Conference Times and Study Guide for Final Exam

Wednesday, 12/2 (One on One Conferences)

• Each of you will only need to come for your conference slot
• Each of you will bring:
• Essay 3 complete draft, due for a grade (and a quick read)
• Questions about the Final Exam--one of the poems, etc.
• Questions about essay writing that you want me to address

Times:

2pm-2:12: Ashley

2:13-2:24: Cristina

2:25-2:36: Tytyonna

2:37-2:48: Anthony

3pm-3:12: Jay

3:13-3:24: Alejandra

3:25-3:36: John

3:37-3:48: Lisa

4pm: Genevieve

4:13-4:24: Max

4:25-4:36: Colby

4:37-4:48: Vu

Some Thematic and Craft Principles of Robert Frost:

•  Plain speech/language that belies a poem’s ideas and normally ambiguous endings that leave the reader to interpret the speaker’s “silence”
•  The use of nature to explore man’s place in the world, including religious beliefs and man’s true worth
• Personification of nature to make commentary of humanity
• Civil responsibility in a modern world versus attention to individual life 
•  “Lawrence Thompson has explained that, according to Frost, "the self-imposed restrictions of meter in form and of coherence in content" work to a poet's advantage; they liberate him from the experimentalist's burden—the perpetual search for new forms and alternative structures” (Poetry Foundation).
•  “Critics frequently point out that Frost complicated his problem and enriched his style by setting traditional meters against the natural rhythms of speech. Drawing his language primarily from the vernacular, he avoided artificial poetic diction by employing the accent of a soft-spoken New Englander” (Poetry Foundation).

Preparing for In-class Finals

1. Organize your notes, including, use of the 3-column note

·      Recognize patterns in the subject text, including:

o   actions that get repeated (implied or overt)

o   images & events

o   …other language…

·      Recognize key examples that you can cite in your own essay.

o   What is important about the example? What does the scene/line support? Make sure to put the page number (and line number for poems) down so that you can easily cite in your essay.

·      Pose questions about the meaning a reader can get out of the text, its actions and its conclusions. An effective strategy for a writer is to “predict” what he or she will be writing on based on multiple factors:

o   Teacher’s stressing ideas, certain pages, etc.

o   Reviewing your Active Reading notes and matching up what you’ve noted with class lectures and your teacher’s stresses.

2. Create a Vocabulary for the essay topic à Word Bank of language that goes with the subject you will be writing on.

·      Key words from the subject text: character names, place, larger thematic ideas

4. Draft an outline of your ideas, and supporting examples (w/ page and lines) under each point.

5a. Organize the steps you will take once you get to class.

·      What pre-writing steps will you take?

·      How much time will you spend on pre-writing?

·      How will you manage your time?

·      How much time do you need to edit your work, and how will you accomplish this?

o   Which weaknesses in my writing must I focus my editing on?

5b. Organize your materials prior to class:

·      Are you allowed to use your book? Yes, then an effective strategy to use is to create Post-it tabs in your book so that you can easily find pages you will cite.

·      Are you allowed to use notes? Clarify with your professors in advance, and start drafting notes whenever you have time.

o   Re-write your notes, and put ideas in an order of importance.

o   Example: I would put all vocab words together, if a teacher gave vocab terms in a class. I would put all of the theories together, if my teachers gave me all kinds of theories to review. I would note down the main ways (3-4 similarities) the multiple texts have in one place in my notes.

7. Write your own essay questions. Then, set a half hour aside and take a practice exam where you follow through on your pre-writing strategies, etc.! 

·      There is nothing like trying to visualize and mimic how you think the process is going to go down. Believe me, taking an in-class exam is stressful for every student, even the most prepared. Part of your studying for the exam is not simply to review individual ideas, but to try and practice writing the essay so that you can see how each of your ideas goes together. I would see a practice exam as a rough draft.