Final Review

Exam Date: Friday, December 12 at 1:00 PM

There will be two sections on the final examination. One will consist of short essay questions. We have provided a list of thirteen such questions. Ten will appear on the final examination, and you will have to answer three of them. The other section will require you to write a long essay. Below, we have included five hints of what such essay questions will look like. Three will appear on the exam, and you will have to answer one of them.

Short Essay Questions (50%)

1) While Browning is considered the master of the dramatic monologue form, you have read dramatic monologues by other poets. How does Tennyson's "Ulysses" OR Arnold's "Dover Beach" fulfill the definition of the dramatic monologue? Compare and contrast the poem you choose to Browning's poems.

2) In what ways did the concerns addressed by Jewish Disabilities Bill reach beyond the issue of the political position of the Jews?

3) According to Jowett and Arnold, how "should" Scripture be read? In what ways would Jowett and Arnold disagree with each other about reading Scripture? Are there any ideas or values that the two writers might share?

4) What specifically does Carlyle believe is the problem with the condition of England? He also describes a problem in "The Nigger Question." Is his position consistent in the two essays? Explain your answer.

5) Consider Mill's arguments in "The Negro Question" and The Subjection of Women. In each piece, how does he critique the logic of those who would make blacks or women subject to white masters? What points of argument does he apply in both pieces similarly? That is, what points that he makes in "The Negro Question" is he also making in The Subjection?

6) How would Arnold and Wilberforce disagree in their views on the purpose of religion? Would the two writers agree about anything?

7) Why does the death of his friend Arthur Hallam cause Tennyson to reflect upon the scientific relationship of God, man and Nature in sections 54, 55, and 56 of In Memoriam?

8) How do Lizzie Leigh and Susan Palmer fit into the typical images of the angel of the house and the fallen woman? Do these two characters in any way not fit into these typical portrayals?

9) Is there such a thing a Pre-Raphaelite aesthetic (artitistic theory or theory of beauty) that could be applied to both Pre-Raphaelite visual art and Pre-Raphaelite poetry? Explain and describe it.

10) Palmerston and Adam Smith seem to argue that England's relationships with other nations should involve a kind of morality or moral obligation. What kind of morality do they seem to recommend and, for each writer, what did this morality involve?

11) Why did Mill think the reform of marriage was so central to the reform of society? And how would ideal marriages lead to the ideal society?

12) In what ways did mid-Victorian visual art commit itself to "truth in nature," that is, the realistic depiction of the urban and the natural world?

13) How does the film Angels and Insects reflect the ideas, concerns, values or events that we discussed throughout this Mid-Victorian course?

Long Essay Questions (50%)

1) Industry and the middle class

2) Progress and anxiety

3) Mill and optimism, Carlyle and pessimism

4) Bagehot and Arnold and Britain's social and political constitution

5) Separate spheres

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Copyrighted by Hugh Dubrulle and Meg Cronin, 2006.