English Essay

Final Exam for English 102-800

Due Date: December 14, 2020 ( no paper accepted after this date)

Value: 20 points

Introduction: By now you should have read my “Concluding Remarks” for the course posted on Blackboard. If not, please do so now and before you attempt this exam essay. In those remarks I take a single concept (beauty) and trace its development through the works we have read this semester. I anticipate that your essay will be, perhaps, much shorter than mine since yours only has to cover a minimum of three (3) works (one each from fiction, poetry, and drama); however, please use my remarks as a model for your own essay.

Required Format: The minimum requirement for the Final Exam essay is as follows: two (2) pages (type-written, double spaced, times new roman 12) or more. You may cite other sources however these will not be included in the “two-page” requirement.

Below please find a list of literary terms, each of which constitutes a particular ‘lens’ through which a literary work (poem, play, short story) can be viewed. Definitions for most of these terms can be found in the Glossary portion of our text book (Page A61):

Allegory, archetype, ambiguity, comedy, conflict, dramatic tension, epiphany, fable (the fabulous), fantasy, figure, imagery, irony, legend, magic realism, metaphor, mythology, narrative, parable, paradox, parody, realism, romance, symbolism, tragedy.

Please choose one of the above terms as a ‘lens’ through which you wish to examine several of the works we have read this semester. Please refrain from providing me with a formal definition of your chosen perspective; assume the reader (me) is familiar with the term or lens that you choose.

Choose at least three (3) (you may choose more) of the works we have covered this semester: one each from prose/fiction, poetry and drama (for your poem, you may choose your own poem or you may choose a rap or hip-hop song that you have written about. You may also choose works about which you have previously written).

In a manner similar to the way I have done so in my “Concluding Remarks”, trace your chosen perspective through your chosen works, showing how your literary device is manifested in various ways in the works you have chosen, and how, through that lens or perspective, the works are related to one another.

Word of advice: Please do not “fight” this exam. I’m looking for your own words and impressions; not those of other scholars or critics. I want to assess what you, personally have taken from the course. So relax and “essay” your own ideas. Also, keep in mind that the purpose here is to be able to identify and address various literary perspectives that “unite” your chosen works, one to the other. To discuss each work separately and say how each is expressive of your chosen perspective would most likely yield only an “average” essay. A higher graded essay would show how, through your chosen device, the works might be related to one another.

Questions, Questions, Questions!! Please, please, if you have any questions or concerns about this Final Exam, please call me asap. Do not wait until the night before the due date since I may not available at that time. Martin Perrotta 856-313-9531.