| Examination
Description and Sample Examination Question |
The
final examination will consist of textual identifications, explications,
and essays. The textual identifications will be worth 10 points
each, the explications 40 points each, and
the essays 75 points each. I have not finished making the exam yet, but
the exam will have at least 600 points on it, of which you must complete
250; the exam is worth 25% of your final grade. You may also complete
an additional 50 points as extra credit. |
| I presume you are familiar with essay questions. The essay questions on this exam will not be focused on a single work. Instead, they will ask you to make connections between various works we have read in order to explore some larger issues about literature, |
Explications
will ask you to examine a poem you have not read before and discuss not
only its meaning, but how the poet conveys that meaning effectively to
the reader. The poems will be by poets you have read. |
| Textual identifications may not be familiar to you. Here are instructions and a sample excerpt and identification from a prior exam: |
|
Following are thirty-two passages excerpted from the works we have read
this semester. Choose up to twenty-five of them. For each,
you should do three things: 1) identify the author (2 points, last
name is sufficient); 2) identify the work’s title (2 points); 3)
explain the passage’s significance in 80-100 words (6 points). You
should also identify who is speaking — whether the narrator in a
novel, the speaker in a poem, or a specific character or characters.
Note that in the quotations, I have replaced the names of some characters,
places, and other revealing words with asterisks (******** ). There will
always be eight asterisks, regardless of whether the word being replaced
has two letters or fifteen. |
| Do not provide a longer answer than I have requested. The following examples are sufficient: |
|
| Edgar A. Poe, “The Cask of Amontillado” |
| Montresor
is speaking. He is using reverse psychology: by feigning concern
for Fortunato’s health and by mentioning his rival wine collector
Luchresi, he gets the drunken Fortunato to go deeper into the catacombs,
where he plans to wall him up. Montresor compliments Fortunato,
and acts concerned for his health, but his words — such as “as
once I was”— reveal his resentment and hostility, which we
as readers feel and in which we take vicarious pleasure. |
| .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Then up I rose, And dragged to earth both branch and bough, with crash And merciless ravage: and the shady nook Of hazels, and the green and mossy bower, Deformed and sullied, patiently gave up Their quiet being: and, unless I now Confound my present feelings with the past; Ere from the mutilated bower I turned Exulting, rich beyond wealth of kings, I felt a sense of pain |
| William Wordsworth “Nutting” |
The
speaker recalls when as a young boy he gathered hazelnuts from a “virgin”
group of trees. Wordsworth represents nature as female, and the
language in this passage (merciless ravage, sullied, gave up their quiet
being, mutilated) suggests a violent assault or possibly even a rape.
Up to that point, the speaker had been at peace there among the trees,
and looking back, he can’t understand his own actions, and believes
(though he admits his memory might not be perfect) that even then he felt
guilty. This passage demonstrates two common themes in Wordsworth’s
poems: his belief in the spiritual power of nature and his anxiety
over masculine sexuality and aggression. |
| This is not the only possible answer, but it would earn full credit. |
| Note that in the quotations, I will replace the names of some characters, places, and other revealing words with asterisks (******** ). I will always use eight asterisks, regardless of whether the word being replaced has one letter or fifteen. |