The semester exam
You cannot ignore it. The semester exam is looming and eventually you will get some study material to help you prepare. The question is always difficult for me, “What have I taught in the semester that is worthy of being on the semester exam?” The longer I have taught, the more this question plagues me. Unfortunately, the objectives that I seek to reach through a unit, project, or set of notes; are not always what you- the student- absorb. Now I go to the source. So the question is this:
If you were creating the semester exam, what do you think should be the major parts covered on the test. Remember, your dreams of “nothing” or “these three items…” are not realistic and do not count as a valid answer. Think back, look at your notebook, reflect on what you think you have learned- List or put in outline form the major components that you feel are exam-worthy. You may just help create the material for the exam!
I think that the canterbury tales, beowulf, and the archetype packet should be the main focus of the exam. There could also be a short grammar section and vocab section. We could know the background for English Literature and examples such as Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Some review could be included on The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime.
I think as long as we get a good review for it, that all the literature we have covered this nine weeks has been thoroughly covered. Beowulf, The Canterbury Tales, Gawain, and the other stories are fairly fresh on our minds. The first nine weeks literature is going to be harder to remember, especially The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime. The archetype material is more difficult to understand than some of the more basic things we have covered, like the information on the Anglo-Saxon period.
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE limit the vocabulary and give us a set of words that it might use and not all hundreds of the ones we have! But i agree with what most people have said on here. I think the exam should focus on the literary stories and archtype study. Maybe a few summer readind??
I think that we should have a lot of the vocabulary words on the exam as well as things like pygmalion, The Canterbury Tales, Gawain, Beowulf. I think the bulk of it should be dealing with stuff like Archetypes and The Hero’s Journey. I hardly even remeber stuff from the 1st 9 weeks so I think that the majority of it should be from the 2nd 9 weeks. The notes and information we took on Anglo-Saxon period would also be a good section to put on the exam.
I think the exam should have a vocab section. Not all the vocab words, but maybe half of the words from the 2nd 9 weeks. I also think that Beowulf, Canterbury Tales, and Gawain should be covered. I don’t think there should be extremely specific questions about these stories, however. The material from the 1st 9 weeks should also be covered, but not extremely in depth. One of the only ways to review a book is to reread, so I think general themes and ideas about Curiuos Incedent should be covered. I think the exam should touch on a variety of topics, but not too specific into any of these topics.
The main focus of the exam should definately be Beowulf, Canterbury Tales, and archetypes. I also think that there should be small amounts of both vocabulary and the Curious Incident, but vocab gets a little overwhelming especially on exams. I think it would be better if we didn’t go in to too much detail with things because extreme depth isn’t that important on an exam. Lets not make this thing too tough.
well, i think it should be just from memory now, Pygmalion, Beowulf, Canterbury Tales, Vocab (NOOOOOOOOOO), etc. But much more influence on 2nd nine weeks and more literary general questions, sometimes your’s get REALLY specific. but our exam shouldn’t be tooo hard, i mean after all i’m slacking off a little too much, am i right? am i right? and i KNOW I’M not the only one=)
I think the exam should mostly cover the literature we’ve read with a strong emphasis on The Canterbury Tales, Beowulf, and Sir Gawain. Vocab should also be included, but that should be in sections of matching since it is a lot of vocab. I think Curious Incident should be on there, but those questions should be very broad since that was so long ago. The Archetype packet should be on there along with questions based on our notes of the Anglo-saxon period.
I think the exam should focus primarily on literature. Primarily on what we have done recently (Cantebury Tales, Sir Gawain, Beowulf, etc.) We should also concentrate on the archetype/ hero journey packet since all the literature we have looked at can be related to it. I am begging that the majority of the test not be multiple choice. On English exams I always do better on the questions where I can write and explain my opion and answer rather than having to choose from a,b,c,d. English and lit. seems too objective for this type of testing. Also I second the idea about a limited vocab pool of words to study. Asking us to review all the words is way too time consuming and simply not worth the time it takes.
