Medieval Midterm Exam
Fall 2020

Humanities 302 — Delahoyde
Washington State University

MEDIEVAL EXAM

LE NEF

 


BIG DAY: WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 7th, 2020; 1:10 PM


I. IDENTIFICATIONS. [10 questions; total 20 points.]

Maybe match Column A with Column B; or identify the character who says, “I woke to find myself in a dark wood”; or identify the author of The Art of Courtly Love — that kind of question, only a bit harder. These questions will be inflicted individually and intracerebrally during the scheduled class period. I will e-mail you the questions (both as e-mail text and as a Word doc) by 1:00pm and will expect answers (either format) back by 2:00pm. So put on your thinking tonsures and hope you find favor with Beatrice, abject sinners!

II. QUOTATIONS. [8 questions; total 40 points.]

Also included in the e-mail will be a combination of identification and, more importantly, significance questions, following quotations from the literature, musical excerpts, and images from the other relevant materials selected for their representativeness of our discussions on key points during these first many weeks. This is not trivial pursuit, and I derive no glee from stumping you; but you do need to recognize key ideas and moments from the works and from our class interactions. If you have spent time with the material and paid attention in class, only a close review of notes is necessary for preparation. Otherwise, comparatively, Inferno will seem like an Alaskan cruise.

III. TAKE-HOME ESSAY. [Total 40 points.]

DO THIS FIRST. This portion of the exam will also be due on exam day, October 7th, 1:00pm. You will need to drop an e-copy in Blackboard’s Discussion space by that time or earlier.
Answer the following thoroughly and precisely, and shoot for about three (3) pages, double-spaced. The essay should be a virtuoso piece of brilliance manifested in impressive eloquence, with facile reference to specifics from the medieval materials, properly documented.

What the heck good are the medieval arts and humanities to someone living in North America in 2020?

[Beware inauthentic fake answers. Don’t make me remind you that this is not a history class. And if you assert that we get a better sense of the times and its people, then the new question is simply, and in turn, so what good is that?]


BIG DAY: WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 7th, 2020; 1:10 PM