ENGL 230 Great Narrative Works

Potential Questions – Exam 2

April 19, 2007

Past texts

Odyssey by Homer

Aeneid by Virgil

Inferno by Dante

“Ulysses” by Tennyson

Under the Volcano by Malcolm Lowry

Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

Most recent texts

The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

“My Last Duchess” by Robert Browning

Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys

Each of the following questions is a potential for the exam. On exam day you will be given one of the following questions at random, and you will be expected to make a direct, concise answer.

YOU SHOULD CREATE ANSWERS FOR EACH QUESTION BEFORE THE EXAM AND THOROUGHLY PREPARE FOR ANSWERING THE QUESTIONS IN ESSAY FORMAT IN CLASS BY CREATING OUTLINES/CLUSTERS/ETC. You will not be able to use your notes/books/exam preparations during the exam, but these pre-generating answers will make your answer much more accurate (and your brief exam time less stressful). In your preparation (and on the exam) you should focus on generating a thesis statement based on the potential question; you will then be expected to support your argument with descriptive evidence. ***I REEMPHASIZE, IF YOU WANT A DECENT GRADE ON THIS EXAM, BE PREPARED TO USE TEXTUAL EVIDENCE AND MULTIPLE EXAMPLES FROM THE TEXTS TO SUPPORT YOUR ANSWER TO THE QUESTION.

1. In many of the texts we have read, “manhood” and masculinity have been frequent themes. Choose two of the three most recent texts and one of our past texts to tie ideas on the formation, maintenance, and/or fall of one’s manhood. Stress the symbols, metaphors, etc. that the author uses to show the characters’ transition through this phase. You must create a solid thesis, engaging all three texts, that makes a common central argument regarding the topic.

2. Choose two of the three most recent texts and one of your past texts to demonstrate how man’s idea of the good wife/bad wife is portrayed. How are these representations of women historically contextualized? Stress the symbols, metaphors, etc. that the author uses to show how this idea is embodied in characters in the texts. You must create a solid thesis, engaging all three texts, that makes a common central argument regarding the topic.

3. Choose two of the three most recent texts and one of your past texts to demonstrate how historic prejudice influences a character in each text. Stress the symbols, metaphors, etc. that the author uses to show how prejudice affects the character. You must create a solid thesis, engaging all three texts, that makes a common central argument regarding the topic.