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 the poem below. Please, read the text of the poem carefully and answer a few questions in response to your understanding of the poem.

DEATH be not proud, though some have called thee                   1
Mighty and dreadfull, for, thou art not so,
For, those, whom thou think'st, thou dost overthrow,
Die not, poore death, nor yet canst thou kill me.
From rest and sleepe, which but thy pictures bee,                        5
Much pleasure, then from thee, much more must flow,
And soonest our best men with thee doe goe,
Rest of their bones, and soules deliverie.
Thou art slave to Fate, Chance, kings, and desperate men,
And dost with poyson, warre, and sicknesse dwell,                      10
And poppie, or charmes can make us sleepe as well,
And better then thy stroake; why swell'st thou then;
One short sleepe past, wee wake eternally,
And death shall be no more; death, thou shalt die.

Scan this poem and denote meter and rhyme scheme. Summarize the poem, describe its events, and explain how meter, rhyme scheme, imagery, and/or stylistic devices contribute to your understanding of this poem. In your response, consider the following questions: What is this poem about? How do you know? What does the poet mean in line fourteen, when he proclaims that “death shall be no more; death, thou shalt die”? What is the image here and how does the stylistic device evident in this line (as well as throughout the entire poem) take on special significance here? What is it, in other words, that makes this poem so powerful? Consider point of view and narrative tone in your response. Can you venture a guess as to who the poet is and what the title of his/her poem is? What about time period? Is there anything in the poem that would help you place it temporarily, culturally? Be as specific and thorough in your response as possible.

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 issue of colonization is larger than it may initially seem in Shakespeare’s The Tempest. The play was written in 1611, at a time of exploration, discovery, and intense interest in the native peoples of the New World—a Native American was first exhibited in England as a curiosity early in the 16th century, and by 1611 a community of free Blacks had been living in London for fifteen years. Europeans approached the New World with a curious mixture of benevolence, condescension, and greed. The economic stakes were particularly high: the raw materials of the New World held wealth for the countries that laid claim to them. By the same token, Europeans felt a moral imperative behind their imperialism: they were bringing the Word to heathens, civilization to savages, and culture to the ignorant. On the other hand, there was a current in Humanist thought that saw the "unspoiled" natives of the New World as a foil for the corruption of Europe. From this perspective, natives of the New World represented a "natural" innocence which was superior to the moral decay of Europe. Drawing on at least two characters in the play, comment on Shakespeare’s engagement with the topic of colonialism in this play. What might be his stance on New World exploration and the civilizing of natives? 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?