FINAL EXAM



LESLIE SILKO'S CEREMONY



GUIDELINES

You will have 2 hours to write the essay. I encourage you to use the full 2 hours.
You should bring Ceremony to class (feel free to mark it up, as you like)
You should bring no more than 2 sheets of paper with notes


TAKING NOTES:

Organize your notes by exploring the following themes:

1) memory
2) ceremony
3) storytelling


For each theme, write down 10 direct quotations (include page numbers)
(TIP: choose quotations that invite your imagination to "play")

For each quotation, write down a few interpretive insights

Do this, and you will be prepared for anything I might ask for the final.


HOW I WILL EVALUATE YOUR ESSAY:

You should come into the exam with your insights already formulated. You should spend the two hours in class writing about these insights (not trying to come up with them spontaneously during class).

Make this discussion your own. Locate suggestive language in the book that we did not explore in class. Offer your own original ideas. Your most sophisticated insights will spring from patiently considering the language of the text, the small details, the subtleties of word choice.

Do not give plot summary. Give analysis. When exploring a theme (like the ones I offered above), use your direct quotations to ask: what does the text reveal about the theme? How does the text represent the theme? What does the text teach us about the theme? These kinds of questions lead to insights.

Do not keep repeating the same idea. Each paragraph you write ­ each direct quotation you offer ­ should lead to new discoveries!

I will give you paper. I expect you to write legibly.


BOOKS ON RESERVE

Feel free to include some quotations from research (but make the discussion your own). This is not required. You might find articles on the MLA database, or look here:

Healing narratives, by Wilentz
Leslie Marmon Silko, by Salyer