ENGL 202: FINAL EXAM
Professor Naake joan.naake@montgomerycollege.edu
(This exam is open textbook: Norton Anthology of World Literature—Volumes D, E, and F)
GUIDELINES: Answer all three questions.
For each question, you must select different authors. For example, if you select Kafka for Question # 1, you
cannot select Kafka for Question #2.
1. Do not retell the story. Do not use the framework of the story as your topic sentences. For example, if you
begin a paragraph by stating, “After Okonkwo left his hut, he ….” you are using the story as the framework
of your essay.
2. To avoid the problem expressed in #2 above, use a clear thesis statement, make all your topic sentences
refer back to the thesis statement, and use the quotations you selected from the literature to prove your thesis
and topic sentences. For example, if your thesis is to prove that Okonkwo is inflexible, your topic sentence
might state: “Another example of Okonkwo’s inflexibility is the time he ….”
3. Use the required number of quotations from the literature to prove your point, and follow each quotation
with a page reference inside parentheses: “…”(287).
4. In explaining quotations, it is often wise to incorporate a key phrase or word from the quotation so that the
reader knows exactly what you are referring to.
5. Write in essay form; do not make a list.
Question #1 (40 points)
One major philosophy that has permeated modern literature is existentialism (See page 3 of this exam
for some of the basic principles of existentialism). Analyze how two or more works of literature that
we have read and discussed are influenced by or illustrate existential philosophy. Select works from
two of the following authors: Tolstoy, Ibsen, Kafka, Lu Xun, Yeats, Joyce, Eliot, Beckett, Mahfouz,
Marquez, or Camus. Use a minimum of 8 quotations ( 4 for each author) to prove your points; be sure
to introduce the quotation and explain how the quotation proves your point.
Questions #2 and #3 (30 points each)
Select two questions from the ones (A-I) listed below.
A. Analyze how the works of one or more of these authors—Lessing, Achebe, Adichie, or Soyinka—
reflect the culture of Africa. Use a minimum of 5 quotations to prove your points; be sure to
introduce the quotation and explain how it proves your point.
B. Analyze how the works of one or more of these authors—Tagore or Ghalib—reflect the culture of
India. Use a minimum of 5 quotations to prove your points; be sure to introduce the quotation
and explain how it proves your point.
C. Analyze how the works of one or more of these authors—Amichai, Mahfouz, Nawal El Saadawi,
or Al-Shaykh—reflect the culture of the Middle East. Use a minimum of 5 quotations to prove
your points; be sure to introduce the quotation and explain how it proves your point.
D. Analyze how the works of one or more of these authors—Borges, Diaz, Neruda, or Marquez—
reflect the culture of Latin America. Use a minimum of 5 quotations to prove your points; be
sure to introduce the quotation and explain how it proves your point.
E. Analyze how the works of one or more of these authors—Lu Xun, Oe Kenzaburo, or Mo Yan—
reflect the culture of Asia. Use a minimum of 5 quotations to prove your points; be sure to
introduce the quotation and explain how it proves your point.
F. Analyze the British colonialists degradation and denigration of the Nigerian people as it is reflected
in Soyinka’s Death and the King’s Horseman. Use a minimum of 5 quotations to prove your
point; be sure to introduce the quotation and explain how it proves your point or argument.
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G. Compare Ivan, the main character in Tolstoy’s The Death of Ivan Ilyich, with Gabriel, the main
character in James Joyce’s The Dead. Use a minimum of 5 quotations to prove your points; be
sure to introduce the quotation and explain how it proves your point.
H. Analyze the inability to act, the psychological paralysis of Prufrock in illustrated in the events and
symbols in T.S. Eliot’s “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock. Use a minimum of 5 quotations to
prove your point; be sure to introduce the quotation and explain how it proves your point or
argument.
I. Analyze in Camus’ “The Guest,” 1) why Daru gave the Arab prisoner two choices, 2) why the
Arab prisoner chose the road to prison, and 3) why Arabs wrote on Daru’s blackboard: “You
handed over our brother. You will Pay for this” ? Use a minimum of 5 quotations to prove your
point; be sure to introduce the quotation and explain how it proves your point or argument.
J. Analyze the devaluation of women in the Egyptian culture as it is depicted in the story “In
Camera,” by Nawal El Saadawi. ? Use a minimum of 5 quotations to prove your point; be sure
to introduce the quotation and explain how it proves your point or argument.
K. Analyze how Mahfouz’ “Zaabalawi” demonstrates a quest for spiritual well-being, and why the
narrator’s quest was not understood by many whom he first met, why his quest was almost found at
the end of the story—Zaabalawi set next to him but the narrator was asleep and intoxicated, and
why the narrator continues his quest. Use a minimum of 5 quotations to prove your point; be
sure to introduce the quotation and explain how it proves your point or argument.
