Thursday, May 3, 2018

Sample Final from 2016


ENGL 190 Final for Fall 2016

EN 190 – (100 pts) – This exam is closed book/closed notebook, and you may not use a computer or smart phone.

Fill in the blank (1 pt. each)  (17 pts.)

 Fill in the name of the reading.  

_______________________________  is about the poet’s relationship with his father .

 _____________________________________   is a tale of horror.

 ___________________________________ is told in the first person.

 _________________________    is set in Ireland.

_______________________________  is set in China.


________________________________  is free verse.



Fill in the name of the individual.  (This may be a character or an author or an actor.)


____________________________________ wrote dramatic monologues.

  ______________________________  invented the bop poem.

 ____________________________   wrote sonnets that we read.

_____________________________________ directed the 1922 version of Nosferatu.

_______________________________  wrote free verse that we read.

___________________________________narrates “The Cask of Amontillado.”


Fill in the name of the term.  (The term may refer to film, short stories, or poetry.)

A character may be ____________________________ , according to E.M. Forster.

 ________________________ is a type of poem.

   _______________________  is poetry that does not rhyme.

   _________________________  comes at the end of a modern short story.

_________________________  is a type of poetic device.







Multiple Choice (35 pts – 5 pts. each)

1.             Which of these statements is true about the 1922 version of Nosferatu?
a.       Hutter kills both Ellen and Nosferatu.
b.      In the end, Hutter becomes a vampire anyway.
c.      Bram Stoker’s family believed that the film had violated their copyright. 

2.             What of these statements are true about Elizabeth Bishop’s “One Art”?
a.      She wrote it in one draft.  First thought, best thought.
b.     She wrote quite a few drafts.  
c.      It began as a sonnet in Italian.

3.         Which of these poems was written in the 1800s?
a.          Sonnet 130 by Shakespeare
b.         “My Last Duchess”
c.          “The Red Wheelbarrow”

4.         Which of these statements are true about “Saboteur”?
a.          At the end of the story, Mr. Chiu’s wife leaves him.
b.         Fenjin was Mr. Chiu’s favorite student.
c.          Mr. Chiu deliberately spreads hepatitis in Muji City.

5.         Which poet said “no idea but in things”?
            a.          John Hollander
b.         Mary Ellen Solt
            c.          William Carlos Williams

6.         What is distinctive about John Hollander’s “Swan and Shadow”?
            a.          It is a visual poem.
            b.         It is a villanelle.
            c.          It is a sonnet.

7.         Which of these statements is true about the bop?
a.          It has a refrain, ideally one that is out of copyright!
b.         It was invented by Evelyn N. Alfred.
            c.          It rhymes.



Short Answer (2 pt. per answer – 48 pts. total )   Choose six of nine.

 1         List three differences between poetry and fiction.  For extra credit, explain why you’ve chosen them. 


2.         List three characteristics of poetry.  For extra credit, explain why you’ve chosen them.




3.             Should we study more older work in ENGL 190?  Support your answer with up to three reasons.






4.         What are the strengths and weaknesses of rhymed poetry?  For extra credit, explain why.





5.         List three characteristics of literature.  For extra credit, explain why you’ve chosen them.







6.         Choose a poem that I assigned but we did NOT discuss on this exam.  List three characteristics.  For extra credit, explain why you’ve chosen them.




7.         What are the strengths and weaknesses of unrhymed poetry?  For extra credit, explain why you’ve chosen them.




8.         List three things you’ve learned from videos and presentations we’ve watched in class. For extra credit, explain why you’ve chosen them.



9.         List three things that you’ve learned from keeping a journal.  For extra credit, explain why you’ve chosen them.





 Extra Credit -- 


1.        List up to five things that you’ve learned from readings that we have not discussed in class.  For extra credit, explain why you’ve come up with these things.











2.        List up to five things that you’ve learned from lecture or class discussion.  For extra credit, explain how they have helped you understand literature better.           

