Study Guide for Exam 1

NOTE: This page is intended as a helpful guide to studying for the exam.  It may not cover all the information that is on the test.  Your notes and work with the poems should be your principal guide to studying for the exam.

The first exam will consist of a multiple-choice/identification section and an essay.  You will have at least two choices for the essay question; one question will probably include the text of two poems so that you can analyze them closely.

I. Works to be emphasized

• Whitman, "When Lilacs last in the Dooryard Bloom'd," "Out of the Cradle, Endlessly Rocking," from Drum-Taps
• Dickinson, poems discussed in class and those noted on the syllabus for special attention
• Piatt, poems
• General ideas about the poems from the Household Book of Poetry (you need not know titles and authors, just general themes)
• Twain, "A True Story," "Fenimore Cooper's Literary Offenses," "A Day at Niagara," "The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County"
• Crane, "The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky" and "The Blue Hotel"
• Woolson, "Miss Grief"
• James, "The Art of Fiction" and "Daisy Miller"
• Howells, "Editha" and information on realism

II. General issues and ideas that might be covered

• Background information on the poets (from lectures)
• Issues and themes of the authors' works (from lectures and class discussions)
• Information on techniques and forms
• The "Whitman envelope" and other features of his technique
• Dickinson's use of traditional forms (hymn meter or ballad meter) and unconventional rhymes for many poems
• Basic principles of Romanticism (see lecture notes)
• The role of the poet and the poet's vocation for Whitman and Dickinson
• The role of nature in the work of each poet
• James's and Twain's critical principles
• The contrasts between two cultures (East and West, Europe and America)
• Phases of James's career and relation to realism ("psychological realism" and "drama of consciousness" as mentioned in class)

III. Terms Discussed in Class

• Anaphora
• Kinds of rhyme (slant rhyme, etc.)
• Elegy
• Prosody terms: types of meter (anapestic, dactylic, trochaic, iambic, and so on)
• Southwestern humor
• International theme
• Realism
• Romance

IV.  Potential Essay Questions. Note: These are sample questions; there is no guarantee that they will be on the test.

• Compare and contrast the following two poems in terms of theme, technique, and meaning.
• Some might say that if Whitman is the poet of democracy, Dickinson is the poet of "imperial" exclusion, to use one of her favorite adjectives. Whereas Whitman strives to make himself understood and to take the reader with him on a journey of discovery, Dickinson deliberately tries to write poetry that excludes the reader.  Choose any two or three poems by these authors and discuss.
• Both Whitman and Dickinson address the question of death, but do they share a similar perspective on it?  Choosing at least two poems, one from each author, develop a thesis answering this question and write an essay in support of your ideas.
• In what way or ways does this poem from the Household Book of Poetry differ from this poem by ___ ?
• In what ways does Dickinson compare the profession of poet with that of wife? If you wish, you may use the following two poems in supporting your argument, although you may also use other poems of hers.
• Whitman's use of symbolic natural objects or creature plays an important role in unifying his poems as well as creating meaning.  Choosing one or two of his symbols (such as the bird or the grass), discuss how he employs these in at least two of his poems.
• Compare and contrast "Miss Grief" and "A True Story" with special reference to the ways in which the stories critique prejudice and stereotyping.
• Compare Twain's and James's views of fiction. What are the principles of each, and how does each author convey his message?
• Compare "Miss Grief" and "Daisy Miller," paying special attention to the role of the male narrator ("Miss Grief") or center of consciousness (Winterbourne in "Daisy Miller") and his view of the woman he studies.