STUDY GUIDE FOR ENGL/WMST 4671/5671 FINAL EXAM

A selection of questions similar to these will make up the final exam. For some sections of the test you will choose which questions to answer. For others you will be required to answer. Some questions may allow you to discuss films, art or poetry as well as written works studied this semester. Answers will generally need to be at least one standard-size handwritten page (~100 words) in length. There will also be one required longer essay question (2 page minimum).

1.      Explain some connections between traditional and contemporary versions of similar stories or characters (e.g. Paula Gunn Allen)

2.      What is the significance of women as warriors in Paula Gunn Allen (and elsewhere)?

3.      Compare and contrast Mountain Wolf Woman with Mary Crow Dog as strong Native women connected to their cultures. How does each try to change her world? What resources does each have? How is religion significant to each?

4.      How does autobiography as a genre influence your appreciation or interpretation of the lives of Native American women?

5.      What do the bear, corn, and baskets symbolize in Glancy’s novel?

6.      How is identity an important issue in 2 or more of the works studied? Be specific.

7.      How does alcoholism play a role in two or more works studied in class? Be specific.

8.      How does the poem “Anchorage” by Joy Harjo connect to and perhaps symbolize the themes of others of our novels or readings?

9.      Discuss how Indian/White relations are majors themes (and how they are developed comparatively) in two or more of the works studied this semester.

10.  What do water (and the color blue) symbolize in Erdrich?

11.  How does the film Smoke Signals represent water, alcohol, food, and family? What doe they mean?

12.  Why are twins important in several of the works we read? What do they signify?

13.  How is duality a key concept in one or more of the works from class, and what does it mean in each?

14.  Discuss the lyrical qualities of one or more works. How does FORM add to (or detract from) the work’s meaning and impact?

15.  What do gardens symbolize in Silko’s work? Why are they significant?

16.  How is matriarchy key to Silko’s novel? Is this an important concept in any other work?

17.  How might any of the works we read or studied be considered feminist? Be specific in arguing how the characters, events and symbols in the work have an overtly feminist theme or message.

18.  How is abuse (of women, children, Natives) important in one or more of our readings?

19.  How is strength of family and community reflected in one or more of our readings (and how is this connected to abuse, alcoholism, and other problems connected to being Native today)?

20.  Is family (or community) presented as a positive or negative force in general (in at least two works)?

21.  What do the photographs in Bell’s work represent?

22.  Do you find the setting (time period) of the works to influence whether you find it compelling? If so, how? Are you more compelled by the traditional or contemporary works? Why do you think this is the case?

23.  How might one or more of the works from class be considered political (in other words seeking to raise awareness of society or possibly to bring about social change)? Explain.

24.  In what ways might one or more of the works be considered hopeful projections for how to negotiate our world? Consider both how the work reflects the complexity of reality and how it gives symbolic ideas for navigating or thriving within that reality.

25.  Why might we consider Native American women today as being among the most profound and significant writers of this generation?

26.  Compare and contrast the resolutions or endings of two or more of the works and discuss their projected significance for Native Americans more generally.

27.  How is the connection between the past and present important in one or more works? How do the characters negotiate this disjunction (or conjunction) in positive or negative ways? What does this imply?

28.  What makes these works particularly identifiable (if anything in them does) as Native American?