**Final Examination, Version A**

**American Literature**

**A. Xhuvani University**

**May 24, 2005**

***Read the directions carefully. You have 2 hours for this exam. There
are a total of 20 possible points.***

**POETRY:** *Read the following poems/excerpts and answer the questions
below.*

Ex 1: Papa above!

Regard a Mouse

O'erpowered by the Cat!

Reserve within thy kingdom

A "Mansion" for the Rat!

Snug in seraphic Cupboards

To nibble all the day,

While unsuspecting Cycles

Wheel solemnly away!

Give an example of alliteration from this poem (1 point)

In what ways is "Papa above!" typical of Emily Dickinson's style/themes?
Be specific. (3 points)

Ex 2: The bonsai tree

in the attractive pot

could have grown eighty feet tall

on the side of the mountain

till split by lightning.

But a gardener

carefully pruned it.

It is nine inches high.

This is an excerpt from Marge Piercy's "A Work of Artifice." Describe
the central metaphor of the poem and the meaning of the title (2 points)

**DRAMA:**

In Susan Glaspell's *Trifles,* a murder takes place. Why do other
characters hide incriminating evidence? (2 points)

Are the problems faced by Willy Loman and his family (in Arthur Miller's
*Death of a Salesman)* relevant today in Albania? Explain. (2 points)

Give an example of an *expressionistic* element in Tennessee Williams'
*The Glass Menagerie.* (1 point).

**NOVEL:**

Critics have described whaling as a metaphor for the pursuit of
knowledge. Argue for or against this statement with examples from *Moby
Dick* (2 points).

Read the passage from *Moby Dick* below**:**

What was America in 1492 but a Loose-Fish...? What are **the** Rights of
Man and the Liberties of the World but Loose-Fish? What all men's minds
and opinions but Loose-Fish? . . . What is the great globe itself but a
Loose-Fish? And what are you, reader, but a Loose-Fish and a Fast-Fish,
too? (Penguin, 381)

Describe how the tone and content of this passage are typical of the
novel (2 points).

**SHORT STORY:**

According to Flannery O'Conner, "the short story requires more drastic
procedures than the novel because more has to be accomplished in less
space. Illustrate this with examples from her story "A Good Man is Hard
to Find" (2 points) or another story we read.

Choose a short story written in the first person (for example "Fleur" by
Louise Erdrich or "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman).
How does the first-person narration affect the meaning? How would the
story be different if it were changed to third-person? (3 points)

**Final Examination, Version B**

**American Literature**

**A. Xhuvani University**

**May 24, 2005**

***Read the directions carefully. You have 2 hours for this exam. There
are a total of 20 possible points.***

**SHORT STORY**

Flannery O'Conner said that readers should not ask her to tell them the
themes of her stories because "the whole story is the meaning... an
experience and not an abstraction." How could a teacher put this theory
into practice when teaching literature in his/her classroom? (2 points)

What is allegory? Give an example of an allegorical story/novel from
American Literature. (1 point)

Choose a story written in the 3^rd^ person (for example, one of the
Hemingway stories or Alice Elliott Dark's "In the Gloaming"). How does
the third-person narration affect the meaning? How would the story be
different if it were changed to first-person? (3 points)

**NOVEL:**

Critics have described *Moby Dick* as a uniquely American novel. Argue
for or against this statement with examples. (2 points)

Describing Tashtego's near-death in a sperm whale's head, Melville
writes:

Only one sweeter end can readily be recalled---the delicious death of an
Ohio honey-hunter, who seeking honey in the crotch of a hollow tree,
found such exceeding store of it, that leaning too far over, it sucked
him in, so that he died embalmed. How many, think ye, have likewise
fallen into Plato's honey head, and sweetly perished there? (Penguin,
333)

Describe how the tone and content of this passage are typical of the
novel (2 points).

**POETRY:** *Read the following poems/excerpts and answer the questions
below.*

Ex 1: We real cool. We

Left school. We

Lurk late. We

Strike straight. We

Sing sin. We

Thin gin. We

Jazz June. We Die soon.

Describe how form contributes to meaning in this poem ("We Real Cool,"
Gwendolyn Brooks) (2 points)

Ex 2: Papa above!

Regard a Mouse

O'erpowered by the Cat!

Reserve within thy kingdom

A "Mansion" for the Rat!

Snug in seraphic Cupboards

To nibble all the day,

While unsuspecting Cycles

Wheel solemnly away!

Give an example of alliteration from this poem (1 point)

In what ways is "Papa above!" typical of Emily Dickinson's style/themes?
Be specific. (3 points)

**DRAMA:**

What was the screen device used for in Tennessee Williams' *The Glass
Menagerie?* What are other unconventional elements in the stage
directions? (2 points).

In Susan Glaspell's *Trifles,* a murder takes place. Why do other
characters hide incriminating evidence? (2 points)

**Final Examination, Version C**

**American Literature**

**A. Xhuvani University**

**May 24, 2005**

***Read the directions carefully. You have 2 hours for this exam. There
are a total of 20 possible points.***

**SHORT STORY**

Flannery O'Conner said that readers should not ask her to tell them the
themes of her stories because "the whole story is the meaning... an
experience and not an abstraction." How could a teacher put this theory
into practice when teaching literature in his/her classroom? (2 points)

What is allegory? Give an example of an allegorical story/novel from
American Literature. (1 point)

Choose a story written in the 3^rd^ person (for example one of the
Hemingway stories or Alice Elliott Dark's "In the Gloaming"). How does
the third-person narration affect the meaning? How would the story be
different if it were changed to first-person? (3 points)

**NOVEL:**

Describe the central conflict in Hawthorne's *The Scarlet Letter* or
Melville's *Moby Dick*. (2 points)

Describe the setting in this novel: How important is the setting? Would
a change of setting change the central meaning of the novel? (2 points)

**POETRY:** *Read the following poems/excerpts and answer the questions
below.*

Ex 1: We real cool. We

Left school. We

Lurk late. We

Strike straight. We

Sing sin. We

Thin gin. We

Jazz June. We Die soon.

Describe how form contributes to meaning in this poem ("We Real Cool,"
Gwendolyn Brooks). (2 points)

Ex 2: Papa above!

Regard a Mouse

O'erpowered by the Cat!

Reserve within thy kingdom

A "Mansion" for the Rat!

Snug in seraphic Cupboards

To nibble all the day,

While unsuspecting Cycles

Wheel solemnly away!

Give an example of alliteration from this poem (1 point)

In what ways is "Papa above!" typical of Emily Dickinson's style/themes?
Be specific. (3 points)

**DRAMA:**

What does "success" mean for Willy Loman, the main character in Arthur
Miller's *Death of a Salesman*? (2 points

Give some examples of unconventional staging elements in this play (or
in Tennessee Williams' *The Glass Menagerie). (2 points)*

**DRAMA:**

**According to Flannery O'Conner,**

**NOVEL:**

**Critics have described this novel as typically American. Argue for or
against this statement with examples from *Moby Dick*. (2 points)**

**Describing Tashtego's near-death in a sperm whale's head, Melville
writes:**

Only one sweeter end can readily be recalled---the delicious death of an
Ohio honey-hunter, who seeking honey in the crotch of a hollow tree,
found such exceeding store of it, that leaning too far over, it sucked
him in, so that he died embalmed. How many, think ye, have likewise
fallen into Plato's honey head, and sweetly perished there? (Penguin,
333)

**Describe how the tone and content of this passage are typical of the
novel (2 points).**