Name: _________________________________

Miss Skirtich
4 January 2017
English 10: World Literature
Study Guide for Midterm
Your midterm exam will be on Wednesday morning, January 11, 2017
Here are some of the topics that will be addressed on the midterm exam. Review your notes, journals, worksheets,
quizzes, and exams in order to prepare. Remember: any and all material that we have covered since the first day of school
is fair game so prepare accordingly!
Your assignment is to create a study guide to turn in on Wednesday, January 11
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

Themes
o The Centrality of Personal Legends
o The Unity of Nature
o The Danger of Fear
Quotes
Aphorisms
o Dreams are the language of God
o The past is better than what we have now
o It is a possibility of a dream that makes life interesting
Characters
o Santiago- An adventurous young Andalusian shepherd determined to fulfill his
Personal Legend, which is to find a treasure at the foot of the Egyptian pyramids

o The Alchemist- A 200-year-old, extremely powerful alchemist residing in the AlFayoum Oasis.
He dresses in black, rides a white horse, and carries a scimitar, the
o

Philosophers Stone, and the Elixir of Life

Crystal Merchant- a struggling merchant who owns a crystal shop on top of a

desolate hill
Englishmen- A well-educated science student determined to learn the secrets of

alchemy by learning from a true alchemist

Melchizedek- the King of Salem
Fatima- the girl Santiago falls in love with
Gypsy- Old women living in Tarifa who interoperates dreams
o Merchant- A merchant who buys wool from Santiago on a yearly basis. He worries about being
o
o
o

cheated so he demands that any wool he buys be sheared from the sheep in his presence.
o

Merchants daughter- beautiful and intelligent raven-haired daughter of the

merchant who buys wool from Santiago

"Hamlet" by William Shakespeare and The Renaissance

Themes
o Sensational Devices
o Dramatic Devices
o Abnormal Family Dynamics

o Tragedy
o Ambiguity and uncertainty
o Comic Relief
o Disease, Death, and Corruption
Imagery
o Pipe
o Sponge
Quotes
Characters
o Hamlet
o Ophelia
o Laertes
o Horatio
o Claudius
o Gertrude
o Polonius
o Rosencrantz
o Guildenstern
o Marcellus
Vocabulary
o Apparition- ghost; spirit
o Oanon- church law
o Discourse- conversation
o Perilous- dangerous
o Prodigal- wasteful; extravagant
o Commission- order
o Malefaction- evil deed; crime
o Promontory- high land jutting into the sea
o Tedious- dull and lifeless
o Paradox- something that seems absurd or against reason, but may none the less be true
o Perceive- notice; see
o Resolution- firmness; resolve
o Abatement- decline; end
o Cunning- skill in deception
o Profound- having intellectual depth; intensely felt
o Rendezvous- meeting; encountering
o Churlish- ill-mannered
o Equivocation- a statement with two possible interpretations
o Potent- strong; effective
o Treachery- act of disloyalty resentment
o Calumnious- slanderous
o Countenance- face; expression
o Imminent- ready to happen; inevitable
o Portentous- threatening
o Sullied- tarnished
o Firmament- sky
o Pestilent- destructive; deadly
o Sovereign- supreme in power
o Pious- devout
o Visage- face or facial expression
o Convocation- gathering
Plot structure

Hamlet finds out that Claudius killed his father, so he is trying find a way to kill Claudius and get his

revenge
Subplots
o Ophelia and Hamlets love affair
o Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are trying to spy
o Claudius and Polonius spying on Hamlet
The Renaissance history and elements in theater

Defining vocabulary terms in a context

How do you define a vocabulary term if you don't know its meaning?
What steps do you take to discover the meaning of a word?
What is context? Why does it matter?

Annotation skills and procedures

What kind of notes should you take when reading a text?

o Vocab words
o Plots
o Themes
o Foreshadowing
What kind of questions should you ask yourself when reading?
o What point is the author is trying to make?
o What is happening?
What procedure should you follow when annotating a text?
o Highlight words you dont know
o Highlight important parts of the text (if it relates to the theme or character or plots)
o Highlight key concepts and important details

Journaling

Rules for journaling

o All journals must be authentic and organic material
o All material must be school appropriate
o All journals must have a date and a journal number
Structure of journal entries
o Number of journal at the top
o Date at the top on the right side
Requirements
o All journals must be completed to the end of the page

Letter Writing

Letter writing structure

o Date
o Sender add
o Recipient add
o Greeting
o Body
o Conclusion
Format requirements

o All located on the left side

Formal vs. informal letter writing
o Formal
To someone like a business partner or Miss. Skirtich
Formal greeting

MLA format and Citations

Purdue Owl standard

o Coelho, Paulo. The Alchemist. Penguin Books, April 2015
o (underline book if on paper)
English 10: World Literature standard
o Tommy Rae
o Miss Skirtich
o Date
o English 10: World Literature
In-text citation
o (Coelho 62) this quote means
o (IV.vi.46-71)
Works Cited page

Conducting research

What kind of questions should you ask a source to determine if it is credible?

How do you determine what information to include in your research?
Do you always include all information researched in a presentation of your research? Why or why not?

Composition of thesis statements and paper submission

3 genres of thesis statements

o Persuasive
o Analytical
o Expository- explain something to audience
2 ways of constructing thesis statements
o The List-give the 3 supporting reasons
o The Umbrella- difficult
order and flow of thesis papers
submission materials
o Outline
o Rough draft
o Peer editors draft
o Final draft
submission format
purpose of submission format and materials
organization and structure of thesis papers

Literary conventions of compositions

themes
similes
aphorisms
imagery
tone
foreshadowing
personification