Engl 3040, Fall 2018,
Exam 1 Study Guide
last update: October 8, 2018
Exam
date: Wednesday October 8, 2018
Exam
Format
- The exam will include four prompts. You will choose two of those four. You will then write two short essays (around 500
words each).
-
The four prompts on the exam will in turn be chosen from the eight listed
below.
-
The exam is "open book": Bring your books. Bring your notes. However,
I require that you compose the exam essays in class, rather than writing them
ahead of time and transcribing them during the exam period.
Guidelines
-
Each of your essays must have a purpose or thesis. Give each essay a title that
reflects its thesis.
-
Please note, regarding "comparison" prompts: The act of comparing
always involves discussing both similarities and differences (regardless of whether or not you're explicitly
asked to "contrast"). The most important challenge, for
"comparison" essays, is to have a guiding thesis or purpose, in
comparing the two works.
Grading
Criteria
An
"A" essay will ...
1.
... have a clear, well-defined purpose/ focus/ thesis, and a title that
reflects that;
2.
... be well-developed, including dates, author names, titles, other proper
nouns, and specific, well-selected quotes from texts;
3.
... be well-organized, with clear section divisions and paragraph breaks;
4.
... be reasonably fluent and readable;
5.
... be well edited.
8
Prompts
1. What is "literary nonfiction"? Define the term by discussing examples
we've read in this class.
2.
What is an essay? Discuss the history of the form, and of the word
"essay," with reference to examples from class.
3.
Pick any single notable work we've read this semester so far and discuss, in
detail, exactly what makes it "literary."
4.
Compare McClanahan's Crapalachia with
Strayed's Wild.
5.
Compare McClanahan's Crapalachia with
Spiegelman's Maus.
6.
Compare Errol Morris's film, "Mr. Death," with Art Spiegelman's
genre-defying work, Maus.
7.
Is Art Spiegelman's book, Maus, best
regarded as fiction or nonfiction? Discuss.
8.
What nonfiction genres (or "subgenres") does Joan Didion deploy in
her book, Slouching Towards Bethlehem? Discuss, with reference to
particular titles.