Final Test Questions We’ve Covered So Far
(as of June 16, 2005)
Rules:
So Far, with 4 classes left in the semester, we know that test questions will be selected from among the following:
1. Summarize and interpret Pretty Boy
Floyd (min.: 70 words). To answer this question, you need to read the song on p. 17
or click here. To see what we mean by a summary or a
retelling, go to pp. 24-25 or click
here. [This question counts as 5 points]. Errors people
made: They think that Floyd is voicing
the last two stanzas. This is an
error. It’s Woody who is speaking here.
2. Essay question [10 points]. Lessons I’ve learned from This Land is Your Land and MLK exercise. Required background information: a. Results of class survey. b. Your own answer to that survey. c. Text pp. 19-22 (or click here). Please follow this outline: Title: boldfaced and centered. Title should reflect somehow the topic of your essay. For instance, Lessons I’ve Learned from . . . Paragraph I. Introduction. Paragraph II. Discrepancy between what most Americans believe about the song and what the song writer’s intended it to say. Here tell us in as much detail as you can what your classmates knew about this song (singing the praises of our country), and then what the song itself says, especially the last two stanzas. Paragraph III. Discrepancy between the real King and the media-concocted King. Here rely on our survey results and on the article and internet materials I gave you. Paragraph IV. Have I made the same error (don’t rationalize, now, but look at what you have written). Paragraph V. Why was I/we so off base? Paragraph VI. Personal lessons to my own life. (min.: 350 words).
3. What is
interdisciplinarity?
Comment: To answer Questions 3-5
you must read pp. 28-32 or click here. To answer Question 3, read the first 2 paragraphs of p. 28, close the
book, and summarize the information.
When done, read the material again, making sure that you have it. [This question counts as 3 points].
4. Where do you find
it? To answer
this question, you again begin with pp. 28-32 or click here. [This
questions counts as 10 points]. Can you find the 4 contexts in the
article? Now, you need to demonstrate
comprehension of what you have been reading.
So, in each of the 4 contexts, first give the name of that context. Next, define it. Next, give an example of your own. Why do I insist on an example of your
own? Because that tells me (and you) if
you understood the material.
5. What is IS good for
(here rely on the article, Saxe’s poem, Alarcón’s story )? [This question
counts as 10 points]. This is the most difficult test question so far and should be
written in the form of an essay. Before
starting, read pp. 28-32 or click here,
pp. 33-35, and p. 27 (or click
here). The relevant section of the
article is pp. 29-31 (Why IS?). You
note here 5 items. Give the essay a
title. Next, introduction: In this essay I’m going to . . . Parag. 2:
Creative breakthroughs. Explain
what this means in your own words.
Next, give an example of your own.
Next, and a must, example, is the Stub Book (pp. 33-35). Parag. 3.
The next advantage of IS is Crossdisciplinary oversights. By this we mean . . . One example of my own would be . .. Parag. 4.
Intellectual . . . By this we
mean . . .. One example of my own would
be . . . One mandatory example would be
provided by p. 27 (or click
here). Now, explain that poem, and
explain how and why it illustrate the point.
The next 3 paragraphs will now deal with each of the remaining items, in
each case identifying that item, explaining what it means in simple
English, and giving one example of your
own.
6. Retell The
Stub-Book (pp. 33-35) [This question counts as 5 points]. Mistakes people made: a. Making the summary too long, relating
trivial details. b. Not focusing on the
key point: IS creative breakthrough. c. Another error that beginning readers make is
following the format of the writer, but that is really bad form. He is not
telling you about collecting the stems because he needs to surprise you. But you need not surprise anyone, so tell it
when you get to the point where he figured out the IS solution.
7. Defend the statement: The Stub-Book is an example of interdisciplinarity This question overlaps the first. In one sense, this exemplifies IS by being concerned with agriculture, law, psychology. In an even more important sense, the story exemplifies an IS creative breakthrough.
8. Retell A Sound
of Thunder (read pp. 36-43 or click
here. For
an example of what retelling means, go to pp. 24-25 or click
here. Mistakes people made: a. Summary is far too long. b. They forget to mention that this is a
science fiction story, taking place in the future (and remote past). c.
They tell it matter of factly, not underscoring the butterfly effect,
which on first sight appears against common sense, nor do they allude in the
summary to the strangeness of risking history for the sake of providing some
man the somewhat perverse pleasure of killing a dinosaur.
9. Defend the
statement: To really understand Bradbury’s story (36-43 or click
here), we must know something about the disciplines of psychology, history,
biology, physics, and chaos theory—to mention a few. [This question
counts as 5 points] Answer this question in 5
paragraphs. In each paragraph mention
the discipline, explain what it does (you can use a dictionary or the
internet), and then answer the question in detail in each of the 5 cases (at
least 3 sentences), e.g., how would psychology help us to understand this
story?
9x. [This essay
question counts as 10 points] Compare and contrast Elephant’s Ear
(pp. 47-50b) to Bread and Tulips (Italian movie we saw; also, click here). Both short story and film depict an accidental adventure, a
woman in love, a transforming experience.
There are likewise some differences.
Your essay will explore these similarities and differences. It will have a title. The first paragraph will have an
introduction. The next 2-3 paragraphs
will explore some important similarities.
The next 2-3 paragraphs, some important differences. The last paragraph will give the essay’s
conclusion.
