Exam Sample Questions |
Exams in this class involve three kinds of questions: quotation identification, short answer, and essay. As a rule, I give the essay as a take-home component of the class, so you will have the questions in advance and will be able to prepare for them outside of class. Quotation identification and short answer questions must be answered in class, however. I've included below both the directions and a set of sample questions for the exams in this course to help you prepare. Don't forget to review Suggestions for Taking Exams.
Quotation Identification |
Identify the author and title the quotations given below, explain briefly the context of the quotation, and then explain its significance. In other words, why is the quote important? Remember that significance weighs most heavily in quotation identification. (5-10 points per question)
1. "And because I am happy, & dance & sing,
They think they have done me no injury,
And are gone to praise God & his Priest & King,
Who make up a heaven of our misery."
These lines are from William Blake's "The Chimney Sweeper," from Songs of Experience. The speaker is the chimney sweep, who is addressing his parents, denouncing them for condemning him to a life of "misery" as a chimney sweep and for believing him to be uninjured by this life because of the innocence that still allows him to be "happy, & dance & sing." Although the Chimney sweep recognizes the injustices he faces at the hands of the social and religious institutions of "God & his Priest & King," his higher innocence allows him to still take joy in his life. This poem demonstrates Blake's interest in the political reforms underway as a result of the French Revolution, and the Romantic poet's interest in the figure of the common man.
To give you an idea of how each of these elements is evaluated: generally if a quotation identification question counts for 10 points, you receive 1 point for the correct identification of the author (last names only are OK except for authors who share a last name) and 1 for the title, 3 points for the context, and 5 points for significance.
Short Answer |
Read each question carefully and answer it in complete sentences unless otherwise directed. Be sure to answer all parts of the question. (5-10 points per question)
1. List 5 characteristics of Romanticism and briefly discuss two of them. (10 pts)
2. Explain how "The Clod & the Pebble" shows the tension between innocence and experience in the Blake's Songs. (5 pts)
Questions and answers for this type of question will vary significantly enough to make a sample answer here fairly unhelpful; the format of the question itself should be enough to allow you to prepare.
Homework |
Respond to the quote below as if you were answering a quotation identification exam question (use the directions above).
1. There was a time when meadow, grove, and stream,
The earth, and every common sight,
To me did seem
Apparelled in celestial light. . .
It is not now as it hath been of yore;--
This page copyright 2000-2007 by Lisa Hammond | last update 20 September 2006