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Final Exam Example with Study Guide

This last example includes examples of true and false questions, multiple choice questions, and an open-text section. It also includes a study guide.

E238 FINAL EXAM

The following texts will be covered on your exam: White Noise, House of Leaves, The God of Small Things and 100 Years of Solitude.


Section I: True/False and Multiple Choice (15 questions, 2 points each= 30 points total)

In this section, you will be asked to determine whether a statement is true or false. You may also be asked to fill in the blank with the best possible answer from a provided a list of choices. Textual examples will range from applications of critical terms to simple plot points. Note: If the wording of a question is confusing you, feel free to briefly explain the logic behind your answer in the margins of the exam.

*Please fill in your answers for section I on the exam itself. (Don’t use a separate sheet of paper.)*

 _____   1)             Which is not mentioned in The God of Small Things?

                  a. Sophie Mol’s funeral                                   c. Baby Kochamma’s unrequited love
        b. Ammu’s solitary death, alone in a hotel   d. Chacko’s expulsion from Oxford

_____   2) T          F          In a work of magical realism, characters don't notice that there's anything unusual about the fantastic elements included in the text.

_____   3) T          F          In The God of Small Things, Pappachi’s moth functions as a conventional symbol.

_____   4)  T          F          Just like the character of Baby Kochamma, author Arundhati Roy holds a degree in Ornamental Gardening.

_____  5)   Where does One Hundred Years of Solitude take place?

        a. Spain                                              c. Colombia
      b. Mexico                                            d. Argentina

_____ 6)    Which text contains repeated references to a child’s watch, forever frozen at ten till two?

a. The God of Small Things                 c. 100 Years of Solitude

b. both of the above                            d. none of the above  

_____   7)  In One Hundred Years of Solitude, how does the final child in the Buendia line die?

  a. struck by lightening                                   c. of complications from being born with a pig’s tail
        b. carried away and eaten by ants                d. buried alive under an imploding house

_____ 8)    In The God of Small Things, which character was not a Communist, Marxist, or Communist sympathizer?

a. Chacko                                            c. Comrade Pillai

b. Velutha                                            d. all of the above were Communists, Marxists, or Communist sympathizers

_____   9) T          F          Gabriel Garcia Marquez was friends with Fidel Castro.

_____ 10)  Which of the following is not a characteristic of a satire?

  1. exposes the failings of individuals, societies or institutions
  2. uses wit, irony, parody, caricature, and/or sarcasm
  3. employs a realistic setting in order to emphasize the ridiculousness of daily life
  4. all of the above are characteristics of satire

_____ 11)  In The God of Small Things, which character murdered Sophie Mol?

a. Baby Kochamma                             c. Comrade Pillai
b. Velutha                                            d. Sophie Mol was not murdered

_____   12) T          F          In 100 Years of Solitude, many of the characters named “Aureliano” (Colonel Aureliano Buendia, Aureliano Babalonia, etc.) share a solitary, introverted nature.

_____   13) In 100 Years of Solitude, which character dies, but returns from the dead?
a. Melquiades                                     b. Ursula Iraguan
c. Pietro Crespi                                               d. Remedios The Beauty

If your “lit circle” text was White Noise, please answer the following questions:

_____ 14a)          T          F          Before writing White Noise, Don DeLillo spent a considerable amount of time living abroad, away from America. 

_____ 14b)            T          F          Despite the fact that Jack and Babette constantly obsess about death, the only character that actually does die in White Noise is Orest Mercator, bitten by poisonous snakes.

_____ 14c)            In White Noise, who is the clearest foil to Jack?

a. Murray                                          c. Babette
b. Willie Mink (Mr. Gray)                 d. none of the above

_____ 14d)            Which character is described in the following passage: “[_____] is tall and fairly ample; there is a girth and heft to her. Her hair is a fanatical blonde mop, a particular tawny hue that used to be called dirty blond. If she were a petite woman, the hair would be too cute, too mischievous and contrived. Size gives her tousled aspect a certain seriousness.”

a. Babette (Jack’s wife)                                   c. Bee (Jack’s daughter)
b. Lilly (Murray’s wife)                                   d. Tweedy Browner (Jack’s ex-wife)              

If your “lit circle text was House of Leaves, please answer the following questions:

_____ 14a)            T          F          In House of Leaves, the last few pages of Zampano’s text explains that Will
Navidson never returned from his final exploration of the strange labyrinth within his house.

_____ 14b)            In House of Leaves, which of the following characters is blind?

a. Billy Reston                                     c. Johnny Truant
b. Zampano                                         d. Tom Navidson
_____  14c)           T          F          Mark Z. Danielewski’s father was an experimental filmmaker, and his sister is a musician.

