English 262
Assessment
Part A: Critical Thinking about Literature
Read the following
poem then answer questions 1-3:
Richard Cory
(Edwin
Whenever Richard Cory went downtown
We people on the pavement looked at him:
He was a gentleman from sole to crown,
Clean favored, and imperially slim.
And he was always quietly arrayed,
And he was always human when he talked;
But still he fluttered pulses when he said,
“Good morning,” and he glittered
when he walked.
And he was rich—yes, richer than a king—
And admirably schooled in every grace;
In fine we thought that he was everything
To make us wish that we were in his place.
So on we worked, and waited for the light,
And went without the meat, and cursed the bread;
And Richard Cory, one calm summer night,
Went home and put a bullet through his head.
1. Which of the
following interpretations is best supported by the poem?
a) Rich people deserve to die.
b) Selfishness is a sin.
c) The appearance of happiness is often quite different from
the reality.
d) Workaholics are
prone to self-destructive behavior.
2. Which of the
following questions would best help us understand the central ideas of the
poem?
a) Why don’t homeless
people have jobs?
b) Did Richard Cory
have financial problems?
c) Why did Richard
Cory kill himself if he was rich and successful?
d) Who wrote the
poem?
3. Which of the
following questions would best help us understand the central ideas of the
poem?
a) Who wrote the poem?
b) From whose point of view is the poem written?
c) Is the poet a rich
person or a poor person?
d) How many lines are
in the poem?
Read the following
poem and answer questions 4-6:
‘Out, Out—‘ (Robert Frost)
The buzz saw snarled and rattled in the yard
And made dust and dropped stove-length sticks of wood,
Sweet-scented stuff when the wind drew across it.
And from there those that lifted eyes could count
Five mountain ranges one behind the
other
Under the sunset far into
And the saw snarled and rattled, snarled and rattled,
As it ran light, or had to bear a load.
And nothing happened; day was all but done.
Call it a day, I wish they might have said
To please the boy by giving him the half hour
That a boy counts so much when saved from
work.
His sister stood beside them in her apron
To tell them “Supper.” At the word, the saw,
As if to prove saws knew what supper meant,
Leaped out at the boy’s hand, or seemed to leap—
He must have given the hand.
However it was,
Neither refused the meeting.
But the hand!
The boy’s first outcry was a rueful laugh,
As he swung toward them holding up the hand,
Half in appeal, but half as if to keep
The life from spilling. Then the boy saw all—
Since he was old enough to know, big boy
Doing a man’s work, though a child at heart—
He saw all spoiled.
“Don’t let him cut my hand off—
The doctor, when he comes.
Don’t let him sister!”
So.
But the hand was gone already.
The doctor put him in the dark of ether.
He lay and puffed his lips out with his breath.
And then—the watcher at his pulse took fright.
No one believed. They
listened at his heart.
Little—less—nothing!—and that ended it.
No more to build on there.
And they, since they
Were not the one dead, turned to their affairs.
4. Which of the
following is a supportable interpretation of “Out, Out—“?
a) There is joy as
well as sadness in death.
b) God watches over
the wicked and the weak.
c) Violence, even
accidental, can be redemptive.
d) Death is part of
the fabric of everyday life.
5. Which question
would best help us understand the central ideas of “Out, Out—“?
a) Was
b) Are we to see the
boy in the poem as more man, or more child?
c) Is the poet
famous?
d) Is the poem
shorter or longer than most of Frost’s poems?
6. Which of the
following questions would be the least help in understanding the central ideas
of “Out, Out—“?
a) What is the source of the poem’s title?
b) Why doesn’t the sister take him to a different hospital
with better doctors?
c) Why doesn’t the poem have a consistent rhyme scheme?
d) What does the word
“So” mean after the boy’s cry to his sister?
Read the following responses and commentaries to the two
poems above, then answer questions 7-10
A. My response to “Richard Cory” is that Richard Cory is a
real jerk. How anyone could pretend that
everything is OK and then just go off and commit suicide without explaining why
to anyone is selfish and inconsiderate, in my opinion. Compare him to the boy in “Out, Out—“ who didn’t have the luxuries or the choices that Richard
Cory had. The boy is a hero, but Richard
Cory is an absolutely selfish man.
B. These two texts
are all similar in that they both deal with the difference between appearances
and reality in some way. In “Out, Out—“
the day’s work appears to be finished, and the boy appears to be safe from
danger or risk; in “Richard Cory,” the object of the poor people’s admiration
and envy is actually so unhappy that he doesn’t want to continue to live.
C. These poems are
very different from one another because they deal with different situations and
different relationships. “Out, Out—“ is about family relationships that are affected by a
serious accident, while in “Richard Cory,” the relationship is between Richard
Cory and the ordinary people who don’t have what he’s got.
7. Which of the
following would argue against the
interpretation given in A above?
a) The poem says that Richard Cory was “gentleman,” and that
he was “human” when he talked, and that he “fluttered pulses” just by speaking
to the lower classes. Therefore, the
poem suggests he is not a selfish jerk.
b) Richard Cory’s
suicide is a tragedy.
c) The boy in “Out, Out—“ dies in
an accident, which makes him brave.
d) Richard Cory’s
wealth causes him to kill himself.