L. Analyze how the title The Dead applies to the main character of Gabriel in James Joyce’s “The
Dead.” Use a minimum of 5 quotations to prove your point; be sure to introduce the quotation
and explain how it proves your point or argument.
M. Analyze Ivan, the main character in “The Death of Ivan Ilyich,” focusing on his realization about
his life at the end of this novella. Use a minimum of 5 quotations to prove your point; be sure to
introduce the quotation and explain how it proves your point or argument.
N. Analyze how Baldwin’s Notes of a Native Son reflects discrimination and oppression in the United
States. Use a minimum of 5 quotations to prove your points; be sure to introduce the quotation
and explain how it proves your point.
O. Analyze how Ibsen’s “Hedda Gabler” and /or Diaz’s “Drown” reflect cultural restrictions or taboos
on gender roles. Use a minimum of 5 quotations to prove your points; be sure to introduce the
quotation and explain how it proves your point.
P. Analyze how Diaz’s “Drown” reflects the obstacles that immigrants confront in moving to the
United States. Use a minimum of 5 quotations to prove your points; be sure to introduce the
quotation and explain how it proves your point.
Q. Analyze Silko’s “Yellow Woman” and explain how it reflects the Native American Heritage and/
or the mind’s unconscious desire—perhaps Jung’s collective unconscious—for something more
than the ordinary, for something more than “jello.” Use a minimum of 5 quotations to prove
your point; be sure to introduce the quotation and explain how it proves your point or argument.
R. Examine the futility of existence as it is illustrated in Beckett’s Endgame. Use a minimum of 5
quotations to prove your point; be sure to introduce the quotation and explain how it proves your
point or argument.
S. Examine the changes brought by colonialization and the influence of the Christian church as these
changes are depicted in Adcihie’s “The Headstrong Librarian.” Use a minimum of 5 quotations
to prove your point; be sure to introduce the quotation and explain how it proves your point or
argument.
T. Analyze Paul Celan’s “Deathfugue” and explain how it reflects the life of the Jews and the
brutality of the guards in the Nazi prison camps during the World War II Holocaust. Use a
minimum of 5 quotations to prove your point; be sure to introduce the quotation and explain
how it proves your point or argument.
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Existential Philosophy
Based in part on a reaction to the machine-like view of life of the scientific rationalists and in part on
the uncertainty of life experienced in the aftermath of World War I and II, existentialism became
popular during the 1950’s and 1960’s. The father of contemporary existentialism is considered to be
the French philosopher Sartre. It is a significant philosophy influencing thought and literature even
today. Some of the principles of existentialism include the following:
 life is absurd ( See Beckett’s Endgame; Kafka’s Metamorphosis; Eliot’s “The Love Sing of J.
Alfred Prufrock,” Marquez’ “Death Constant Beyond Love,” Lu Xun’s “Diary of a Madman”)
 life is meaningless (see Tolstoy’s The Death of Ivan Ilyich)
 all of life is falsity and based only on appearance (See Marquez’s “Death Constant Beyond
Love”; Tolstoy’s The Death of Ivan Ilyich)
 people are fearful of having anyone discover their real selves, so they spend most of their lives
hiding behind masks ( See Joyce’s “The Dead” and Eliot’s “The Love Song of J. Alfred
Prufrock”
 no one really communicates; only one mask communicates to another mask: “Time to prepare a
face to meet the faces that you meet” (Eliot’s “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”)
 love is only an illusion; masochism and sadism often substitute for real love (Beckett’s Waiting for
Godot or Endgame; Marquez “Death Constant Beyond Love”; Kafka’s Metamorphosis)
 man is not born with a self; he defines himself—his self—by his actions. If man does not act
willfully and thoughtfully but simply blindly follows others, then he has no self—he is nothing, he
is not human, he is reduced to a sheep blindly following another sheep, to an animal or insect or
less. (See Kafka’s “Metamorphosis” and Eliot’s “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”)
 To be truly human, one must act based on one’s own thinking and volition; therefore, if one simply
follows others blindly (doing and buying and wearing what everyone else does); then one is no
longer human and is reduced frequently to an animal or insect level. (See Kafka’s
“Metamorphosis” and Eliot’s “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”)
 In atheistic existentialism, there is no God to offer solace in this world devoid of meaning and
purpose; suicide is often the topic of discussion (You may want to read Beckett’s Waiting for
Godot in which God--ot never arrives or Beckett’s Endgame.)
 In religious existentialism, God is the only hope in this world devoid of meaning and purpose (See
Mahfouz “Zaabalawi”; you may also want to read the philosopher Kierkegaard’s leap of faith)
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