Practice Test Discussion | Reading and Analysis for the Study of English Literature

General Comments:

Follow instructions. If the prompt asks you to choose one set of quotes to analyze, don't write about all three. If the prompt asks you to discuss at least two works, don't discuss only one. If the prompt asks you to compare and contrast the element of difference in two or more works, don't give a description or summary of the works or retell the plot. You're going to get fewer points than if you were focused on topic.
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. If you have time at the end of the test, check your writing for

Spelling: Shuman Alexei is not the author of "Indian Edecation," nor is Callivan a pun on canibal
Capitalization
Agreement

Follow academic conventions in writing about literature. For example,

Use literary present tense.

"Verb Tense for Analysis of Literature and History," Harvard University
"How (and Why) Do I Write in Literary Present Tense," Vanderbilt University

Refer to authors by their last names.
See also

Celia Easton, "Conventions of Writing Papers about Literature," State University of New York at Genoso
Christopher P. Wilson, "A List of Technical Conventions It Helps to Know," Boston College
Simon Lewsen, "Writing about Literature," University of Toronto

Prompt: Briefly explain (in two or three sentences) one characteristic that the following set of quotes have in common.

a.    Agh, petals maybe. How
    should I know?
Which shore? Which shore?
I said petals from an appletree.

b.    this is how to bully a man; this is how a man bullies you

c.        “Throw the first punch,” Stevie said as they squared off.
        “No,” Randy said.
        “Throw the first punch,” Stevie said again.
        “No,” Randy said again.
        “Throw the first punch!” Stevie said for the third time, and Randy reared back and pitched a knuckle fastball that broke Stevie’s nose.

Comments:

The prompt asks you to identify and explain a shared quality among the three excerpts.
Good responses answer this prompt right away and demonstrate understanding of the works and of literary terms as well as analytical skills by naming an evident feature common to all the quotes and providing clear explanation of it.
When looking at the passages, it might be helpful to draw on issues and terms mentioned in class discussion as well as those in your course packets, both from last semester and this one, and those in the study guide pages or in relevant further reading, such as

imagery
metaphor
irony
diction; denotation, connotation
character, characterization
motive
voice, tone
juxtaposition, contrast
rhythm, pace, meter
form, structure
logical flow, trajectory, movement
syntax
sentence structure
themes
contexts

All three excerpts have repetition. The repeated "Which shore?" in quick succession in Williams' "Portrait of a Lady" creates an onomatopoeic effect that mimics the sound of waves hitting a shore, while Jamaica Kincaid's repeated phrase "this is how" announces the repeated terms "man" and "bully" in a different order that creates a balance between "you" as actor and object, and Alexie's repeated "Throw the first punch" and "No" create a children's dare game in which the new student proves himself by breaking the repetition.

- Good: Immediately and correctly identifies a common characteristic in all three excerpts
- Vague: How is the word order of "man" and "bully" different?
- Unclear: What does "balance" mean? How is "'you' as actor and object" creating a kind of balance?
- Vague: What does the new student prove himself about by punching?

All three quotes contain a shift despite repetitive elements; the repeated "Which shore? Which shore?" marks a break in voice that is different from what comes before and after; the two "this is how," one immediately after another, with "man" and "bully" transposed creates a shift in meaning; and the exchange sequence between Stevie and Randy occurring three times sets the story up for the surprise fastball—Randy changes his response: he no longer speaks but acts, and his answer is no longer no but yes; he breaks the repeated pattern and Stevie's nose.

Each passage is a pocket of learning created by the tension between the sameness of repeated elements and the newness of breaks from that pattern. In the odd question-and-answer exchange at the end of William's "Portrait of a Lady," the three consecutive questions framed by answers are actually answers themselves about learning what it means to be a poet. The mother's voice in Kincaid's "Girl" repeating "this is how" teaches the young woman how to hold her own when dealing with the opposite sex. And Randy suddenly socking it to Stevie after repeated taunts teaches the narrator the benefits of hitting first.

Prompt: Difference figures in the works we have read this first half of the semester in a wide variety of ways. What is different? Why is that difference significant? What values are associated with which kind of dissimilarity? How are qualities of being unlike, unusual, or unfamiliar used in the works and to what effect? Choose at least two works and compare and contrast the element of difference in them.

Comments:

The prompt asks you to compare and contrast elements of difference in at least two works.
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 the difference that features in each of the two (or more) works chosen
Clearly and accurately indicates the work titles and authors being discussed
Clearly indicates how the element of difference in each work are similar to and different from each other

Explains the functions of difference in the works.
Explanation and discussion of the difference is fully and logically developed.
Analysis is not wordy or rambling, but stays focused on teasing out the kinds of, values attached to and roles of differences between one work and another, and making sense of it in relation to the works 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.

Notice how good responses answer the prompt right away, identify the works involved, and establish the focus and direction of the discussion that will follow.