I think it should be on the Curious Incident, Vocabulary Units (NO SYN OR ANT), Beowulf, Sir Gawin. Also, there should be character matching and short answer questions. The vocabulary should be limited to about four sections and all of the words on it!! Also, I think we should have a writing section. Also, maybe some technology questions. This would tie in with what we are doing.
ok so i think the exam should have a vocab section but act tell us what words to study because there is absoultely no way we can study ALL of those i mean itd act help if u told us which ones bc then we could def memorize them , i think there should be a large focus on the archetypes and that packet and a little bit on the books ( but no a lot bc i cant remember spec details in books reeeally well) i think it should also have a lot of opinionated essays so i know i havent been at school a lot lately bc ive been so sick but i think that that sounds good
I think that our exam should contain the following: A few questions from The Curious Incident, Canterbury Tales, Sir Gawain, Beowulf (only a few), a small section of archetypes and the Anglo-Saxon period, and the hero’s journey. There should be absolutly NO vocabulary on the exam!!!!! I think that we should review these sections thoroughly the end of this week and the beginning of next week so everyone will be prepared for the exam.
The Mid evil times are fresh on our minds, so it would be the best for us to have the exam on because its fresh on our minds. Everything we have learned this semester would be fairly easy as long as there is no major vocab or MLA questions. The stuff we learned at the beginning of the year would probable be the best for the exam.
I think the exam should have lots of vocab 9in matching form)! It should cover mostly archetype stuff and the hero’s journey. As long as we review the Canterbury Tales, Sir Gawain, and Beowulf that would be fine too. I don’t remember much from the first nine weeks so we should avoid Pygmalion and Curious Incident if possible. If any first nine weeks literature is on the exam, if should be broad since that was so long ago.
I think that the semester exam should include mostly subjects we have learned the second nine weeks. We have already had a nine weeks exam on the first nine weeks material. The Canterbury Tales should be included on the exam. I also do not think that there should be any grammar on the exam because we have already been tested on it and most everyone knows it very well now. If vocab is included, I definitely think it should be in matching form, and hopefully it will be a big portion of the exam because it will take a long time to study for.
I think that the vocab section should just be the definitions and matching. I think that the main parts of the exam shoudl be archetypes, beowulf, and canterbury tales. I don’t think that there should be a lot of Pygmalion and Curious Incident because I dont remember those books very well.
I think the exam should cover the canterbury tales. It also should cover beowulf. I think we should leave off Pygmailon, becuas ethat was along time ago…and not very many people remeber it! Also archthype stuff that we learned, that should be on there too, and the hero’s journey. Other than that, I don’t know what else we have covered!
The main part of the exam should be Archetypes, and a little bit of Canterbury Tales and Beowulf. Maybe around 20 words or so of vocabulary that would be great. The writing prompt should be really easy nothing to hard.
I like this kind of question. If I were making the exam I would focus most of my questions toward the Archetype Packet, Beowulf, Sir Gawain, and Vocab. The grammar stuff I felt like was useless because we never really went over it. I might have a short essay on the test where you could check our punctuation, spelling, etc. I dont think that Pygmalion should be on there. That was so long ago and I dont find it to relevant to what our whole focus has been. Only the prologue and the Reeves Tale of the Canterbury’s Tales should be tested but I think we should definitely either get a review packet or have a two day review where we can go over these stories and ask questions.
The Curious Incident, vocab (but a list of which words would be nice!!), Beowulf, Sir Gawain and hero’s journey and archetype. I think we should avoid the summer reading required book becuase I really cannot remember the name of the book! The first nine weeks stuff should be broad because it is hard to get into to much detail from so long ago, but the second nine weeks stuff can be in depth. But by in depth I do not exactly mean questions similar to the ones you asked us on The Curious Incident quiz becuase even when we read it, the questions were still hard. I think as long as we touch on every thing that the exam is on one more time and have a list of the vocab words we should be in good shape!
