Reference no: EM132250024
Essay
The test consists of you writing one essay response to one of the following questions. As with your previous essay, you must use proper essay structure. For the test, you can use your book. The questions have already been posted on Brightspace, which gives you time to prepare your response; as a result, my expectations are higher for this test than they would be otherwise. I encourage you to prepare notes for the essay, be it jot notes outlining your structure or even rough drafts. For the test, you can bring in a sheet with your thesis statement (not your introductory paragraph), and your 3-4 supporting points in jot note form. This will be handed in with the test, and part of your mark will be based on this.
When it does come to preparing, I would recommend that pick a topic that interests you, that you establish your thesis/argument, that you chart out 3-4 argumentative points that can serve as your paragraphs and help to support that thesis, and that you find the relevant passages/quotations that you will use for support in your essay.
When it comes to quoting from the text in the test, shorter passages can be quoted in their entirety, while longer passages (anything more than three lines) can be quoted with the first few words, an ellipsis, and then the last words, e.g. "I have perhaps not yet learnt enough ... now with my other eyes" (161-62). If you use the edition of the play assigned for the class, then you do not need to include the publication information at the end of the test; however, if you do use another text or printout, you must include the publication
information (you will lose points if you do not).
Just to reiterate, you can bring your books (or printouts if you do not have a paper copy). You can also bring your thesis statement and your 3-4 supporting points in jot note form. While writing out extended notes and/or drafts can be helpful prior to the test, they cannot be out during the test. Some students have requested the use of dictionaries for language reference, and this is acceptable. Laptops and phones are not allowed; if either are out during the test, your test will be taken away and you will receive an automatic zero.
As always, please let me know if you have any questions.
1. What role does memory and the past play in A Letter From an Unknown Woman and one of the other short stories by Zweig? To what ends? Possible angles to consider would be the role of the past, the effects of nostalgia, memory and confession, the faultiness of memory itself, etc.
2. What role does love play in A Letter From an Unknown Woman and one of the other short stories by Zweig? To what ends? Possible angles to consider would be the pain of lost love, young/naive love, the power of first love, the nature of devotion, lust vs. love, the links between love and cruelty, etc.
3. What role does class play in A Letter From an Unknown Woman and one of the other short stories by Zweig? To what ends? Possible angles to consider would be the gap between rich and poor, the impact of economic destitution, the frivolity of wealth, etc.
4. What is the function of story-telling in A Letter From an Unknown Woman and one of the other short stories by Zweig? To what ends? Possible angles to consider would be the use of letters, the links made between memory and fiction, stories within stories, the "storyteller" figure, the concern over capturing the real vs. imagining a fiction, etc.
5. What is the role of accident and/or coincidence in A Letter From an Unknown Woman and one of the other short stories by Zweig? To what ends? Possible angles to consider would be chance meetings, mistaken identities, false impressions, missed opportunities, etc.
6. What connections are made between the past and the present in A Letter From an Unknown Woman and one of the other short stories by Zweig? To what ends? Possible angles to consider would be learning about the past only after it is past, failing to understand the past, trying to rectify the problems of the past, the loss of innocence that comes with the acquiring of experience, etc.
7. Discuss the role of revelation, both its presence and its absence, in A Letter From an Unknown Woman and Fantastic Night. The former withholds any real revelation, or at least it teases the reader with its possibility. The latter contains a moment of true revelation, even of epiphany, only to have the impact of this revelation be horribly and ironically overturned.
8. Discuss the role of World War I in two of the stories by Zweig. How does the war impact the plot and the characters of the stories. To what ends?