9z. Read and listen to John Prine’s song (pp. 53-4 or click here) and answer the following questions: In each case, explain your answer. a. What kind of magazine is Reader’s Digest? Answer in blue here. Mistakes people make: They get their information from Reader’s Digest itself. Ask yourself: How would the KKK describe itself if you asked them? To find who they are, you need to consult other sources—or take notes in class. b. Who does it belong to? Are they part of corporate establishment Answer in blue here? c. Who is this guy, the narrator of this song? Answer in blue here Here about half the class got itself into deep trouble. Prine is the song writer, not the narrator. The narrator is the fictional person who supposedly tells what happened—from hell. d. Can the narrator think for himself? d. Does the narrator believe his country’s propaganda system? Answer in blue here and after each question e. This is an old song: Has anything changed since? f. The flags caused the narrator’s death, blocking his view. What is the meaning of this? What is Prine trying to say here? g. Prine says our wars are dirty. Are they? h. Is heaven crowded with our victims? How many Iraqi children have we killed so far? How many Iraqi prisoners have we killed so far? i. How would you feel if China, say, took over our country, stole our oil, razed our cities, tortured our young men? Do the Iraqis want us there? What is our reason for being there? j. Prine says that “Jesus don’t like killing, no matter what the reason for.” IS this good English? What’s the point of using substandard English? k. What is the evidence, in St. Matthew, to Prine’s claim that Jesus is opposed to ANY killing, period? Mistake people made: Telling me they weren’t in class during the discussion. Well then, read the book! [Together, these questions count as 10 points]
10. Essay:
Defend the statement: Some literary
works can be readily interpreted, while others cannot. Please illustrate your answer. [This question counts as 10 points]. Note again that this is an essay. It will have a title, and a minimum of 5
paragraphs. The first will be an
introduction, the last a conclusion.
The middle 3 paragraphs will take 3 of the readings and other materials,
and show that some of them are pretty easy to interpret, some so-so, while
others are hard. Note: The point here is NOT summary, not interpretation,
but that sometimes it’s easy to interpret, sometimes so-so, sometimes very
hard. Your 3 pieces will be chosen
from among the following: Easy: the 3 comics posted in our class website,
The Zax. Moderate: The Stub Book, Elephant Ear, Bread &
Tulips, Starbeast, Wretched Stone, The Good Example, Rockwell the Gossips, Hogarth’s
Scholars Listening to a Lecture.
Hard: Hotel California,
Vivaldi’s Spring.
11. Offer and defend
your interpretation of one short story above (listed in question 10) and of one
other piece . [This
question counts as 5 points]. Here you will interpret first one of the
stories listed in question 10 above, and explain why you believe that is the writer’s intention (that is what we mean
by “defend”). You’ll then carry out the
same operation with any other piece in question 10 above (but not with a second
short story).
11x. Summarize and
critique the Julia Sweeney’s presentation.
[This question counts as 10 points]. Background
materials: Excerpts from Julia
Sweeney’s play (“Letting Go of God”).
Here, according to program notes, Julia Sweeney, an ex-Catholic, tells
(29 minutes) how her faith began to crack after reading a most alarming
book--the Bible. This is the most
difficult summary so far, for it involves listening, not reading, and
distilling key points in a very complex argument. If you want to re-listen to her, go to http://www.thislife.org/. Next, choose 05, find “Godless America,”
then click play. You do not have to
listen to the entire program. Instead,
fast forward. Somewhere around Minute 38.20,
you’ll hear some music, then a introduction by a man (Ira Glass), and then you’ll
hear a woman’s voice. The woman is
Julia Sweeney. Listen from that point
to the end (about 29 minutes listening time).
Take notes while listening to her.
Then summarize ALL her key points, and illustrate some of them. Your summary should be at least 300 words
long. If less, you get a zero for this
question. Next you will consult the
critical evaluation section on pp. 25-6 (or click
here), and then critically evaluate Sweeney’s essay. Is her argument a good one? Why?
Is it a bad one? Why? Is it a touching essay? Is she sincere? Does she do a good job, or is she a bad reader/thinker? Any other good points? Bad points?
11z. Essay and Class Presentation: Should I celebrate Columbus Day? [This question counts as 10 points].
Background material you must read and master beforehand: a. Coursepack, pp. 122-3 (or click here). b. Internet or library search of Columbus’
character and record.
In answering this question, and in your class presentation,
please follow the following format:
Title. Parag. 1: Intro. 2: Official U.S. position (Clinton’s
proclamation is one example of this).
3: Official Venezuelan position (for this, we’ll rely on Reuter, even
though they are probably more sympathetic to the U.S. position). 4-6: Columbus’ character, cruelty, and crimes
(this will be based on your own internet search—one suggestion is http://guweb2.gonzaga.edu/faculty/campbell/enl310/casas.htm.) 7: Should I
celebrate Columbus Day. 8. Conclusion.
12.Essay
(400 or more words; 7 or more paragraphs):
Respond to Richard Wright’s “The Fight” (pp. 75-79), relying on this
outline [This question counts as 10 points] :
14.Retell The Two [This question counts as 5 points] (if you don’t remember this story, check out The Women of Brewster’s Place from any library)
15.Offer a summary of, critical evaluation of, and a personal response to, Pitts’ views on blacks and gays [This question counts as 10 points]
16.Opinion Essay (min: 400 words): In view of Douglass’s experiences, and in view of the historical record, why didn’t slaves adopt the Friends’ religion as their own, once 1865 came around? [This question counts as 10 points]. I strongly recommend sending or showing me an outline first, and only writing the essay itself after receiving my feedback on that outline.