I feel as if the best method would be to mainly focus on second nine weeks. It is not that we have forgotten about 1st nine weeks rather we don’t remember the details enough to have a bunch of questions on things. For example you could give a short answer (1-2 sentences) saying…what was one of the themes in An Incident, and the same thing with Pygmalion. To make questions like who was the author, who are the characters, or questions as such is pointless. So I can recite memorized facts of a book, how will that help me in a year or 5 to come rather than the point of the book. Vocabulary wise, don’t just pile all vocab on, mabye the ones before the test we just took since we did just review all of those and now we can make sure we know the ones prior still. Definitely mc/matching always better for questions this nine weeks and timed right so we are not rushing….
Hey Mrs. Caldwell
So I see you have us doing your work for you. We’ll I think we shouldn’t have an exam because grades are not a true scale of knowledege learned. But thats not going to happen so if I were you I would put a good bit of Vocabulary on the exam. I would only put broad true/false about Curious Incident on it. Some material on the Canterbury Tales and mostly emphasis Beowulf and Sir Gawain. Anyways have a Super Day!
Pygmalion, Canterbury Tales, vocab. Prologue, Reeves, and wife of bath would be good for Caterbury. Gawain and beowulf would also be a good subject. Not too much in depth study of Pygmalion because that was a long time ago. Characters would be good though.
I think that the exam should consist of the archetype packet and the canterbery tales. Also a portion of the exam should include vocab. Also a good essay could be on the initiation, separation, and return.
The canterbury tales was a big part. Hero’s Journey has taken up a lot of my mind. Vocab is a must for any english test. The Curious Incident and Pygmalion questions would be nice since I am a master of those books. Any of that history of the Anglo-saxons is fair game. Those would be the major catagories i would hit if it was my exam.
1. Vocab
2. Gawain
3. Beowulf
4. That weird book we read (hopefully not)
5. Canterbury Tales
6. No writing because they aren’t fun and nobody wants to grade essays over the break…
I think that the main things to be covered on the exam should be some literature like beowulf and the heros journey. We should also do some with canterbury tales. All of the vocab should be on there. I dont think we should have an essay. The hero’s journey should make up most of the exam. I also think that 7th period should get some bonus points for being the best class.
I feel that for our exam we should have a very simple exam. We should cover very non specific details. Items that should be covered are vocabulary, canturbury tales, Sir Gawain, The Curious Incedent, and the Hero’s Journey. We should also be asked questions about the book that we read for the hero’s journey project. Another item that should be included are the different types of writing. We should just skim the surface of the material from this semester.
I think that a good review of vocabulary would be a good thing to be tested on. It is an easy topic that does not require a lot of time to study for. I feel that literature would make up a large part of the exam. Stories such as: The Curious Inciedent, Canterbury Tales, Beowulf, and others. We have done a lot of writing this semester and I feel that a good review and evaluation of writing skills such as: content and editing would be a good filler. That is what I feel would create a good semester exam.
I think that the Archetypes should be a big part of the exam since we spent so long on it. The vocab activities that we did should also be one it, and the Beowulf story. Canterbury Tales prologue could be another thing to put on it. Oh, and a few questions on the Curious Incident of the Dog and the Nighttime could work. I think all of those things would be a good review.
I think that the semester exam should be a combination of the literature we have read plus multiple choice vocabluary questions. Because I have forgotten a lot of the literature, I think we should review quite a lot before the exam. Also, because of the amount of vocabulary we have covered, I don’t think there should be any antonym or synonym questions.
I think we should have broad questions on the literature like Curious Incident, Pygmalion, and Beowulf. You could ask us to give examples of some of the steps in the hero’s journey. We all just did a project on that so we should be able to give examples. Also we should have vocab but know specifically which words, not a study 6 chapters but only get tested on 20 words type thing. I don’t think we should have any grammar because all of the grammar we have done is very basic stuff that we have been learning and using for a long time.
