PLEASE WRITE YOUR NAME ON THE BACK OF THIS TEST ONLY.
I. MATCHING
Write the correct letters in the spaces at the left. (2 points each)
_____ conflict A. simple, one dimensional character
_____ foreshadowing B. character who tells a story, using “I”
_____ motif C. humor ridiculing folly or weaknesses
_____ plot D. the sequence of actions and events in a story
_____ first person narrator E. hint that something will happen
_____ flat character F. place, mood, and time of a story
_____ setting G. fully developed, complicated character
_____ foil H. the opposite of what is expected or said
_____ satire I. repeated thematic element
_____ epiphany J. reference to something outside a story
K. sudden, transforming realization
L. opposition or struggle
M. character who contrasts with another character,
emphasizing the differences between them
II. IDENTIFICATIONS
Identify EIGHT of the following items as fully as you can using no more than two sentences for each answer. SKIP ONE. Give the AUTHOR and TITLE for each item and EXPLAIN ITS IMPORTANCE. (1 point for each author, 1 point for each title; 3 points for your explanation of why each quotation is important to the story it comes from)
I did something I never had done before: hugged Maggie to me, then dragged her on into the room, snatched the quilts out of Miss Wangero’s hands and dumped them into Maggie’s lap.
author: title:
importance
First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross carried letters from a girl named Martha, a junior at Mount Sebastian College in New Jersey.
author: title:
importance
“Your mother.” His voice had become very hard. “Can’t you recognize your own mother?”
author: title:
importance
George came back in with the beer, paused while a handicap signal shook him up. And then he sat down again. “You been crying?” he said to Hazel.
author: title:
importance
He pushed me down onto the dirty floor of the pickup and kept one hand on my head while I inhaled the musk of his cigarettes in the dashboard ashtray and sang along with Rosanne Cash on the tape deck.
author: title:
importance
It is so thin there are no calves to its legs; its belly protrudes; it lives on a half-bowl of corn meal and grease a day. It is naked. Its buttocks and thighs are a mass of festered sores, as it sits in its own excrement continually.
author: title:
importance
Nora was sitting on the railing, waiting for me, and she put on a very sour puss when she saw the priest with me. She was mad jealous because a priest had never come out of the church with her.
author: title:
importance
I put in windows with arches. I drew flying buttresses. I hung great doors. I couldn’t stop. The TV station went off the air. I put down the pen and closed and opened my fingers. The blind man felt around over the paper. He moved the tips of his fingers over the paper, all over what I had drawn, and he nodded.
author: title:
importance
She reached out and touched him on the shoulder. The Misfit sprang back as if a snake had bitten him and shot her three times through the chest.
author: title:
importance
III. ESSAYS
Answer ONE or TWO of the questions below. If you choose to do two, write about different stories in each of your essay answers to avoid giving the impression of repeating yourself. If you write one essay, write at least two full pages. If you write two, complete a full page for each one. More is better.
Include several main points in each of your answers. I am looking not for one right answer but a good argument in support of your position with as many references as you can supply to specific incidents in the reading you’ve done. Include the titles and authors of the stories you write about.
How well you write determines your score. Writing errors count against you, so write and proofread carefully. (20 points each for two essays; 40 points if you do one)
1. In some of the stories you read this semester there are characters who could be considered foils. Explain what foils are, discuss the foils in TWO of the following stories, and explain how the use of foils affects your reading of the stories.
“Day of the Butterfly”
“First Confession”
“Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been”
“Greasy Lake”
“The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas”
“Everyday Use”
“Cathedral”
2. In a review of T.C. Boyle’s most recent stories, Rebecca Myers claims that each of the stories is about a person whose physical and emotional endurance is tested and that it is gratifying to watch as each main character “fights his or her way out of the wreckage.” Discuss THREE stories you think involve physical or emotional testing, and explain whether you think the characters involved are able to fight their way out of the wreckage.
3. Some people argue that a major character changes during the course of a good story. Do you agree? Choose TWO of the following characters and discuss the degree to which they change or do not change in the stories in which they appear. Is a change in a character a necessary aspect of a good story in your opinion?
the narrator in “Greasy Lake”
Connie in “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been”
Lieutenant Jimmy Cross in “The Things They Carried”
Helen in “Day of the Butterfly”
4. None of the stories you read this semester ended “And they lived happily ever after,” but some of the stories’ endings could possibly be categorized as happy. Discuss the conclusions of TWO stories you think have happy endings. Tell what happened and why you consider it to be happy.
5. Robert Evans and Richard Harp describe “First Confession” as “A funny story that demands to be taken seriously.” Explain what was funny in THREE stories. Be specific, explaining what was funny and why it amused you. Then tell whether or not you think the stories you chose should be taken seriously or not.
6. Which of the stories you read this semester is your favorite? Explain what you like about ONE story, including a discussion of at least THREE of the following: conflict, theme, setting, first or third person point of view, motif, irony, allusions, foreshadowing, and symbolism. Please underline the terms you use in your essay.
7. How important are titles in the stories you read? Explain the titles of THREE of the works you read, relating the titles to specific details in the stories and discussing the meaning and importance of the titles.
8. Creative option: Rewrite part of one of the stories from a different character’s point of view. Demonstrate your familiarity with the story by using specific information from it in your version. Identify the story, its original author, and the character from whose viewpoint you’re rewriting it.