Final Writing Test

Topic: Emma by Jane Austen

In rural England during the eighteen century, the women’s condition was extremely different than what we are now accustomed to. One of the great female autors of that time and one that really did included that social fact in her work and use it as an endless inspiration was Jane Austen. In her well-known novel Emma, written in 1815, is it even more obvious. That said, we can now state that, while Jane Austen’s work is celebrated by many for its romantic atmosphere, it can be seen as the expression and the denunciation of the confined nature of the women’s existence in the eighteen century.

In her novel Emma, Jane Austen depicts the tiresome, dull and colorless activities that women are permitted to occupy their life with. We can think of organizing and participating in social visits, charity visits, sewing, reading. In these occupations, you do not get a real idea of power or decision making. Women are kept home, providing amusement and peace to their household without making adjustments of vital importance. In Emma, the protagonist’s energy can only be channeled through helping (some might say forcing) her friends on marital matters. Her character is so full of energy and intelligence that that particular pastime cannot be enough to satisfy her intellectual needs.

We also get a feeling that the female part of the society did not use their intellect to its full potential, being only there to reproduce. When your rank does not permit you to find a suitable husband, you cannot emancipate from your family and live fully by yourself. You have two choices: stay home and help your aging parents or become a governess. Austen even hints that the only mother portrayed in Emma, Isabella, Emma’s sister, does not have that great of a mind. However, as mentioned before, these roles leave the women without any need for rational thinking.

Therefore, there is only one way for the women’s existence to become not so confined: marriage. The only part they are allowed to play in society is participating in the courting rituals which basically are accepting or refusing marriage proposals. It is in this bonding ceremony that women can explore and use the little bit of power they have. They can access a higher rank if they choose their future husband well. Ultimately, eighteen century women’s aspirations are only attainable if they are ones of marriage nature.

In conclusion, Jane Austen’s Emma could almost be considered feminist. Under its romance tendencies, we can find a core that expresses the confined nature of the woman’s existence by showing the only activities they can practice without having to much power and states that woman can only gain a small part of said power by participating in courting rituals. I believe that Jane Austen would be proud of the place that now occupies the woman in our contemporary society and of the equality that they fought for so long being now respected and protected.


Word count: 497

Writing Journal

Shakespeare's sonnet: Shall I compare thee to a summer's day...

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate.
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date.
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st;
Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st:
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

One of Shakespeare's best-known poem, Sonnet 18 or Shall I compare thee to a summer's day really touched me. Of course, I was moved by the poet's description and evocation of his profound love for the woman he's addressing this poem to; but, the part that really interested me was his celebration of literature's power, of words' power and influence.

In this sonnet, Shakespeare declares that words can conquer time, the greatest enemy that can destroy everything in the end, even the most glorious beauty. The beloved woman's loveliness shall not disappear, because it is forever living in the poem's lines. The poet makes a statement: for him, literature is extremely powerful, because it can bring to life a whole world - people, places, times, opinions, emotions. Words are like magical formulas that can bring back the dead or make the living immortal.

I quite agree with Shakespeare on this subject; being myself an avid reader (of poetry, of essays, of novels and of short stories) and sometimes a timid writer, I fully understand Shakespeare's point of view.

What gives this Shakespearian sonnet such a strong and transcendent meaning is the simplicity of its literary composition, of its metaphors and of its focused scope of descriptions. In reaction to this type of writing, the theme of the power of literature is used to its uttermost potential; the words are reachable, whether or not you studied thoroughly the sonnet or Shakespeare’s work in general. Therefore, the message of this poem, as it has been previously stated — the immortality associated with the power of words — can be considered as true. When you read “[s]o long as men can breathe or eyes can see, / So long lives this and this gives life to thee”, you realize that those verses reflect, not only Shakespeare’s point of view on the fact that we can find timelessness in words, but also that, even though mentalities change, the core of human nature is immutable and feelings experienced before can still be understood with a great amount of comprehension today.

Being one of Shakespeare’s most widely know sonnet; the sonnet 18 is today a reminder of the power of words. In the sonnet Shakespeare professes explicitly that his poem will carry the lady’s beauty over time and render it immortal; today the simple fact that we are writing about this in our English class proves the veracity of his claim. It makes it even more powerful and touching to be the eyes who read the poem and give it all its meaning and power.

Shakespeare proves again that he really is master of his art by touching people over centuries. He knew the power of words, wrote about it and used it in the best way he could: to show his love and give beauty immortality.

PS sorry we did it in a team of three. We did it while we were working on our novel discussion on monday; we thought we would do two things at the same time. We hope it doesn't bother you to much.

