Midterm Examination Instructions and notes.

You will find the links to the examination on Blackboard in the assignment folder for Week Four, where this material also is located. The examination comes in two parts; you must complete each part of the examination in one sitting.

Looking over the class notes and reviewing all the videos made available will help you a great deal with this examination.

Again, the examination comes in two parts; each section is worth 10% of your final grade, so do a good job.

Make sure to look over the video for the examination, which you will find on this week's Greetings linked in the Assignment Folder for the week.

Part One:

You will supply short answers for six prompts taken from the text and class notes.

For each of the prompts, you will write a minimum of five sentences, discussing the prompt's significance in the context of our readings and discussions over these past weeks. In other words, do not simply offer an identification for John Locke or for Chapbooks.

As the video indicates, you do more than simply identify; in addition, DO NOT quote from the class notes or the text's introductions: put in your own words and make connections with the central concerns we have investigated these past weeks, making connections that support your ideas.

You should complete this part of the exam in around an hour and a half: and you must finish each section of the exam in one sitting. The exam will be open from early Tuesday morning July 5 until midnight Thursday, July 7.

To do well on the examination, therefore, be prepared to discuss the significance for Children's Literature of the following prompts, which will come often with a specific question to help you narrow your focus:

John Locke
Johann Amos Comenius
Chapbooks
John Newbery
Kate Greenaway
"Paper Bag Princess" or "The Merman"
Benjamin Harris's New England Primer
"The History of Little Goody Two Shoes"
Elementary Education Act of 1880
Charles Perrault and his fairy tales
The Grimm Brothers and fairy tales
Fables in the school curriculum
"The Reluctant Dragon"
Oscar Wilde's "Happy Prince"
"Sir Richard Whittingham and His Cat"
"The Iron Giant"
Lia Bloc's "Wolf"
"Ruby"
"The Sea Thing Creature"
Theseus and teaching mythology.

Part Two:

For Part Two, you will have an opportunity to write an essay over Ella Enchanted. Give thought to Ella and the qualities she possesses and the actions she takes--think, too, about Char, the Prince, and other Fairy Tales we have read, from "Beauty and the Beast" to "Paper Bag Princess" and "Ruby," among others.

When you think about the novel--in many ways a modern rendering of "Cinderella"--consider in particular ways in which Ella in particular and Char in general differ from what strikes you as the traditional characters with which you are familiar.

Following the specific instructions once you open the link, you should aim to complete your essay in approximately one hour and a half.

You can take this essay exam (Write approximately 2 double-paced pages) between Monday morning of July 5 morning and midnight Wednesday, July 7.

In your response, try to make connections with the central concerns we have addressed over these past few weeks. Aim for analysis of significance instead of simple description and plot summary.

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Last Modified: 07/05/2011