Here are some general tips for studying for the midterm in English 103B. Although I can't provide specific answers about what will be on the midterm, this handout contains general hints about the kinds of knowledge that you will find helpful. This is likely to be particularly true for people who have not taken midterms/finals in upper-division English classes before.
Note that all of this advice is based on a draft of the midterm exam, and that that draft is subject to change.
In general, you should review your lecture notes and look for major themes that have been discussed, and be able to find examples of these themes in the texts we're reading. You should also be able to discuss how the specific texts we've read connect to and deal with these themes. You should scan or re-read these texts until you feel comfortable discussing their major points, and you should certainly feel comfortable with being able to understand and interpret a particular text if it is sitting directly in front of you. It is not necessary to be able to quote verbatim from the texts, although doing so is certainly one strategy that you can use to get an excellent score on certain types of questions.
Format of the exam: There will be a section of short answer questions (you should answer each with two to three complete sentences), a section in which you will be asked to paraphrase selections from the texts (you will be provided with a direct quote and asked to translate it into standard, direct, modern English), and an essay question (everyone will answer the same essay question). Be sure to pace yourself so that you have enough time to answer all of the questions. Partially correct answers will earn partial credit, so if you know anything at all related to a question, you should write down something relevant, even if you don't know the exact answer to the question. In general, if you are unsure how to answer a question, treat it as an opportunity to demonstrate what you do know about the topic. (This is just a good general test-taking strategy.)
For each text on the syllabus, be aware of basic paratextual facts about the text: What is the (properly spelled) name of the author who wrote that text? When was it written/published? What is the (exact, not merely approximate) title? How was it published, if this is in any way unusual?
For each text, you should be able to provide a brief summary of what the text actually says — in terms of the major concerns with which its author is engaged — and the manner in which it says it — in terms of the strategies that the author uses to engage the reader, and the rhetorical techniques the author uses to achieve his/her effects.
You will not be asked to perform poetic scansion (i.e., you do not have to identify such things as trochaic pentameter, iambic tetrameter, ottava rima, ballad stanzas, or sonnets). However, being aware of rhythmical changes in poems may be one way to address questions based on how an author achieves effects, although (based on the draft of the midterm I've seen) no question explicitly requires you to do so in order to achieve full credit. It's just a possible strategy for you to use.
If an author spends time providing an explicit definition of a term, you should be able to provide a fair summary of that definition, and be able to describe how that definition differs from the way in which the term is defined by other authors we're reading. For instance, you should have a general understanding of how Coleridge's definition of imagination is different from Shelley's. This is particularly true for terms that are related to major themes that we've talked about repeatedly during the quarter.
If specific terminology is discussed in lecture, you should be able to explain what it means, and be able to provide examples of texts in which that concept is applied.
Be able to provide specific years for major historical events that have been discussed in lecture.
On paraphrasing questions:
You will be given a direct quote from a text to paraphrase.
Your aim should be to provide a direct, literal rendering of the given quote into correct modern English. You should be simply translating, not analyzing, summarizing, or interpreting.
It is not necessary to maintain the poetic structure of the quote by maintaining line breaks, etc. It is acceptable to simply produce a prose paragraph of grammatically correct modern English.
It is acceptable to re-use much of the author's own language and simply render it into grammatically correct modern English. It is not necessary to replace each and every word with a different word.
On the essay question:
You should be aware that there is only one essay question, on which everyone will write. However, you do have a choice of which texts you elect to use to answer that question.
The question will ask you to discuss a particular major thematic issue from the course and its connection with specific texts.
The essay question is worth half of the total points on the exam.
You are not expected to quote directly from the texts (although you are welcome to do so, if you are able, and this is potentially one way to get an excellent grade on the question). You are not expected to follow MLA format or use parenthetical citations or a Works Cited page. Just write a solid essay answering the question by discussing individual texts as well as possible.
I will not be as picky about grammar as I am on your papers. Grammar is only likely to hurt you if it is so problematic that it renders your argument difficult to understand. However, direct, clear, engaging writing will help your score.
Understand that everything on the syllabus from weeks one through five is fair game on the exam. We have occasionally (and briefly) discussed texts not on the syllabus in section — these will not be on the exam.