Humanities 110

Final Exam Instructions

This is an open-book, open-note exam. While you may consult the assigned course materials, lectures, your notes, and handouts, you may not consult other online materials or other people for the duration of the exam. For this exam, as for all other exams at Reed, the Honor Principle applies. Failure to adhere to the requirements set out above will constitute academic misconduct.

The final exam will consist of three parts: (1) two short close readings of selected objects or passages, (2) a comparative, thematic essay, and (3) an essay on Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man. 

Part One (approximately 45 minutes; make sure to use some of this time for editing) will require students to close read two works or a portion of two works. Students will be able to choose from two options in each case. All passages and objects will be taken from the works assigned for the class, including galleries. The creator, title of work, place it was made, and date will be supplied. Responses should articulate why the passage or image is important, in terms of the work as a whole from which it is derived, the time and place in which it was produced or read/viewed/performed, and/or the larger unit of the course in which it was assigned. In your close reading, you should draw on ideas elaborated in the lectures and your conference.

Part Two (approximately 1 hour; make sure to use some of this time for editing): select one of two or three essay questions that require you to trace a theme in two of the works we have studied this semester, with the requirement that one work comes from each half of the syllabus. 

Part Three (approximately 1 hour; make sure to use some of this time for editing): select one of two or three essay questions that require you to write on Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man.

Students who have accommodations from DAR are encouraged to use them for the exam. If your accommodation includes extra time, please contact your professor to make sure that is recognized.