8. Which of the
following would be the most relevant and successful argument against the
interpretation in A above?
a) Anybody that rich has no reason to commit suicide.
b) We have no idea why Richard Cory commits suicide, or
whether he was even actually rich (rather than appearing to be so), and
therefore we can’t judge him that harshly.
c) The definition of a hero is not necessarily just someone
who dies at a young age; if that were true, Richard Cory would be a hero, too.
d) Anybody who
insults a suicidal person must be jerk themselves.
9. Which of the
following is true of the above interpretations?
a) Response A is
incompatible with response B.
b) Response A is
incompatible with response C.
c) Response B is
incompatible with response C.
d) All of the above.
10. Which of the
following positions would make response C above problematic?
a) The relationship
between the boy and his sister in “Out, Out—“ is
outside the central concerns of the poem.
b) The ordinary
people in “Richard Cory” are the sources of the poem’s persona.
c) The doctor is “the
watcher at his pulse” in “Out, Out--.”
d) Richard Cory is
“richer than a king.”
Part B—Literary
Terminology particularly relevant to this course.
11. Confessional poetry refers to …
a) Poetry
created by the memoirs of Catholic priests.
b) Collage
poetry created by “cutting and pasting” excerpts from religious, criminal, and
personal confessions.
c) Literary
works that express personal, and often painful, experiences.
d) Personal
diatribes and social critiques.
12. Imagism refers to
…
a) A
derogatory term popularized by contemporary poets who despised the contemporary
emphasis on the “image” or the representation of an object rather than the
thing itself.
b) The
work of early 20th century writers who celebrated the imagination.
c) The
work of Russian writers who tried to duplicate in their poetry the visual
qualities of their religious icons.
d) a school of poetry that rejected the sentimentalism of late
19th century verse in favor of a poetry that relied on concrete
imagery.
13. Stream of
Consciousness refers to
a) a writing technique where one writes without stopping. It’s
also called “automatic writing.”
b) The
moment after WWII that marks a radical political awareness of repressed groups
and oppressed ethnicities. This “stream of consciousness” brought about an
increased awareness of racism, sexism, and homophobia.
c) A
literary technique that approximates the flow of thoughts and sensory
impressions that pass through the mind each instant.
d) A
term popularized by Ralph Waldo Emerson to refer to a moment of inspiration or
spiritual epiphany.
14. The literary
grotesque defines literature that …
a) is merely disgusting, with gratuitous depictions of bodily
functions.
b) Derives
from a French genre (grotesque comes from the French grotte or our English grotto) that seeks to be as obscure as
possible.
c) Relates
to the gothic novel its preoccupation with medieval themes and subject matter.
d) Refers
to an attempt to create fear and laughter by representing strange and unusual
things, usually involving bizarre or unnatural combinations.
15. Minimalism is…
a) a modern movement where brevity, modesty, and economy are
valued.
b) An
artistic movement that was preoccupied with the micro structures, aspects of
our life that go unheeded.
c) A
derogatory term coined by Andy Warhol to refer to writers who make little
effort.
d) An
ironic term to refer to grand, overly ambitious literary projects.
16. The Beat
Generation refers to writers who…
a) Responded
to the restrictive and conservative post-World War II culture.
b) Appropriated
the rhythmic beats of African and Asian subcultures.
c) Expressed
“beatific” views in their spiritually conservative meditations.
d) Acknowledged
the defeat of socialism in their poetry and prose.
17. The
a) a revival of Dutch themes, motifs, and subject matter.
b) A
revival of the folklore and tales generated by the African American slave
culture of
c) A
celebration and popularization of African American art, intellect, history, music,
painting, dance, theatre, and folklore.
d) Contemporary
efforts to revitalize
18. One might
recognize postmodern literature by its …
a) reactionary return to pre-modern themes and subject matter.
b) Experimental
strategies designed to lay bare or even undermine the socially constructed
nature of our conceptual frameworks.
c) Reverential
attitude toward traditional themes, works, and cultural icons.
d) Desire
to create utopian social relationships.
19. How does
“modernism” differ from “modernity”?
a) Modernity
refers to an intellectual period that contains philosophical, political, and
ethical ideas whereas modernism refers to an aesthetic movement that sought to
break away from traditional forms and values.
b) Modernity
refers to a period extending from the 1500s to now whereas modernism refers to
a glorification of machinery and technology.
c) Modernity
refers to the “state of being civilized” whereas modernism marks a fashionable
attitude.
d) Modernity
refers to a literary epoch that glamorizes the “image” whereas modernism is a
political movement that seeks equality for all.
20. How does magical
realism differ from social realism?
a) Magical
realism refers to literature that intertwines realistic details and esoteric
knowledge with dreamlike sequences, abrupt chronological shifts, and complex,
tangled plots whereas realism refers to literature that emphasizes objective
presentation of details and events.
b) Magical
realism is marked by an abundant use of sensory detail, thus making the
presentation “magical.” Realism, by contrast, rarely uses any adjectives,
adverbs, or sensory detail.
c) Magical
realism is merely a jargon term for “fanciful fiction” whereas realism tends to
portray characters as determined by biology, environment, or chance.
d) Magical
realism derives from the French “trompe d’oeil” tradition of creating
believable illusions whereas realism is characterized by an attention to subjective
impressions and the problem of perception.