Poetic Devices

• Denotation: a direct specific meaning as distinct from an implied or associated idea
• Connotation: the suggesting of a meaning by a word apart from the thing it explicitly names or describes
• Figures of speech:

simile: A figure of speech which involves a direct comparison between two unlike things, usually with the words like or as.

metaphor: A figure of speech which involves an implied comparison between two relatively unlike things using a form of be. The comparison is not announced by like or as. Example: The road was a ribbon of moonlight.

personification: Repeated consonant sounds occurring at the beginning of words or within words. Alliteration is used to create melody, establish mood, call attention to important words, and point out similarities and contrasts

apostrophe

hyperbole:An exaggerated statement used to heighten effect. It is not used to mislead the reader, but to emphasize a point

oxymoron

• Imagery: Language that appeals to the senses. Descriptions of people or objects stated in terms of our senses.
• Symbolism: A person, place or object which has a meaning in itself but suggests other meanings as well. Things, characters and actions can be symbols. Anything that suggests a meaning beyond the obvious.
• Irony: Irony is the contrast between what is expected or what appears to be and what actually is.
• Pun: the usually humorous use of a word in such a way as to suggest two or more of its meanings or the meaning of another word similar in sound

• Euphony
• Cacophony
• Alliteration
• Onomatopeia
• Rhyme
• Assonance
• Consonance
• Repetition

Sentence Patterns 6-12

Sentence Pattern 6: Internal series of appositives or modifiers using dash or parenthesis.

Examples using a dash

• My favourite wines - Merlot, Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon - are wonderful to savour.
• Many British bans - The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin - inspired most music from the 2000's.

Examples using parenthesis

• Many of the books students enjoy reading (Little Women, Jan Eyre, David Copperfield) show women in traditional roles.
• Many physical abilities (coordination, agility, speed) are required for practising gymnastic.

Sentence Pattern 7: Dependent clauses in a pair or series in beginning or end of a sentence.

Examples

• Because it may seem difficult, because it may sound awkward, because it creates long sentence, this pattern is forbidding to writers, but it isn't all that hard; try it sometimes.
• Since he had little imagination and since he displayed even less talent, he wasn't hired for the job.
• He had little money, therefore he couldn't afford two tickets and therefore his girlfriend dumped him.

Sentence Pattern 10: Interrupting modifier between subject and verb with commas, dashes or parentheses.

Examples

• A small drop of ink, falling (as Byron said) like dew upon a thought, can make millions think.
• American fast food and steakhouses - not to mention McDonald's and KFC - are popular around the world.

Sentence Pattern 11: Introductory or concluding participles (participal phrase, SV / SV, participal phrase)

Common mistakes

• Walking on the stage, the spotlights followed Maggie.
• Correction: The spotlight followed Maggie, walking on the stage.

• The three boys tried to steal my bike, while going on an errand.
• Correction: While going on an errand, the three boys tried to steal my bike.

• When browned and bubbling, remove the pizza from the oven.
• Correction: Remove the pizza from the oven, when browned and bubbling.

Sentence Pattern 12: The short, simple sentence for dramatic effect.

Used: - As a break after long sentences;

- To summarize;

- As transition between two ideas.

Examples

• Well, I wonder.
• Hours passed.
• It was magical.
• That's not my style.
• Perserverance pays.
• Everything changed.

Sentence Pattern 12A: A short question for dramatic effect.

Used: - To arouse readeers interest

- As a topic sentence in a paragraph

- As an ending for a thought-provoking question

Examples

• What caused the change?
• Then why did she do it?
• And why not?
• What comes next?

Sentence Pattern 13: Dependent clause, as subject, object, or complement. Using who, whom, whick, that, how, what, why, where, when.

Examples

• How he could fail, was a mystery to me.
• He became what he desired to be.
• Ask not what your county can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.

Formative Works 1-6

Course 1: Grammar Pratice Exercise 1

- Interest Level: 5/10

To be perfectly honest, grammar is not one of my favourite learning fields, which explained the low interest level. However, the course did pinpoint issues I have with the use of commas in dialogs, something I rarely use, hence the issues.

- Difficulty Level: 5/10

The difficulty was average, but I found some questions badly explained and presented. When I looked over my mistakes, I realized that most of them were due to the way the exercises were presented.

- What I learned

As I mentionned before, this course went over notions I had already seen more than one at school, although it's always good to revise them. The area where I learned a little bit more really is the correct form on punctuation in dialogs.

- Score: 80%

Course 2: Persuasive Writing 

- Interest Level: 3/10

Writing is a personal passion, so I thought this course would be a bit more interesting. However, when I saw the topic I had to work with, my motivation and interest went downhill. I have no knowledge regarding how science should be teached to give effective results.

