English Exam Review Lesson
Teachers Maintain Student Interest with Detailed Exam Study Guide
May 19, 2008
English teachers reviewing for final exams need to cover both key concepts and story details. By providing students with a literary elements study guide, they can review a piece of literature through analysis and application of literary elements. In this case, teachers will be using examples from The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare.
Literary Elements Study Guide
Provide this list to your students as a springboard for lively exam review discussion. For the exam, students will be expected to know the definitions of the following literary elements as well as apply these literary elements and identify them in the play.
Model of Tragedy
- plot: the series of episodes that relates the action of the story. Identify the basic plot of Julius Caesar
- exposition: necessary background information. The exposition for Julius Caesar is when readers discover that Caesar has conquered Pompey and are introduced to some of the characters.
- rising action: the series of episodes that leads to the climax. The rising action in Julius Caesar is when Portia encourages Brutus to trust her; Calpurnia dreams that Caesar is murdered and Artimidorous tries to give Caesar a letter of warning.
- climax: the peak action of the conflict. The climax of Julius Caesar is the turning point of the play. Brutus tells Cassius he will allow Antony to speak at Caesar’s funeral. Antony uses his speech to let the audience knows Caesar was wrongly killed.
- resolution: the episode(s) following the climax that resolves the conflict. The resolution in Julius Caesar occurs when Cassius and Brutus commit suicide because they realize they have made a grave mistake by killing Caesar.
- external conflict: the struggle against an outside force. The external conflict in Julius Caesar is Octavius’ and Brutus’ army fighting against Brutus’ and Cassius’ army.
- internal conflict: the struggle between opposing needs, desires or emotions within a single person. The internal conflict in Brutus is whether or not to join the conspirators.
- antagonist: the character who initiates the conflict. Why is Cassius an antagonist in Julius Caesar?
- protagonist: the character who is the object of the conflict. Why can Brutus be considered the protagonist in Julius Caesar?
Narration
- First person point of view: one of the characters is the narrator telling the story as it occurs or did occur using the pronoun “I”.
- Third person point of view: one character outside the story relates the actions and speech of the other characters in the story. In Julius Caesar, we learn about the events from a narrator outside of the story.
- Omniscient point of view.:“all-knowing” narrator who can get into the heads of all characters.
By embedding applied literary elements in an exam review, teachers can maintain student interest and ensure they are developing critical thinking skills as well as improving memory.
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