World Literature II
Exam 1
Ersinghaus
Exam 1 is composed of short and essay length questions. It's designed as an opportunity for students to demonstrate learning in a just few of the assessment criteria for the course. You should be brief but specific in your answers on the short answers. For the essays, which require more in depth analysis, follow MLA submission criteria. It is important that you turn in this assessment sheet with your completed exam on the day indicated.
Assessment Criteria
Literary Study Abilities:
Literary Genre
Level 1: Identifies and describes the characteristics of subject genre.
Literary History
Level 1: Identifies periods of literary history and their associated traits.
Literary Aesthetics
Level 1: Identifies and defines aesthetic elements using terminology of the discipline.
Literary Analysis
Level 1: Evaluates the significance of specific passages to the complete text using appropriate terminology.
Short Answer
Basho intersperses a certain kind of poetry into his travel writing. What form of poetry is it?
If you can answer the former question, identify the formal requirements of Basho's poetic form.
What is the purpose or role of citation in Sor Juana's letter to Sor Filotea? Note that this can be a one word answer. But it will want some explanation.
Define metaphor and provide an example from The Story of the Stone.
Define irony and provide an example from Sor Juana.
In Cao Xueqin's novel, what is the method of household advancement taken advantage of by women such as Crimson?
In The Story of the Stone, characters' language is often loaded with coded expressions. Identify one example of this and explain its significance to the story.
In chapter 33 of The Story of the Stone, Bao-chai provides Lady Wang with advice about “moral obligation” (242). What does her advice tell us about a basis for relationships in Chinese society during the Ch'ing dynasty of the mid 18th Century. This could be an interesting essay question in relation to Phaedra and other works.
Why does Manago the demon take such a liking to Toyo-o?
In Bewitched, Akinari employees a certain form of “revealing.” What is it and provide an example.
Define Realism in its literary context.
In the Phaedra, Hippolytus misinterprets Phaedra's advances. What does this indicate about Hippolytus's character (keep the situation at this point of the play in mind)?
Define syntax in its poetic context. Use Phaedra as a means of providing a brief example.
Basho writes on page 623: “The Lonely, melancholy scene suggests a troubled human spirit.” Relate this observation to the meaning of ghosts in Akinari.
Basho in The Narrow Road of the Interior provides an aesthetic for a compressed poetic form. Quote him. Hint: it has to do with digits :: and keep this thought in mind in the essay questions.
Essay Questions
Note that it is important that you use sufficient examples from the works to illustrate and reference your thinking and conclusions.
Required essay
It might be argued that a significant set of themes in “modern” works of World literature treat the human mind in the relation to the workings of the world, either motivation by human action or natural phenomenon. Using examples from at least three works of World Literature, examine the conflict between reason and emotion. What conclusions can you draw about the nature of conflict from this examination?
Choose 1 essay from below:
It's important that we be able to trace the plot of a story, especially when considering story arcs. Summarize the plot of Racine's Phaedra. With the whole in mind, meaning the summary, examine the idea of human nature in Phaedra. What is the significance of “inclination” in the play? Note that in this essay, you must make the summary portion distinct from the analysis.
We've defined aesthetics as those methods and techniques literary artists create opportunity for interpretations. Some significant aesthetic elements come as figures of speech, such as syntax, diction, metaphor and irony. Others come in the form of specific detail and imagery, some of which, by definition, may depend on figures of speech to work. Drawing from Basho and Cao Xueqin, analyze the interplay between the two forms of literary art. What are the meaningful relationships? Why is it important for writers to sequence and alternate the forms?