WORLD LITERATURE I (ENG 251)

 Exam 2

Dr. Diane Thompson, NVCC, ELI

Bring the following to the Testing Center of your choice:

Your Exam Pass (see left menu on Blackboard Forums page) and a photo ID
Your emplid
An outline, or notes for your essay (optional)
Printouts from WWW sources that you want to refer to in your exam
Your textbook or other print sources for stories that you want to discuss in your essay

You will write this exam in the Testing Center on the Blackboard testing system. There is no time limit, so be sure that you enter the Testing Center early enough to allow yourself as much time as you think you may need. An hour or two should be plenty. You may use a dictionary. Be sure to edit your writing carefully before submitting it to Blackboard.

After you have completed the exam, it will be sent to ELI, where I will read it. I will mail your grade to you with my comments on your exam. Allow up to one week for turnaround. You will not receive the exam back, nor will you be able to get back any papers you bring to the exam. The exam will be kept on file at ELI, where you may refer to it if necessary.

Exam Two will ask you to compare/contrast some interesting theme, event, or characters from more than one time and place. You need to select at least one text from those you have studied in Unit 3, and one from either Unit 1 or Unit 2. You may discuss more than two texts. Possible topics include:

Gilgamesh,  Odyssey, Agamemnon, Medea,  Aeneid and Arabian Nights - woman troubles in two or three of these stories; be sure to include Arabian Nights as one of them
Odyssey, Aeneid and Arabian Nights - adventures and marvels in two or three of these stories; be sure to include Arabian Nights as one of them
Aeneid and Roland - two visions of empire
Lysistrata and Arabian Nights - how women relate to heroes, power and empire
Bhagavad-Gita and Roland: two visions of the relationship between war, heroes and divinity
Aeneid and Arabian Nights - two ideas of fate or destiny
Odyssey and Arabian Nights - brave, clever Penelope and brave, clever Shahrazad - the right kind of wives
Gilgamesh, Agamemnon, Oedipus, Creon compared to Charlemagne and/or Shahrayar - rulers and powers; law and tyranny - be sure to include either Roland or Arabian Nights
a pair or group of your choice, so long as at least ONE text is from month one or two and ONE from month three

Remember--your essay should have a point to it; it should be able to answer a reader's question: SO WHAT?

Contact me at Diane Thompson to discuss your plans for this exam before you take it; I can be helpful, and I'd like to communicate with you about your ideas.

Plan to write about an hour; you may have longer if your wish. You should develop an essay of not less than five hundred words; it may be longer if you need to say more about your topic. You may bring notes and articles to the testing center; the notes and articles will be stapled to your test and returned to me. You may also bring your textbook and course guide to the testing center. You may not bring a draft of the essay, or completed Activities. Be sure to support any statements you make with examples from the texts themselves. The purpose of this exam is to encourage you to demonstrate your own understanding and thinking about what you have read; there is no simple, single answer to any of these questions.

For the exam itself, discuss the group you have selected. Look at the similarities and differences between/among the works in your group. Be sure to ask yourself, "so what?" and try to answer that question. This will help you to focus your discussion. Be sure to use plenty of specific examples from the texts you choose to support your ideas.

EXAM GRADING

Exam 2 is worth up to 150 points.

GRADING CRITERIA

You develop a topic of comparison that is relevant to the texts you have chosen to write about
You contact me and discuss your proposed topic before taking the exam.
You state your topic of comparison in a clear and complete manner at the start of your essay.
You develop your ideas into a coherent essay of about 500 words.
You use plentiful, specific references to the texts you are writing about to support your main points.
You make sure your essay has a point (e.g. an answer to the reader's question, SO WHAT?)
You write your essay in clear, correct English.

 

(c) Diane Thompson: 11/14/1998; updated:07/30/2007