MID TERM EXAM
TAKE HOME VERISON * Open Book*
English 130 * INTRODUCTION TO FICTION WRITING
Professor: Randall Kenan
FALL 2014
NAME_______________________
Zodiac sign____________________
*INSTRUCTIONS: You may use the course text book and any handouts
given during the class, and class notes.
DUE DATE: Tuesday, 10/7/2014: Class time – please give hardcopy to
instructor. (Also please bring your workbook to class.)
LITERATURE
(Circle the correct answer)
(1)
Tim O’Brien’s story, “The Things They Carried,” takes place during which war?
a.
b.
c.
(2)
Cynthia Ozick’s short story, “The Shawl,” takes place during what period.
a.
b.
c.
(3)
Civil
World War II
Vietnam
World War II
Spanish-American War
Reconstruction
In Eudora Welty=s short story AA Worn Path @ Phoenix Jackson encounters a
man in the woods who is accompanied by a:
a.
b.
c.
Boy
Dog
Bird
MID TERM EXAM: Kenan: English 132H:Spring 2013...2
(4)
Junot Diaz’ story, “How to Date…” is set in:
a.
b.
c.
(5)
In Alice Walker=s short story, AEveryday Use,@ the daughter Dee (Wangero)
wants her mother to give her:
a.
b.
c.
(6)
Bird
Bug
Cat
William Faulkner created what fictional Mississippi county?
a.
b.
c.
(10)
Movie star
Mass murderer
Stunt man
Gregor Samsa wakes up in Kafka=s AThe Metamorphosis@ as what kind of
creature?
a.
b.
c.
(9)
Uruguay
Mexico
Colombia
The Misfit in Flannery O=Connor=s AA Good Man is Hard To Find@ is a:
a.
b.
c.
(8)
The house
The family dog
A quilt
Gabriel Garcia Marquez often sets his stories in a small town in his native:
a.
b.
c.
(7)
New Jersey
Massachusetts
Mexico
Penobscot
Yacona
Yoknapatawpha
Edward P. Jones’ story, “Bad Neighbors” is written in which POV?
a.
b.
1st person past
Third person objective
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MID TERM EXAM: Kenan: English 132H:Spring 2013...3
c.
(11)
James Baldwin grew up in:
a.
b.
c.
(12)
their jobs
marriage
a possible abortion
In Raymond Carver’s story “What We Talk About When We Talk About Love” the
characters are drinking:
a.
b.
c.
(17)
a government official
a doctor
a real estate salesman
In Hemingway=s AHills Like White Elephants@ the couple is discussing:
a.
b.
c.
(10)
Wisconsin
New York
Florida
Anton Chekhov was a short story writer, a playwright and
a.
b.
c.
(15)
Johnny Mack
Homer Barron
Dan Brian
The family in “A Good Man is Hard to Find” is en route to:
a.
b.
c.
(14)
Houston, Texas
Paris, France
Harlem, New York
In “A Rose for Emily” Miss Emily Grierson is engaged to a gentleman named:
a.
b.
c.
(13)
Third person omniscient
Vodka
Ice Tea
Gin
Robert Olen Butler wrote an entire collection of short stories based on what form
of so-called journalism?
a.
Investigative
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MID TERM EXAM: Kenan: English 132H:Spring 2013...4
b.
c.
(18)
Almost all of James Joyce=s short stories, like AAraby,@ end with what type of
narrative device?
a.
b.
c.
(19)
closure
epiphany
narrative abatement
At the end of the story,AThe Tell-Tale Heart,@ the madman narrator hears the
cut-out heart
a.
b.
c.
(20)
Tabloid
Emersion
In the floorboards
In the walls
In the next room
Stylistically speaking, Raymond Carver’s fiction is considered to be an example
of:
a.
b.
c.
Minimalism
Maximalism
bad writing
(21) William Faulkner’s short story, “A Rose for Emily” is written in:
a.
b.
c.
First person
Second person
Third person omniscient
(22) In Eudora Welty’s short story, “A Worn Path,” Phoenix Jackson is on a mission for
whom?
a.
b.
c.
Her daughter
Her son
Her grandson
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MID TERM EXAM: Kenan: English 132H:Spring 2013...5
Match the passage with the author and title (circle the corresponding
letter):
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
F.
(23)
“The Metamorphosis,” Franz Kafka
“Sonny’s Blues,” James Baldwin
AA Rose for Emily,@ William Faulkner
AEvery Man She Kisses Dies,@ Robert Olen Butler
AHow to Date a Browngirl, Blackgirl, Whitegirl, or Halfie,@Junot Diaz
AA Good Man is Hard to Find,@ Flannery O=Conner
I read about it in the paper, in the subway, on my way to
work. I read it, and I couldn’t believe it, and I read it again. Then perhaps
I just stared at it, at the newsprint spelling out his name, spelling out the
story. I stared at it in the swinging lights of the subway car, and in the
faces and bodies of the people, and in my own face, trapped in the
darkness which roared outside.
