Midterm Preparation, Fall 2005

The take-home midterm exam will include three sections:

A. Close reading, analysis, and interpretation.   This section will have two parts.  In the first, you will have two passages from the Analects to compare, much like some of your homework assignments.  In the second you will have two different translations of the same passage that have been used by various interpreters, and you will be asked to discuss the issue at stake in choosing between them.

B. Essay question.  A single question - it will concern the contrast between Confucianism and Mohism.

C. Brief answers.  These will include a number (probably three) of questions that ask you to speak briefly about some key issues.  The draft test I have so far has a question about the structure of doctrine in the Analects, issues of theory of language raised in connection with the Mohists, and the the structure of doctrine in the Mencius.

You will receive the test in class on Wednesday, October 19; your completed test must be submitted by email as an attachment in Microsoft Word by 2:30 pm, Monday, October 24.  Late penalties will apply from that point, so just don't be late.

Each question will specify a word limit.  These are strict limits designed to force you to work on your ideas until you can express them with simplicity and clarity.  They are also meant to ensure that you don't treat this take-home exam like a term paper.  (In Word, to check how many words you have written for an answer, copy it to a new page and click File/Properties/Statistics.)  Answers will be graded down one level for each ten words above the limit.