Senior Semester Exam--Concepts of Fiction and their application to Johnny Bear, Granny Weatherall, and The Gift of the Magi

Yes, that's officially the longest title of all my blog entries. According to the Guiness Book of World Records, the song with the longest title is "I'm a Cranky Old Yank in a Clanky Old Tank on the Streets of Yokohama with my Honolulu Mama Doin’ Those Beat-o, Beat-o Flat-On-My-Seat-o, Hirohito Blues" written by Hoagy Carmichael in 1945 (Hoagy is the guy banging on the 88's in the photo. The woman is Lauren Bacall. The movie is To Have and To Have Not, based on an Ernest Hemingway novel). Carmichael later claimed the song title ended with "Yank" and the rest was a joke.

You've been warned. This exam is no joke.

Here's what you should review.

All notes, definitions, ideas, concepts--about art, fiction, dialogue, setting, narrative techniques, points of view, description, characterization, theme, etc.

I have posted the copies of your first two tests on Study Wiz for review. I have also posted a list of literary terms and elements of fiction that you need to know.

Make sure that you also study the notes on characterization (they were given when we studied Maria Concepcion) that you've been given but not been tested on.

Do you have to know about each individual story or portion of a story that we studied?

Yes, and no.

Yes. You should be able to recall basic important information for each story. Know the authors (who wrote what) and perhaps a little bit about them. Know the chief reason(s) we studied each story. For instance, for An Old-Fashioned Story, know that we focused on the author's marvelous story telling techniques (like metaphors, power of the list, similes, etc.) , along with the "old-fashioned" plot outcome.

No. I won't ask you to recall detailed specific examples from the stories, with the exception of Johnny Bear, Granny Weatherall, Cut, and The Gift of the Magi. For these stories, any question is fair game, like something as seemingly unimportant as "what does the word fumadiddle mean?"

For the four aforementioned stories, be able to both identify and analyze the setting, narration, dialogue, and plot. Know the characters and methods of characterization. Know the points of view and be able to express how they are important. Be able to recall specific lines, names of characters, bits of dialogue, and narration. Of course, be able to discuss the themes in these stories.

Stories (and portions of stories) we've read and studied include:The Lucid Eye in Silver Town, Fish Cheeks, Pigeon Feathers, Old Man at the Bridge, The Sun Also Rises, Neckie By a Waterfall, Notes of a Native Son, An Old-Fashioned Story, The Necklace, from On Writing (King), The Cask of Amontillado, The Portable Phonograph, The Stone Boy, The Shawl, The Grapes of Wrath, Maria Concepcion, Johnny Bear, The Jilting of Granny Weatherall, Cut, and The Gift of the Magi.

Specifically, recall these directions from last Thursday's class about "Cut" and "Magi":

Students should read in class the essay entitled “Cut.” For the semester exam, students should be able to note specific details and quotations from the experiences of any two of the people referenced in the article.

Students may begin reading “The Gift of the Magi.” This story must be read before the semester exam. Students may bring a copy of the story to the exam without notes. However, in reading the story, students should focus (and perhaps take notes) on storytelling methods like dialogue, narration, description, point of view, and elements of fiction like characterization, setting, and theme.