• The Final Exam is, like all other exams in Literatures in English, TWO hours in length. You are required to do TWO questions in all, each from a different section.
• The paper is divided into TWO sections:
  • Section A corresponding to Module II Discourse Analysis, and 
  • Section B corresponding to Module III Structuralist Marxism.
  • Module I Dialogism will not be tested again since it was examined by the term paper.  However, some of the ideas and issues discussed then may be relevant to and inform the views of theorists found in the subsequent modules.
• There are 6 questions in all to choose from, 3 in  section A and 3 in section B.  In each section, each question is devoted to a specific topic (i.e. either author, representation, literary form, reader, literary history / intertextuality) within a particular area (e.g. Feminist theory) addressed in the module:
  • All the questions concern critical theory (i.e. what many philosophers term 'aesthetics').  You will not be tested on the views on other areas of philosophy (e.g. epistemology or the nature of identity) expressed by particular philosophers like Foucault or Althusser because this is not a course in those areas of philosophy per se.  However, a basic knowledge of these other areas of philosophy is important to an understanding of critical theory.  This is because every model of literature and of criticism is informed by a particular philosophical world view, model of identity, theory of signification, etc.  Hence, a general awareness of the philosophical context informing a particular critical approach would certainly not go amiss.
  • The first question is devoted to the critical theory of the school in question (e.g. a question on a particular theorist's view of authorship);
  • The second question is devoted to Feminist negotiations with the school in question (e.g. a question on Feminist narratology);
  • The third question is devoted to Post-colonial negotiations with the school in question (e.g. a question on a particular Post-colonial or African American negotiations with Bakhtinian views of language and literature);
  • The questions are not comparative in nature in that they focus on individual theorists (e.g. "Discuss Bakhtin's conception of 'heteroglossia' in the novel").  However, a knowledge of a theorist's relationship to other theorists or even a particular school of thought may be implied or useful to an understanding of the views of a particular theorist (e.g. it might be useful to know something about the links between the dialogical view of language and Saussure's).
  • Nothing will appear on the exam which we have not discussed in some detail in the seminars. When you see the paper, you will not be surprised and you will acknowledge that we actually focused on these topics.  You may even remember the loud hints I dropped.  However, it is up to you how well you do your preparation.
• Theoretical questions are normally of two kinds:
  • Analytical: in this kind of question, you are asked to discuss a particular theoretical concept or model of literature (e.g. "Discuss Bakhtin's conception of 'heteroglossia' in the novel");
  • Practical: in this kind of question, you are asked to discuss a reading methodology with reference to a supplied text (e.g. "Illustrating your answer with reference to the story attached, discuss the main objectives of and characteristic steps taken by a Bakhtinian critic").  This kind of question will not appear on the exam.
• In order to prepare for the exam:
  • Carefully consult the list of Topics Covered in Module II (Section A of the exam) and Module III (Section B) by noting the specific concerns of particular theorists;
  • In each section of the exam, choose the area (e.g. Post-colonial theory) you wish to focus on:
    • you do not need to prepare every area which we covered in Modules II and III but it might be wise to prepare more than one area;
    • you should select those areas which interest you the most (if something interests you, you will tend to understand and write on it better) (e.g. you may choose to focus on feminist theory in each module if that is your wont);  
    • in preparing a particular area, prepare it as thoroughly as possible by focusing on all the relevant theorists.  Do not arbitrarily focus on one theorist to the exclusion of others whom we studied merely because you assume that a question on his / her views is bound to appear on the exam.
  • Consult exams from previous years for a sense of the kind of questions which may come.  
    • it is very unlikely that a question on a particular topic will be repeated from year to year even though a question may come on a different topic addressed by the same theorist (because the same theorist may address more than one topic);
    • remember, too, that what at first glance might appear to be a difficult question on a past paper probably will not appear so after you have completed your revision on that topic / theorist.  Things often appear difficult before you undertake your preparations. 
  • Regularly attend seminars in Modules II and III to listen for hints as the exam draws near: remember that the notes offer at best only synopses of particular arguments and that in the seminars threads are being drawn, overviews offered, etc. which are not found in the synopses.
  • Prepare the essay(s) of each theorist as thoroughly as possible with a view to being able to reproduce his / her argument in answer to the question asked: to this end, 
    • carefully read and reread the primary sources by the theorists in question;
    • consult my notes for definitions of specific concepts and summaries of the arguments advanced by particular theorists but do not rely exclusively on them;
    • consult secondary sources on particular theorists and schools as you see fit;
    • to commit the material to memory, make your own notes on what you have read (for some reason, it sticks in the memory better this way).  Try to reduce these to a single page of notes by the time the exam comes along;
    • in order to be sure that you have assimilated the material in question, answer the relevant tutorial questions for each theorist;
    • try to anticipate the type of question which may come on a particular theorist by conceptually locating the theorist in question in the appropriate slot (e.g. Bakhtin has much to say about the novel but hardly anything about poetry);
    • practice applying the theoretical approaches in question, if possible (there is no better way to grasp a theorist's argument than to apply it).
  • Finally, in the exam, bring your knowledge (accumulated in the ways suggested above) to bear by, above all, answering the question asked.

To illustrate points above, I have used examples drawn from Module I which, however, will not be tested again in the exam.