State of Israel
Ministry of Education
English Inspectorate
Module F – Literature – Sample Exam
PART I
(35 points)
Answer questions for either (1) The Road Not Taken OR (2) A Summer’s Reading.
1. The Road Not Taken / Robert Frost
Read the poem and answer the questions below (a – e).
The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost
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Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
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Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
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And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
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I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
a. In the first stanza of the poem (lines 1-5), what is the traveler’s dilemma?
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(5 points)
b. In what ways are the roads in stanzas 1 and 2 (lines 1 – 10) similar? Give TWO ways.
(1) __________________________________________________________________
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(2) __________________________________________________________________
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(5 points)
Read the quote and answer question c.
The speaker of the poem says, “Yet knowing how way leads on to way, / I doubted if
I should ever come back.”
c. Give the literal and symbolic meaning of these lines.
Literal meaning: _________________________________________________________
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Symbolic meaning: _______________________________________________________
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(10 points)
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d. Why does the speaker say he will “be telling this with a sigh / Somewhere ages and
ages hence”?
Thinking skill I chose: (See Appendix One for the list of Thinking Skills)
________________________________________.
Answer:_____________________________________________________________
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(10 points)
e. Explain why you chose this skill to answer question d.
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(5 points)
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2. A Summer’s Reading / Bernard Malamud
Answer the questions below (a – e).
a. Describe the relationship between Mr. Cattanzara and George in the beginning of the
story?
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(5 points)
Read the following quote and answer question b.
“I got a list of books in the library once, and now I’m gonna read them this summer.”
b. Who did George say this to and why?
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(5 points)
Read the following quote and answer questions c – e.
"George knew he looked passable on the outside, but inside he was crumbling apart.
Unable to reply, he shut his eyes, but when - years later - he opened them, he saw
that Mr. Cattanzara had, out of pity, gone away but in his ears he still heard the
words he had said when he left 'George, don't do what I did.' "
c. Why did the author use the metaphor “crumbling” to describe George?
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(10 points)
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d. What do Mr. Cattanzara’s parting words, “… don't do what I did.” reveal about his
feelings about his own life?
Thinking skill I chose: (See Appendix One for the list of Thinking Skills)
________________________________________.
Answer:________________________________________________________________
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(10 points)
e. Explain why you chose this skill to answer question d.
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(5 points)
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PART II
(35 points)
3. All My Sons / Arthur Miller
Answer the questions (a – e) below.
Read the following quote and answer questions (a – b).
Chris: “I know you’re no worse than most men but I thought you were better.
I never saw you as a man. I saw you as my father.” (Act III)
a. Why did Chris say this to his father?
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(5 points)
b. What effect did Larry’s letter have on Chris?
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(5 points)
Read the following quote and answer question c.
Jim: …In a peculiar way Frank is right - every man does have a star. The star of
one's honesty. And you spend your life groping for it, but once it's out it never lights
again. I don't think he went very far. He probably just wanted to be alone to watch
his star go out.
c. What did the star symbolize for Chris and for Jim?
(10 points)
(For Chris) ___________________________________________________________
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(For Jim) _____________________________________________________________
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Answer questions d – e.
d. How does the reader’s understanding of the title of the play change as the play
progresses?
Thinking skill I chose: (See Appendix One for the list of Thinking Skills)
________________________________________.
Answer:_____________________________________________________________
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(10 points)
e. Explain why you chose this skill to answer question d.
_____________________________________________________________________
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(5 points)
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PART III
(30 points)
Answer questions for either (4) Eveline OR (5) Richard Cory. (about 80-100 words)
4. Eveline / James Joyce
“The Dubliners, a collection of short stories published in 1914 which includes Eveline,
has as its central theme what Joyce, himself, called ‘moral paralysis’ of Ireland. Many of
the central characters in these stories, and Eveline is typical of them, want to escape their
prisons – but are unable to break out of social, cultural and religious traditions which tie
them to the world of lower-middle-class life in the poorer parts of Dublin.” (Enav, Y.
1978. Everyman’s English Secondary Level. Eveline. Open University and Educational
Television. Tel-Aviv: Israel.)
How does this information add to your understanding of Eveline? Give examples from
the story.
Answer:________________________________________________________________
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5. Richard Cory / Edwin Arlington Robinson
Edwin Arlington Robinson (1869-1935) is an American poet best known for his poems
about the characters of Tilbury Town, a small, bleak Maine town like the one where
Robinson grew up. His characters suffer the ‘cruelties of life.’” (Shalvi, A. (Ed.). 1982,
EMT Reader. University Publishing Projects: Israel)
How does this information add to your understanding of Richard Cory? Give examples
from the poem.
Answer:________________________________________________________________
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Appendix One
List of Thinking Skills

Comparing/ Contrasting

Classifying

Making Connections

Parts and Whole

Different Perspectives

Sequencing

Uncovering Motives

Causal Explanations

Prediction

Generating Possibilities

Problem Solving

Synthesis

Application
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