Monday, April 30, 2018

Sample Final


Note that this final is from 2014, so the readings were different.  Moreover, as you know, we did not see a film.

EN 190 – (100 pts) – This exam is closed book/closed notebook, but you may not use a computer or smart phone.

Fill in the blank (1 pt. each)  (17 pts.)

 Fill in the name of the reading. 

_______________________________  is about the poet’s relationship with his father .

 _____________________________________   is a tale of horror.

  ___________________________________  is told in the first person.

  _________________________    is told in the third person.

_______________________________  is set in China.


________________________________  is free verse.



Fill in the name of the individual.  (This may be a character or an author or an actor.)


____________________________________ came to speak to our class.

   ______________________________ is a protagonist.

 ____________________________   wrote sonnets.

_____________________________________ directed the 1922 version of Nosferatu.

_______________________________  wrote free verse.

___________________________________ wrote in a language other than English.


Fill in the name of the term.  (The term may refer to film, short stories, or poetry.)

A character may be ____________________________ , according to E.M. Forster.
  ________________________ is a type of poem.

    _______________________  is poetry that does not rhyme.

 In  _________________________, the speaker of the poem is definitely not the poet.

_________________________ are important to “This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona.”






Multiple Choice (35 pts – 5 pts. each)

  1. Who was disappointed that “We Real Cool” is the poem that everyone expects him/her to read?
  1. John Ulrich                            b.   Sherman Alexie                             c.             Gwendolyn Brooks

  1. Which of these statements is true about the 1922 version of Nosferatu?
  1.  Bram Stoker’s family believed that the film violated their copyright.
  2.  Max Schreck, the actor who played Nosferatu, was an actual vampire.
  3.  In the end, Hutter becomes a vampire anyway.


3.             Which of these poems was written in the 1800s?
a.             Sonnet 130 by Shakespeare
b.             “My Last Duchess”
c.             “Dangerous Astronomy”

4.             Which of these statements are true about “Saboteur”?
a.             At the end of the story, Mr. Chiu’s wife leaves him.
b.             Fenjin was Mr. Chiu’s favorite student.
c.             Mr. Chiu deliberately spreads hepatitis in Muji City.

5.             Which of these statements are established in “The Paring Knife”?
a.             The narrator is married to the woman he loves.
b.             The narrator refers to the woman he lives with as the woman he loves.
c.             The woman the narrator loves loves him.

6.             Which of these statements are true about Shakespeare’s sonnets?
a.             Some are written to a young man, and others are written to a Dark Lady.
                b.             The Dark Lady was an actress in his theater.
c.             His sonnets have sixteen lines, rather than fourteen.

7.             Which of these statements is true about the bop?
a.             It has a refrain, ideally one that is out of copyright!
b.             It was invented by Gwendolyn Brooks.
                c.             It is performed to Thelonious Monk’s music.



Short Answer (48 pts. – 2 pts. each )

 1             List three differences between poetry and fiction.  For extra credit, explain why you’ve chosen them.


2.             Should we study more older literature?  Support your answer with up to three reasons.




  1. Should we study more work in translation in ENGL 190?  Support your answer with up to three reasons.






4.             What are the strengths and weaknesses of rhymed poetry?  For extra credit, explain why.





5.             List three differences between first person narration and third person.  For extra credit, explain why you’ve chosen them.







6.             Does reading fiction and/or poetry encourage one to be show more empathy?    Or not? Support your answer with up to three reasons.




7.             What are the strengths and weaknesses of unrhymed poetry.  For extra credit, explain why you’ve chosen them.



OR      What are three characteristics of poetry.  For extra credit, explain why you’ve chosen them.


OR Argue for or against prose poetry and/or flash fiction.  Support your answer with up to three reasons.  


 Extra Credit --


1.        List up to five things that you’ve learned from readings that we have not discussed in class.  For extra credit, explain why you’ve come up with these things.











2.        List up to five things that you’ve learned from lecture or class discussion.  For extra credit, explain how they have helped you understand literature better.