WORLD LITERATURE II (ENG 252)

Exam 1

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 using 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 proofread your essay carefully before posting it to the Blackboard Exam Message Box. I will consider both the quality of the writing and the quality of the content when I grade your essay.

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 about 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. I will keep a copy of your exam for one year, so you may refer to it if necessary.


This exam will ask you to write an essay comparing and contrasting some aspect of Tartuffe and Candide that interests you. You may use background material from your Activities on Tartuffe and Candide in this essay. This material can include notes and outlines, but not the completed Activities. If you have done the double credit Activity on Candide and Monkey, you may develop a question on that pair for your exam essay and omit Tartuffe

Note: there may be questions on this form that are not on the form in the Testing Center, but don't worry about that. Any question on this form, or any good question of your own that deals with the relevant material, is ok.


Possible topics for comparison/contrast might include:

The religion of Tartuffe vs. the philosophy (optimism) of Pangloss
Reasonable characters in Tartuffe (e.g. Cleante and such) vs. the reasonable characters in Candide (who are they?)
The foolishness of Orgon vs. the foolishness of young Candide
Roles of women in Tartuffe and Candide
The "solutions" in Tartuffe and Candide (e.g. the king saving Orgon vs. the final Garden solution in Candide)
Different kinds of satire in Tartuffe and Candide
Ideas of evil in Tartuffe and Candide
A topic of your own choosing that compares/contrasts Tartuffe and Candide or Candide and Monkey

Remember--your essay should have a point to it, it should be able to answer a reader's question: SO WHAT? If you are not sure how to do this, see A.Taormina's instructions on "How to Write a Literary Comparison Essay," which is linked to our home page.


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 talk 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.


EXAM GRADING

Exam 1 is worth up to 100 points.


GRADING CRITERIA

You develop a topic of comparison that is relevant to both Tartuffe and Candide. (Or Monkey and Candide.)
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 events and/or characters in both Tartuffe and Candide to support your main points. (Or Monkey and Candide).
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