PART 1: Practicing Literary Terms

In this first section of the exam, you are asked to fill-in the blanks left for you. This section tests your knowledge of and familiarity with literary terms—as we have studied them in class and applied them to our reading of literary works. Hint: Don’t be hasty here. Sometimes it helps to read the entire definition before you venture a guess.

1. Almost all poems are written with reference to normative rules of grammar. In other words, there is always a relationship between the apparently confused grammar of a poem and the grammar of an ordinary English sentence. One of the first steps in figuring out any poem, therefore, is to under­stand the relationships between the various words which make up each sentence of a poem. In other words, as reader it is your job to untangle and sort out the poem’s __________.

2. In short fiction, who tells the story and how it is told are critical issues for an author to decide. The tone and feel of the story, and even its meaning, can change radically depending on who is telling the story. Remember, someone is always between the reader and the action of the story. That someone is telling the story from his or her own _________________.

3. _____________________ provides information pertaining to the where, when, and how of a story and its characters.

4. The term ____________ refers to the linguistic sound patterns within poetry. In its most simple definition, it is the rhythm, the beat, with which lines are read.

5. _____________ is the sequence of events in a story or play.  As a reader of literature, you need to assume that every story is planned, that it follows a logical series of events, and that it has a beginning, middle, and an end. 

6. As a literary or rhetorical device, _________________ lays bare a gap or incongruity between what a speaker or writer says and what is generally understood. Often it is an aesthetic evaluation, which relies on a sharp discordance between the real and the ideal, a gap between an understanding of reality, or expectation of a reality, and what actually happens.

7. The breaking of a syntactic unit (a phrase, clause, or sentence) by the end of a line or between two verses is called ____________________. Lines run over and pursue their syntactic unit beyond the end of individual lines and stanzas. Its opposite is end-stopping--or end-stopped lines--where each linguistic unit corresponds with a single line. The term is directly borrowed from the French and literally means "straddling" or "bestriding".

8. _________________________ attributes life, sense, and reason to something inanimate, such as an object, an abstraction, or a concept; for example, “my humble home,” “a sad attire,” and “the woods looked on as the child passed through.”

9. A reference to a familiar expression, person, place, or concept, typically stemming from biblical, classical, or proverbial traditions is called __________________________. Consider, for example, “prodigal son” or “Trojan horse.”

10. This looks on the page like rhymed verse in that it is left aligned only and the beginning of each line is capitalized. But, unlike rhymed verse, this does not rhyme; instead, it consists of ten syllables per line, with each line containing five iambic feet—that is, unstressed, stressed syllables, a pattern commonly referred to as iambic pentameter. We call this verse pattern ________________________; Shakespeare and Marlowe pioneered its use in Renaissance drama.

BONUS ROUND (+4 points):
An audible pause that breaks up a line of verse is called _____________________. In most cases, it is indicated by punctuation marks which cause a pause in speech: a comma, a semicolon, a full stop, a dash, etc. Punctuation, however, is not necessary, e.g. “Downward to darkness (audible pause) on extended wings.”

PART 2: Passage Identification

In the second part of the exam you are asked to consider and contextualize a passage from William Shakespeare’s The Tempest. Please, read the passage carefully and answer a few questions in response to your reading.

Our revels now are ended. These our actors,                  1

As I foretold you, were all spirits and

Are melted into air, into thin air;

And, like the baseless fabric of this vision,

The cloud-capped towers, the gorgeous palaces,              5

The solemn temples, the great globe itself,

Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve,

And like this insubstantial pageant faded,

Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff

As dreams are made on, and our little life                        10

Is rounded with a sleep.

Scan these lines and denote meter and rhyme scheme. Summarize the passage above, identify the speaker, and describe the immediate circumstances in which these lines are uttered. In other words, describe what happened before and what will happen after this passage is being spoken. In your response, consider the following questions: What prompted this speech and what will occur as a result of this speech? Look at some of the metaphors and images here: What does the speaker mean in lines 4, 6, and 8 when he refers to “baseless fabric,” “the great globe itself,” and “insubstantial pageant”? And which “revels” have just come to an end? Why have they come to an end? And in the context of the play as a whole: How do these lines highlight the development of the speaker’s character, and how do they relate to the overall theme of the play and the speaker’s role within the play?

PART 3: Essay Questions

In a paragraph or two each, respond to each of the questions below. Be sure to write in complete sentences and proofread your essays before you hand in this part of the exam. Feel free to consult your textbook at this time and write on the back of this sheet; attach an extra sheet of paper if you run out of space. Good luck!

1. Drama: The Tempest is often considered one of Shakespeare’s greatest plays, if not the greatest. Yet the characterization is flat and conventional—the characters are little more than stereotypes devoid of individuality—and the plot is thin—no complex subplots develop; all action is orchestrated and supervised by Prospero and Ariel. So, obviously, the appeal of the play must lie elsewhere than in its plot and characterization. For example, the different characters might have symbolic significance; the roles they inhabit might be representative of contemporary social and political concerns. Or Shakespeare might be attempting to depict a vision that cannot be conveyed by dramatic action; his play might be a social commentary on Renaissance beliefs, practices, and/or discoveries. What qualities do you find in the play that would account for its high reputation? Describe Shakespeare’s engagement with at least two contemporary concerns. You may comment on any of these sets: magic and learning, political power and responsibility, New World exploration and colonialism, or humanism and education. Be sure to support your argument with references to the text of the play.

2. Short Story: We have read a number of short stories this semester in which the perspective of the various characters on events within the story differed greatly, ultimately affecting the story’s outcome and impacting our experience as readers in unique and intriguing ways. Obviously, this might have to do with the narrative point of view the writer chose to relate his/her tale, but it might also, more generally, have to do with the ways in which we all perceive the world differently. We all have our own view of things, value different qualities in others and/or the world around us, pursue different goals in life, and believe in different things. As readers, we bring this personal “baggage” to the text—and writers know that we do this: they exploit our prejudices and preconceptions, play with them, enforce them, challenge them, or disappoint them. Drawing on at least two short stories that we have read this semester, examine the ways in which writers engage reader expectations and/or the private assumptions we, as readers, bring to a text. How do stories manipulate our understanding of the world (and our role within this world) through the creation and portrayal of fictional characters and their interaction with the world they inhabit?