A. B. C. D. E. F.
(24)
Without his glasses, The Misfit=s eyes were red-rimmed and
pale and defenseless-looking. ATake her off and thow her where you
thown the others,@ he said, picking up the cat that was rubbing itself
against his leg.
AShe was a talker, wasn=t she?@ Bobby Lee said, sliding down the
ditch with a yodel.
AShe would have been a good woman,@ The Misfit said, Aif it had
been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life.@
A. B. C. D. E. F.
(25)
When Gregor Samsa woke up one morning from unsettling dreams,
he found himself changed in his bed into a monstrous vermin. He was
lying on his back as hard as armor plate, and when he lifted his head a
little, he saw his vaulted brown belly, sectioned by arch-shaped ribs, to
whose dome the cover, about to slide off completely, could barely cling.
His many legs, pitifully thin compared with the size of the rest of him,
were waving helplessly before his eyes.
A. B. C. D. E. F.
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MID TERM EXAM: Kenan: English 132H:Spring 2013...6
(26)
He’s gone for the moment, into the bathroom. He’s surely
afraid. He’s so gentle and he must be afraid. I haven’t kissed him yet. The
room is white. The sun is coming through the window and the glare from
the walls blinds me. I have nowhere to look, it is so pure and so empty. I
listen for him. He clears his throat.
A. B. C. D. E. F.
(27)
Hope that you don’t run into your nemesis, Howie, the
Puerto Rican kid with the two killer mutts. He walks them all over the
neighborhood and every now and then the mutts corner themselves a cat
and tear it to shreds, Howie laughing as the cat flips up in the air, its neck
twisted around like an owl, red meat showing through the soft fur. If his
dogs haven’t cornered a cat, he will walk behind you and ask, Hey, Yunior,
is that your new fuckbuddy?
A. B. C. D. E. F.
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MID TERM EXAM: Kenan: English 132H:Spring 2013...7
CHARACTER
(28)
A character’s identity is more greatly affected by:
a.
b.
c.
(29)
A character=s physical appearance is of no importance. (circle)
TRUE
(30)
health
Love life
Place
FALSE
Name the author and essay from which the following is taken:
Location pertains to feeling; feeling profoundly pertains to place; place in
history partakes of feeling, as feeling about history partakes of place.
Author: __________________________
Essay:___________________________
DIALOGUE
(31)
Quotations should be identified by:
a.
b.
c.
(32)
Modifying adverbs
Tag lines
Proper nouns
Dialogue is primarily a tool of:
a.
b.
c.
Characterization
Plot
Exposition
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MID TERM EXAM: Kenan: English 132H:Spring 2013...8
PLOT
(33)
Plot is fundamentally:
a.
b.
c.
d.
(34)
All plots:
a.
b.
c.
(35)
Can be summed up in one sentence
Should be as obvious as the sun
Involve death.
Scenes have beginnings, middles and endings.
TRUE
(36)
The theme of a story
The journalism (news) of a story
The moral of a story
The twist in the story
FALSE
What four questions should a story answer?
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MID TERM EXAM: Kenan: English 132H:Spring 2013...9
POINT OF VIEW
Identify the point-of-view (and case, i.e.: present, past) for the following passages:
e.g.: third person omniscient limited, present tense
(37)
You are not the sort of person who comes to a bar like this. You
usually go to classier bars, with classier clientele. But here you are and
it=s midnight, and you=ve just ordered another drink. You see a brunette
at the other end of the bar and you think, AShould I or shouldn=t I?@
________________________________________________
(38)
She did not see the boy, but she remembered that he had come
through the store the other day. It bothered her that she had been so
mean to him, and that, when he had given her a raspberry, she had called
him a bad name.
________________________________________________
(39)
We could not see through the fog. It was dark and sonorous that
night, and no one could decide on the proper direction. We felt alone and
lonely. We couldn=t find motivation. No one thought this night would
end.
_________________________________________________
(40)
I don=t know when the murdering started. But it is not a fun thing
to witness. And my mother keeps asking me if I know anything about it.
AStop asking, mom,@ I say. But she keeps asking and asking and asking. I
am so tired right now.
__________________________________________________
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MID TERM EXAM: Kenan: English 132H:Spring 2013...10
SHORT ANSWER * a few sentences
(41) Explain the concept of subtext.
(42) Why is point-of-view important?
(43) Why is modifying a tag line (“Run!” he said loudly”) an undesirable practice.
(44) In your own words, why is having a sense of place in fiction important?
(45) Please name your favorite short story from this semester’s reading list, and why it is
your favorite.
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MID TERM EXAM: Kenan: English 132H:Spring 2013...11
EXTRA CREDIT
Circle the correct answer (One point):
Arianna Grand
Sam Smith
Meghan Trainer
Nicky Minaj
* * *
THE HONOR PLEDGE:
On my honor, I have neither given nor received unauthorized aid on this examination.
____________________________________
Student=s Signature
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