I believe that the Semester Exam should cover mainly the second nine weeks. I understand that it is supost to be a “cumulative” test, and that you have to put some first nine weeks material on the test, but it should be primarily second nine weeks. From the first nine weeks, fair game would be: vocabulary, a few questions from A Curious Incident, a few from Pygmalion, and that is about it. Second Nine weeks should cover: vocab, hero’s journey, Cant. Tales, and not to much besides that. I think that if you alone make the test out, it should be fair because your test are normally fair, but I dont think you should colaborate with the other English teachers.
I tend to agree with what most people have said regarding the exam Vocabulary should be on the exam but not all of the works 1-7. I think that we should get a list of words that are going to be on there so that we will not be overwhelmed with a billion words to know. I think that Beuwolf, Canterbury Tales, Curious Incident, and Pygmalion should be on there. Oyeah, forgort Gawain. Archeotypes and hero’s journey are important too. O HECK, i guess i just said like everything! o well . . .
I think there should be a good amount of literature questions on the exam, with some very broad idea questions on Curious Incident and Pygmalion and some more specific questions on Canterbury Tales, Sir Gawain, and Beowulf. There shouldn’t be any quotes, however, because quotes are incredibly hard to study. Except for the quotes on our sheet, which are fine because we’ve been warned. There should also be some questions on the Hero’s Journey and Archetypes because they are pretty fresh on our minds. There should also be some vocab, but possibly only the sections from the second nine weeks and only on the deffinitions, not synonyms and antonyms.
Well since you said that i couldn’t say we should not have one i won’t do that. I feel that the literature that was covered over these two nine weeks should be on the exam. I also feel that some of the vocab should be on there because we have to do those horrible sections in that terrible looking vocab book. A review of all of this would be greatly appreciated. I also think that we need to have a question that we have to write an essay on because I have always had to do that.
I think that our exam should consist of mostly the Literatre that we have learned. this literatre includes, Pygmalion, Beowulf, the Curious incident, and the Cantabury tales. i think we should also have a little gramar, but not very much. we should also have some Angalo Saxton stuff and some Archetypes things, mainly just knowing the basic types of heros, and the stuff on the heros journy chart. i dont think there should be very much vocab, but if there is i think we should know what words will be on there, because haveing to study them all is way too much.
I feel that with the hero’s jouney and the archetypes unit fresh on our minds from our projects, a nice chunk of multiple choice should be on that. I also think that some vocab in matching form would be easy, but please no synonyms and anytonyms. I also remember The Cantebury Tales and Beowulf, maybe some multiple choice on those stories. The Curious Incident and Pygmalion were so long ago that I barely remember them so I would rather not see those on the test.
I think that the test should include the hero’s journey, Beowolf, the canterbury tales, and maybe some vocab. You could also put Sir Gawin and other stuff like that on there. I hope that you don’t include all the vocab that we have learned cause i dont really like vocab. So maybe some specific words that are on a list, or only a few sections? I don’t think that grammar should be on there either because I think that our writing should include the grammar that we need to know. I can’t wait to take the exam! haha ; )
I agree with what most people have said, I do think the vocab should be words we would really use. I think it is pointless for us to have to learn words that are outdated. With the literature I believe that it should be the major points shuch as how it has affected society. I don’t think it is really important for us to know what happens in Beowulf, but what I think is important is what it did for the history of literature it being one of the oldest stories in history. Because everything we have studies has had an affect on society I believe that is what we sould be tested on, what has shaped us not the details.
I think that the archaetype packet and the vocab words should make up the bulk of the test, because that is what has made up the bulk of the work we have done. The other literature we have studied should be on it, because we have covered that well too. Grammar and an essay should be a part of every English exam, because they are the building blocks of English, no matter how annoying they are. I think we should cover the 2nd 9 weeks material more so than the first nine weeks material, because we have already had an exam on that stuff.
