Department of English

Faculty of Arts, Chulalongkorn University

 

2202234  Introduction to the Study of English Literature

 

Test 1 Discussion


This discussion of test 1 should be useful in reviewing for test 2 as well as the final since many of the evaluative methods are the same and common student problems are addressed.

 

General Comments:

  • Follow instructions. If the test paper is on short stories and the prompt asks you to discuss "a story we have read," don't discuss a play. If the prompt asks you to explain how the symbols "acquire their meanings throughout the stories," don't write about only one static meaning per symbol.
  • Have a clear point to make in each of your paragraphs, and in the essay as a whole.
  • Support your ideas with textual evidence.
  • Avoid plot summary. Order your discussion around your argument, not according to the the plot of the story. Mention only plot points that are necessary to your argument.
  • Proofread. Sherly Jackson is not the author of "The Lottery," nor is Edger the author of "The-Tell-Tale Heart."
  • Follow academic conventions in writing about literature such as using the literary present tense and refering to authors by their last names, and provide proper citations.

           

 

Prompt 1: (15 points)  Discuss the meaning of two symbols, one each from a story we have read. Explain how your chosen symbols acquire their meanings throughout the stories and how they are important to the works’ themes.

 

Comments:

  • The prompt asks you to discuss the meaning of symbols, not to make an equation (ex. rose = love) and then give plot summary.
  • Good responses answer this prompt right away and demonstrate understanding of the works and critical and analytical thinking as well as effective writing. An essay with high marks
    • Within the first three sentences,
      • Clearly identifies two symbols, one from a different story, that accumulate in meaning throughout the work
      • Clearly and accurately indicates the work titles and authors being discussed
      • Clearly identifies the symbols' relation to the works' themes
    • Explains how the two symbols acquire meaning throughout the works, detailing when, in what manner, what meaings are achieved
    • Demonstrates how the symbols' meanings significantly relate to the works themes, fully and logically elaborating on and illustrating the connection, contrast, critique between symbol meanings and themes
    • Is not wordy or rambling, but stays focused on illustrating the different meanings that the symbols gain as the story progresses, and making sense of this development or accumulation of meanings in relation to the theme of the work as a whole.
    • Shows sensitivity to the works' diction, argument, logic flow, sentence structure, imagery, form, patterns, incongruities, and their effect on creating meaning.
    • Gives relevant and compelling evidence from the text of the works to illustrate and support its discussion and incorporates it smoothly into the prose of the essay.
    • Does not lapse into retelling the story, describing the story, giving a plot summary, or paraphrase.
    • Follows academic conventions in writing and citation.
    • Has very few or no grammatical mistakes.







  

 

 

Reference


Jackson, Shirley. "The Lottery." The Magic of Shirley Jackson. Ed. Stanley Edgar Hyman. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1969. 137–45. Print.

Poe, Edgar Allan. "The Tell-Tale Heart." The Annotated Tales of Edgar Allan Poe. Ed. and introd. Stephen Peithman. New York: Avenel Books, 1986. 134–9. Print.

Wilde, Oscar. "The Nightingale and the Rose." The Happy Prince and Other Tales. Illus. Walter Crane and Jacomb Hood. 1888. Boston: Roberts Brothers, 1894. 25–42. Print



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Last updated September 29, 2015