Studying for the midterm

You might already all know this by now, but it's important that I tell you this: Literature exams are not the sorts of things for which you can easily cram. What should you study, and how? Here's the process I recommend:

1. Begin by reviewing the definitions of modernism and modernity Prof. Wolfe has been giving us this semester, particularly those to which he has returned frequently. Write out a short list for yourself of the four or five things that best define modernism.
2. Begin reviewing the passages Prof. Wolfe has covered in lecture, starting with the text you remember least. For most of you, I imagine this will be As I Lay Dying.
   1. Identify (from lecture and discussion notes, and from selective rereading) the text's three major themes.
   2. Ask yourself: how do these textual themes connect to the larger themes of modernism?
   3. If you were Prof. Wolfe, which two short passages from this text would you most likely put on the midterm? (Your best bet here is to pick passages that best reveal or nuance the themes.)
   4. How does each of these passages reveal the themes of the text?
3. Repeat steps a through d for each author we've studied.
4. Begin thinking comparatively: what themes and styles do Faulkner and Hemingway have in common? Faulkner and Woolf? How is Eliot's poetry like Stevens's?
5. You might even think about comparisons between poetry and prose: how are Eliot and Woolf alike? Stevens and Faulkner?
6. This is the important part: How do the authors you are comparing offer interestingly different perspectives on one of the main problems of modernism or modernity?

We will do some of this in class on Friday, but only a small portion of what you will need to have prepared to do well on the midterm. The particular challenge of this exam will be the essay question, in which you will need to write articulately not only about two authors, but must also write articulately about one or more of the basic problems of modernity.

I will run a review session -- completely optional -- next Tuesday. The exact time and location will be announced when I have them. Until then, as always, please email me with any questions you have.