(20 points) Difference figures in the works we have read this first half of the semester in a wide variety of ways. What is different? Why is that difference significant? What values are associated with which kind of dissimilarity? How are qualities of being unlike, unusual, or unfamiliar used in the works and to what effect? Choose at least two works and compare and contrast the element of difference in them.

Unknown Country

Vladimir Nabokov's short story "Terra Incognita" and Brian Friel's play Molly Sweeney both have difference as the driving force behind the narrative. Gregson's and Vallier's expedition itself depends upon the fact that another land is different from the ones they already know, and the case of Molly Sweeney is attractive to both Frank and Mr. Rice because of her perceptive difference. In other words, difference is an unknown country in both works, and it is precisely this quality that gives value or worth to the entities being explored.

- Clearly identifies the works to be analyzed and immediately answers what the difference is for each work
- Links the two works together in addressing the prompt topic while setting up for a comparison and contrast between how difference is used in each work
- Having an intriguing title is a nice bonus

Shock and Awe

John Milton's Sonnet 19 speaker is different from the "Thousands at his bidding speed / And post o'er Land and Ocean without rest" and William Carlos Williams' "Portrait of a Lady" speaker or speakers are unlike any of the uncountable blason speakers since the beginning of poetry. On one hand, both poems toy with a difference in numbers, distinguishing themselves as unique from a multitude, on the other, they are playing with a more dangerous difference—that of ideas.

- Immediately incorporates and identifies both works in responding to the prompt
- Cites textual evidence and relevant literary terms to explain and illustrate what the difference is in each work
- Begins to establish the comparison between the use of difference in the works and to lay out the kinds of differences that will be discussed

Césaire's A Tempest is a postcolonial response to Shakespeare's The Tempest. Caliban's speaking in the 1969 play makes him a radical challenge to colonial power. When a native language is used by the "slave" Caliban, a disruption of power is created because with this utterance, Caliban is showing that the knows more than Prospero. "Uhuru," the Kiswahili word that Caliban speaks, roughly translates as "freedom" and is a common rebellious call word in Africa during the decolonization struggle. Caliban's association with nature further shows the anti-colonial views of Césaire, one of the founding members of the Négritude movement, because of the insistence of a native identity and association with the native landscape like the lush natural environment of Césaire's hometown Martinique.

- Brings up postcolonialism but does not show how it answers or relates to any of the prompt questions about difference
- Discusses only one work instead of at least two as the prompt indicates
- Ideas and sentences are somewhat disjointed
- Plagiarizes Brenda McNary's "He Proclaims Uhuru—Understanding Caliban as a Speaking Subject"

Shakespeare's and Césaire's Tempests are different in terms of language use. Shakespeare's language is old, and Césaire's is more modern. Shakespeare writes in blank verse while Césaire writes in prose. The difference in language between the two works is significant because it makes Shakespeare hard and Césaire easier to understand.

- The prompt asks students to "compare and contrast the element of difference" in at least two works, but Student O has changed it to "discuss the difference between two works." The essay then lists some differences in terms of language between the works instead of discussing how the element of difference within each work compares to that in the other.

Milton begins his Sonnet 19 with the musing line "When I consider how my light is spent." He then brings up time in the form of days, darkness, and expansiveness. The speaker later introduces one Talent and is very worried that it will cause God to be angry at him if he does nothing with it. When Patience comes to the speaker's aid, it occurs just before the volta, the turn of the sonnet's argument.

- Describes the sonnet line by line, following the argument and structure of the sonnet with no argument of the student's own.
- Off-topic

Though there are several parallels between Sonnet 19 and Misreadings, there are also many aspects of the two stories which are somewhat different.

- Parallels between which aspects of the texts?
- What are the aspects of the texts that you will examine?
- The works are different in what ways?
- The prompt asks you to discuss the element of difference in the two works and compare them, not the difference between the works.
- Vagueness makes your essay bland, uninteresting.
- Vagueness says you don't have a point to make.

Response

- Comments

Response.

- Comments

Student V	Student U
(20 points) Difference figures in the works we have read this first half of the semester in a wide variety of ways. What is different? Why is that difference significant? What values are associated with which kind of dissimilarity? How are qualities of being unlike, unusual, or unfamiliar used in the works and to what effect? Choose at least two works and compare and contrast the element of difference in them. Response.	(20 points) Difference figures in the works we have read this first half of the semester in a wide variety of ways. What is different? Why is that difference significant? What values are associated with which kind of dissimilarity? How are qualities of being unlike, unusual, or unfamiliar used in the works and to what effect? Choose at least two works and compare and contrast the element of difference in them. Response.
- Comments	- Comments

Kincaid, Jamaica. “Girl.” 1978. At the Bottom of the River. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2000. 3–5. Print.

Williams, William Carlos. The Collected Poems of William Carlos Williams. Vol. 1. Eds. A. Walton Litz and Christopher MacGowan. New York: New Directions, 1991. Print.

Alexie, Sherman. "Indian Education." 1993. The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven. New York: Grove Press, 2005. 171–80. Print.