more time with Keats and Shelley
2. As fodder for discussion with a study group or a study partner, to talk through all the nuances of the texts we've encountered over the last month and a half; chances are that if you didn't understand what was going on in "Elgin Marbles" someone else did and would be willing to talk it through
   
3. To practice answering those devilishly picky prompts in Part I: once you've written out explanations of the thematic significance of six Middlemarch passages, you'll probably have gotten the hang of it
   

Hebdomadal topics (week 7)

Yesterday, Prof. Ortiz-Robles gave an example of the sort of question he will be asking for Part II of the midterm: "Discuss the relationship between history and memory with reference to textual details from one of the passages in Part I." (At least, that what I had copied down in my notes.)

For this hebdomadal, develop a similarly open thematic question that you think could be asked of almost any text we've read this semester. This means looking back through your notes and pulling out the conceptual problems Prof. Ortiz-Robles has returned to several times in his lectures.

When you craft the question, you might want to be more specific than asking about "the relationship" between Concept 1 and Concept 2, but don't feel that you have to be two too specific -- asking how Concept 1 shapes Concept 2 might be enough detail to get you going. (Other good verbs: reveals, limits, creates.)

After you've done this, quote a short passage from the poem about which you feel least comfortable and use this passage to answer the essay question you've created. (Poems only this week.)

If I don't drown in grading next week, I'll post the essay topics you guys come up with so you have some likely essay prompts with which to study.

[Thank you, anonymous commenter!]

Charting the Romantics and Victorians

As promised, here is a link to a Word .doc of the chart I handed out in class:

• The Romantics and the Victorians: a chart

Try to fill out columns for two poets, one Romantic and one Victorian. (Recommendation: tackle the two poets about whom you feel least knowledgeable.)

Spend the most time answering the thematic questions posed by the chart: the poets' thematic interests in the individual, society, nature, and poetry itself. If you go in to the midterm with for solid thematic questions that apply to each poet, you'll pretty much have the IDs nailed.

Hebdomadal topic (week 2)

All hebdomadal topics are suggestions; feel free to write on a variation of this topic or on a topic entirely of your own devising. All hebdomadals, written on whatever topic, must be at least 300 words and must include

1. An original argument backed up by
2. A persuasive close reading subjected to
3. Risky and interesting analysis.

Risky readings and claims are rewarded.

Hebdomadal topic (week 2)

On 1/25, Prof. Ortiz-Robles demonstrated an exceptionally close reading by spending an hour looking at the first 110 lines of "Tintern." Imitate that lecture by reading a small chunk of "Ode: Intimations of Immortality" or Middlemarch as closely as you can. (You should choose a chunk that Prof. Ortiz-Robles hasn't discussed in lecture and which we haven't discussed in section.) Work with at most 8 lines of the "Ode" or four sentences of Middlemarch. You should consider -- but not necessarily write about -- the following points:

1. What is the surface meaning of this passage? (This question is more relevant if you're reading the "Ode.")
2. What words carry multiple meanings and how are those multiple meanings important?
3. What rhetorical tricks does the author use in the passage? (E.g. symbols, simile, metaphor, allusion, oxymoron, and other lingual tricks that have to do with word choice.)
4. What formal tricks does the author use in this passage? (E.g. assonance, alliteration, rhyme, rhythm, repeated words, and other lingual tricks that have to do with word order.)
5. What is the structure of the passage and how is that structure significant?

Alternate topic:

Ask a question of one of the texts we have read. These should be questions that can't be easily answered. Two quick examples:

1. Why does Wordsworth footnote -- albeit vaguely -- the Edward Young allusion in line 106 of "Tintern"? He doesn't footnote his many other allusions (e.g. the allusion to Milton at 128f).
2. Why does George Eliot begin Middlemarch with that scene about the Brooke sisters' late mother's jewelry? The jewelry plays no role in the plot of the novel, but yet it is given rather a good deal of narrative importance at the beginning of the book. You might reframe this question as one about symbol: given that GE is probably trying to introduce the sisters' personalities, why does she use a dispute over jewelry (and not over money, philosophy, religion, politics, science, or the other major themes of the text) to accomplish this?

Your goal in this hebdomadal is not only to suggest possible answers to the question you ask (if it can be answered) but to use your focused, narrow question as a way of way of getting at the larger questions of the text.