_____ 14d)      In House of Leaves, Navy continually refers to a mysterious character named Delial. Who is she?

a. His wife                                         c. His dog

b.His mistress                                                d. A child

Section II: Identification (3 questions, 10 points each= 30 points total)

You will be given either a brief quote, or a character/item which appears in a text. You must then mention which text the example was taken from, and briefly explain why it is significant. Be sure you think past the example’s “literal” meaning, and attempt to reach some sort of greater symbolic, textual, cultural, historical, or thematic significance.
Examples will be chosen from House of Leaves, White Noise, The God if Small Things, and 100 Years of Solitude. Please explain the significance of 3 out of the following 8 quotes. When you write up your answer, be sure to clearly identify which quote/item you are working with. Use your own paper (and, please, write neatly).
On your exam, please circle the number of the prompts you will be responding to:

  1. “I know all this by heart. It’s as if time has turned around and we were back at the beginning.”
  2. “There are two kinds of people in the world. Killers and diers.”
  3. The Most Photographed Barn in America
  4. If they hurt [him] more than they intended to, it was only because any kinship, any connection between themselves and him, any implication that if nothing else, at least biologically he was a fellow creature—had been severed long ago. They were not arresting a man, they were exorcising fear.
  5. As was already mentioned in Chapter III, some critics believe the house’s mutations reflect the psychology of anyone who enters it. Dr. Haugeland asserts that the extraordinary absence of sensory information forces the individual to manufacture his or her own data. Ruby Dahl, in her stupendous study of space, calls the house on Ash Tree Lane “A solipsistic heightener,” arguing that “the house, the halls, and the rooms all become the self—collapsing, expanding, tilting, closing, but always in perfect relation to the mental state of the individual.”
  6. Pappachi’s moth
  7. A trickle of blood came out under the door, crossed the living room, went out into the street, continued on in a straight line across uneven terraces, went down steps and climbed over curbs, …went in under the closed door, crossed through the parlor, hugging the walls as not to stain the rugs…
  8. Old shelters—television, magazines, movies—won’t protect you anymore. You might try scribbling in a journal, or in a napkin, maybe even in the margins of this book. That’s when you’ll discover you no longer trust the very walls you always took for granted. Even the hallways you’ve walked in a hundred times will feel much longer, and the shadows, any shadow at all, will suddenly seem deeper, much, much deeper. …And then the nightmares will begin.

 

Section III: Short Answer (2 questions, 20 points each)

When you are ready to begin, please come to the front and turn in sections 1 and 2 of the exam. Once this portion of the exam has been submitted, you may take out your books and use them to complete section III.

  1. Define the key features of postmodernism, using examples from House of Leaves and White Noise.
  2. Choose two texts (House of Leaves, White Noise, Frankenstein, or one of the SyllaBase poems) and discuss how the choices each author has made choices in terms or a text’s form or structure have ultimately influenced the content, effect, or emotional impact of the work. From looking at these texts side-by-side what conclusions can be made about the importance of these structural choices?  (Look at the benefits and shortcomings of each text’s structure/form, and discuss how different choices would have produced a much different outcome.)
  3. What do you think is the novel’s understanding of human nature? Is it a fundamentally optimistic or pessimistic novel?
  4. The words "solitary" and "solitude" appear on nearly every page of this book. Discuss why the members of the Buendia family are so alone. What does Marquez mean to say about the nature of man?

E238 FINAL EXAM: STUDY SHEET 

The following texts will be covered on your final exam: White Noise, House of Leaves, The God of Small Things, and One Hundred Years of Solitude. For the “lit circle” texts, you will only be asked to respond to questions about the book you chose to read.

Although the final exam focuses on post-midterm texts, major critical terms from the entire semester may appear on the test. (If we’ve used the term during this part of the semester, then you may very well see it on the exam.) Specific terms to consider include:

postmodernism                 postcolonial criticism  conventional symbol               literary                       
satire                                 magical realism                      literary symbol                                    popular
The Marvelous Real                      existentialism              caste                                        foil
protagonist                                    antagonist                   anti-hero                                 pastiche
simulacrum

Section I: True/False and Multiple Choice (10-15 questions, 2 points each)

In this section, you will be asked to determine whether a statement is true or false. You may also be asked to fill in the blank with the best possible answer from a provided a list of choices. Questions will encompass in-class lecture notes (including literary terms), presentation information, and simple plot points from the texts themselves.

Examples:

T    F          1) In White Noise, Jack and his family are the only ones in the town of Blacksmith to survive the Airborne Toxic Event.

_______    2) In The God of Small Things, Pappachi’s Moth functions as a literary symbol.

 

Section II: Identification (3-5 questions, 10 points each)

You will be given either a brief quote, contextual example, or a character/item which appears in a text. You must then mention which text the example ties to, and briefly explain why it is significant. Be sure you think past the example’s “literal” meaning, and attempt to reach some sort of greater symbolic, textual, cultural, historical, or thematic significance. (To study for this section, remember that I will be choosing several quotes from our in-class work.)

Example 1: The Most Photographed Barn in America

Do not merely say: In White Noise, Jack and Murray travel to see the tourist attraction called “the most photographed barn in America.” [THIS IS THE LITERAL MEANING>>>THINK PAST THIS TO FIND SYMBOLIC/THEMATIC SIGNIFICANCE.]

Example 2: If I were you,” he said, “I’d go home quietly.” Then he tapped her breasts with his baton. Gently. Tap tap. As though he was choosing mangoes from a basket.

Section III: Short Answer (2-3 questions, 15 points each)

In this section, you will be asked to provide an in-depth response to one textual question or prompt. Your answer will be a 1-3 paragraph response intended to test your reading comprehension and analytical skills.

Sample Question: Provide two specific examples from One Hundred Years of Solitude that illustrate the blurring of boundaries between self and other. Please also explain the significance of your choices.

Please keep in mind that these short answers must use specific textual examples and clear explanation to support your opinions. You may use your books for this section of the test.

The Final Exam will be given on Thursday, December 13th
Time = 9:10 – 11:10 am
Room = Eddy 8
Bring plenty of blank paper, pens, and/or pencils.

You may use your books to complete section III only.