ENG 340: Preparation for Examination #1 [125 Points]
Your first hour examination will consist of three sections: a matching section asking you to match quotations from the assigned readings [only the nine short stories and the interviews with and poems by Harjo and TallMountain] with the appropriate titles, an identification section in which you will write a 4-5 sentence comment on each of five items selected from the assigned stories, and a short essay about a story of your choice. Instructions for completing each section of the examination are provided below.
Section I: Matching [50 Points]
The twenty-five matching items will be selected from the nine assigned short stories and two interviews with Native American poets. You are not responsible for the Takaki or DuBois essays in this section of the examination. Your task will be to place the letter of the alphabet corresponding to the correct story title in the blank preceding each quotation. Print and use capital letters on the answer sheet to avoid the confusion that sometimes results from cursive writing of lower case letters. The stories will be presented in alphabetical order and assigned a letter of the alphabet as demonstrated in the chart below:
A. / "American Horse" by Louise ErdrichB. / "Everyday Use" by Alice Walker
C. / Joy Harjo Interview and Poems
D. / "The Legend of Miss Sasagawara" by Hisaye Yamamoto
E. / Mary TallMountain Interview and Poems
F. / "Seventeen Syllables" by Hisaye Yamamoto
G. / "Tears of Autumn" by Yoshiko Uchida
H. / "When Mr. Pirzada Came to Dine" by Jhumpa Lahiri
I. / "Wiltshire Bus" by Hisaye Yamamoto
J. / "Woman Hollering Creek" by Sandra Cisneros
K. / "Yellow Woman" by Leslie Marmon Silko
Please note that only eleven texts are involved but you will be asked to respond to twenty-five quotations, so each story can be the correct answer more than once. Therefore, it is not useful to keep track of which stories you have used as answers in an attempt to figure out the correct answer by process of elimination. Some titles may be the correct answer as many as three times, while some titles may only be the correct answer once. To further assist you, I will project a list of the stories in the order in which we read them on the screen at the front of the room. Here are a couple of sample quotations. Use the above key to select your answers:
_____1. I coveted each evening's treasure as I would a jewel, or a coin from a buried kingdom, and I would place it in a small keepsake box made of carved sandalwood beside my bed...
_____2. What resulted was a disproportionately large hole the size of a lemon, so that our jack-o-lantern wore an expression of placid astonishment...
Section II. Identification Questions [50 Points]
I will provide nine items [significant objects, images, character names, or quotations] and you will select only five to identify and discuss. Each answer will be worth 10 points. In each case, you will identify the story and author relevant to the item, then comment on the significance of each item in four or five concisely worded sentences. You comments should indicate how the designated item is significant to the narrative structure, a thematic concern, or a conflict in the story. To earn full credit, begin your answer with the correct story title and full name of the author, establish the context in which the item appears, identify the speaker if the item is a quotation, and use character names to demonstrate your familiarity with the story.
Use the key for the matching section and the projected list of the stories in the order in which we read them to assist you in remembering correct titles and full author names.
Section III. Short Essay [25 Points]
Throughout the semester, we have emphasized a number of recurring issues and concerns during our discussions of the assigned readings: twoness, double-consciousness, immigration and assimilation, mother-daughter conflicts, marriage, and gender issues among others. From the nine short stories and the interviews with two Native American poets, select one text that you believe best addresses issues central to our course and write a short [3-4 paragraph] essay in which you justify your choice. When writing this essay, you may consult the story or interview with a poet, so bring your professor’s pack to class.
You may also bring to class a 4 X 6 index card containing your thesis statement and an outline of your short essay. The outline may include the topic sentence for each body paragraph and lists of examples that you intend to use while completing the in-class essay. Of course, you will use MLA documentation style when presenting quotations from the text that you have chosen.
I will supply lined paper for the examination.