Literary Argumentation unit test
A test on this unit alone, marked as a percentage and a letter grade — for the test your class is actually sitting, rather than for May. Answer everything, then submit once: seeing the answer to question 3 before attempting question 4 makes the final percentage meaningless.
Avoiding summary
Reading the prompt's verb
Common trap: the universal opening
Writing about a text you dislike
Literary argument prompt
Addressing complexity
Acknowledging a counter-reading
Common trap: the device hunt
Defensible thesis in literary analysis
Evidence in literary analysis
Prose fiction analysis prompt
Interpretive claim vs observation
Short answer 1. Define or explain: Reading a poem before writing
3 ptsShort answer 2. Define or explain: Common trap: paraphrase as commentary
3 ptsShort answer 3. Define or explain: Writing about complexity
3 ptsShort answer 4. Define or explain: Signposting without announcing
3 ptsFree response
6 ptsLITERARY ARGUMENT (Question 3, 6 points). In many works of literature, characters may be significantly affected by memories of the past. A character may be inspired by the past, haunted by the past, unable to let go of the past, or motivated by the past to craft a better future. Either from your own reading or from the exam's list, choose a work of fiction in which a character is significantly affected by a memory. Then, in a well-written essay, analyze how the impact of the memory on the character contributes to an interpretation of the work as a whole. Do not merely summarize the plot. (The released list of suggested works includes, among others: Beloved, Invisible Man, Jane Eyre, Macbeth, Mrs. Dalloway, The Nickel Boys, Obasan, The Sound and the Fury, Wuthering Heights, The Glass Menagerie, Ceremony, Kindred, and The Woman Warrior.) In your response you should: present a thesis with a defensible interpretation; provide evidence to support your line of reasoning; explain how the evidence supports it; and use appropriate grammar and punctuation.