British Writers I
M. Arn
Final Examination: Identifications (30%)
Spring
1995
Explain, define, or identify fifteen of the following. (Pay attention to capital letters.) Where appropriate, be sure to relate the term to its period and/or author. Number your answers (but do not repeat the questions). Be brief, but complete.
1. blank verse
2. carpe diem
3. denouement
4. Archimago
5. Oliver Cromwell
6. Pandaemonium
7. this rotten orange
8. The Commonwealth
9. Utopia
10. Umbriel
11. felix culpa
12. Beelzebub
13. billet-doux
14. Dean of St. Paul's
15. Great Chain of Being
16. Mildendo
17. What is the literary significance
of the dates 1616? 1660? 1700?
When you are finished, return this paper to me and ask for either an A exam (three essays) or a B exam (short essays + 2 long essays).
British Writers I
M. Arn
Final Examination: A
Spring 1995
Answer THREE (70%). Your answers should be as well
written as you can make them (underline titles,
avoid
spelling errors, write complete sentences, etc.).
Your answers must be legible; if you want to cross
out
lines and mark replacements (e.g., with a star),
feel
free to do so, but your intentions must be clear to
me. Be sure you answer the question; irrelevant
information is worth zero/zip/nil/nix. Organize.
Think before you write.
2. Compare Swift's Travels with More's Utopia. How are they similar; how, different; and why?
3. Compare epic elements in Milton's Paradise Lost and Pope's Rape to show how Pope simplifies, deflates, parodies, or otherwise manipulates them to create his mock epic.
4. Compare the way evil is presented in the Faerie Queen and Paradise Lost. Why is it presented (described, em-bodied) differently? Be specific!
5. If Una stands for Truth and the Redcrosse Knight stands for Holiness, explain how two of his adversaries function allegorically to prevent his sucessful accomplishment of the quest. What does the accomplishment of his quest mean? Be specific!
6. In what sense is Eve (in Adam's words) "defaced, deflowered" by the Fall? (I want an essay, not a brief comment. This question has many implications to pursue.)
When you are finished, read over your answer and correct it before you turn it in. Make sure you have identified authors and characters correctly (every semester I get essays on Chaucer's Faerie Queene or "To His Coy Mistress" by John Donne--or Ben Donne). Eliminate sentence fragments and correct spelling and grammar. I do not expect the elegance of the prose you write at home, but I do take the competence of your presentation of material into account.