I think that the archaetype packet and the vocab words should make up the bulk of the test, because that is what has made up the bulk of the work we have done. The other literature we have studied should be on it, because we have covered that well too. Grammar and an essay should be a part of every English exam, because they are the building blocks of English, no matter how annoying they are. I think we should cover the 2nd 9 weeks material more so than the first nine weeks material, because we have already had an exam on that stuff.
I just hope that the vocabulary is not a large portion of our exam. I feel that literature like The Curious Incident, Beowulf, and Gawain should be on it. After a brief review, I think we would be able to remember everything we learned. I also think that recent things such as Canterbury Tales and Anglo Saxon should be on there. If vocaublary is on there, it would be fair that synonyms and antonyms were not on there. They add material on the test that is not as important than understanding the literature we are studying.
If I were you, I would base the majority of the exam on Archetypes, Beowulf, Sir Gawain, and the Canterbury Tales. I think there should be some grammar on it as well. The notes we took on the Anglo-Saxon period should be mentioned.. but not specifics. As far a vocabulary goes…..I know you are going to put it on the exam no matter what we say so I will request that you leave Antonyms and Synonyms off and give us just the definitions. I think an essay would be good to include at the end of the exam as well.
The first semester was so long ago, so I think we need to limit the amount of question for that. I think that the secound nine weeks should be the main foucus on it. The hero’s journey, Beowulf, and Gawain should be the main focus. I dont think we need vocab, just cause I dont like it. Then we should have some first nine weeks qustions about The cuirous Incident of the dog in the nightime.
I don’t remember much from first nine weeks, so if we’re going to have anything from then, we’ll need to review greatly. I think there should be some vocabulary, but a limited number of them. I think that it should mostly consist of the literature we’ve done because that is fresh on most people’s minds because it’s the most recent thing we’ve studied.
I cant wait to take this exams..in saying that the vocab part is going to be very tough. There are millions of words and after awhile they all blend together. I would like to see more of pygmallion on the test along with the hero’s journey. I think we need to focus more on material that we have learned and not the voacb.
I think that the semester exam should mainly cover the information we have covered during the second nine weeks. I think a matching vocab section would be good as long as every word isn’t covered. Beowulf, Sir Gawain, and Cantebury Tales should be present, hopefully not too specific of questions. Archetypes should represent a large portion of the test as well as the Anglo-Saxon period.
i personally think testing on books and stuff is easy most of the time, so i guess put that on there. i would put the archetypes on there too, even though, after learning them, i find myself analzying every movie i see, and kinda ruins the expereince for me. so basically put on the archetypes and literature.
I think we should include alot of things.
1. Sir Gawain
2. Beowulf
3. My fair Lady
4. Vocabulary
5. Curious Incident
6. Anglo Saxon
If all these are on the test it would be a kicking test.
I agree with most everyone that we should cover Beouwulf, Canterbury Tales, and Sir Gawain. Also, a list of vocab words that will be on the test will be real helpful and easier to learn rather than all the words we have covered all semester which is way to much. Maybe brief questions on Pygmalion and Curious Incident.
I think that the vocab, Canterbury Tales, Beowulf, and the archetype packet should be covered on the exam. I think that there should be an esay based on Archetypes and a further explanation about them. I am very haPPY that Pygmalion and Curious Incident are not on the exam. I am looking forward to being done for ‘06!
I think the test should be made mostly of the stories and books we have read. Pygmalion and Curious Incident along with Sir Gawain, Beowulf, and The Canterbury Tales. Then the units we studied like Anglo-Saxon and the Hero’s Journey. Vocabulary is another obvious one, and will be easy if it is matching/multiple choice, and maybe you can limit the Antonym/Synonym questions. And lastly a paragraph we have to correct or something like that.
There should be some vocab on the exam, but not too much. There should be more of an emphasis on the Canterbury Tales, Beowulf, Gawain, and Archetypes. Curious Incident and Pygmalion should be covered, but not as much as the 2nd nine weeks material.