- Difficulty Level: 7.5/10

This high difficulty level is due to the fact that I didn't know anything about the subject I was suppose to write about. Also, no clue as to what we were to be evaluated on were given. Everything was pretty much a mystery, which is not the kind of support you expect when writing an essay.

- What I Learned

I did not learn a lot unfortunately. I was expecting a detailled scoring gride, but everything was vague and general. In the end, I have no idea what I should work on and what I already know. Frankly, I am not satisfied at the end of all of this.

- Score: 4/6

Course 3: Prewriting

- Interest Level: 7/10

I suffer from writer's block every time I have an essay or a text to write. I am hoping that his course will help me bypass this struggling.

- Difficulty Level: 3/10

Every exercise was extremely easy, but I think that difficulty was not the point of this exercise. It really was to pratice what was explained in the text.

- What I Learned

While being, easy, this course showed me how to seize the tone and the audience I should aim for in a text. It also provided new ways of brainstorming that I will try to use in the future.

- Score: That particular course did not have a score at the end of it all.

Course 4: Punctuation in Sentences

- Interest Level: 7/10

While still being grammar, I found in the first text I did that my dialog punctuation needed some polishing, which is why I decided to take this course.

- Difficulty Level: 2/10

I was not challenged at all. I was expecting exercises on dialogue punctuation, but there wasn't any. The punctuation rules that were explained in this course had already been covered in class. 

- What I Learned

I learned about restrictive and nonrestrictive clauses. I already knew the basic, but not how their were called. Quite frankly, this alone was not enough to motivate me.

- Score: There was no score.

Course 5: Fine-Tuning Punctuation

- Interest Level: 7/10

I hope I do not get my hopes up for nothing! This lesson is supposed to cover quotation marks, something that I used in dialogues. I think that I will finally be able to pratice this particual skill.

- Difficulty Level: 4/10

The exercises were still pretty simple, but the rules were a little bit more complex. The dialogue punctuation that I longed to be proprely explained was in fact not that hard. That did please me to no extent.

- What I Have Learned

I finally got what I wanted: dialogue punctuation. I learned that when you want to use quotation marks inside another one, you have to use this particualr type of quotion marks: '...' This does not apply to French punctuation; however, I thought it was very pratical. I also learned when to put commas in dialogues.

- Score: Once again, there was no score for this test.

Course 6: Adjectives and Adverbs

- Interest Level: 6/10

I chose this course because I think that adjectives and adverbs really are what bring personality to a text. I expect to learn new ways to incorporated them in my writing and verify what I already know.

- Difficulty Level: 2/10

The course was extremely easy. I was expecting challenge, but I found out that the goal of these exercises was to differentiate abverbs from adjectives. This is something I know how to do since my English classes in grade school. It is not rocket science!

- What I Learned

As I said before, everything covered by this course was things and rules that I was already aware of. Unfortunately, I did not learn a lot, much to my dismay.

- Score: There was no score.

Mid-Term Writing Test

PART A. SHORT-ANSWER QUESTIONS

Why does Louise Mallard suddenly stop crying? Indicate the place in the text?

Louise realizes that she is now free of her husband's will; she has all her life in front her. We can clearly see in the passage that she sees this emotion coming, but tries in vain to stop it:

"There was something coming to her and she was waiting for it, fearfully. What was it? She did not know; it was too subtle and elusive to name. But she felt it, creeping out of the sky, reaching toward her through the sounds, the scents, the color that filled the air."


How does she feel about her future as a widow? Can you cite the line in the text?

While she will mourn her husband's death, Louise can still feel that her future will be one of freedom.

"There would be no one to live for during those coming years; she would live for herself. There would be no powerful will bending hers in that blind persistence with which men and women believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow-creature."


Why is there so much description of what is outside the window when Louise is alone in her room?

The description of what Louise sees outside the window is vital to her upcoming illumination. It is by looking at the trees bursting with new life, the birds chirping and the blue patches of sky that appear after the rain that she realizes that she can now have the freedom her marriage did not allow her to have.


Explain how Louise can feel joy and sadness at the same time?

Louise's mind is trapped in a complex duality of feelings: one side her is telling her to embrace her new life as an independent woman , but the other side reminds her that her husband is dead and this is not a way to react to tragic news like this one. However, it is clear in the text that her joy of finally being free exceeds her mourning.


PART B. DEVELOPMENT QUESTION

While the story depicted by Kate Chopin in The Story of an Hour is impregnated with sorrowness, one can still feel a lot of social critisicm in the unfolding of the events. In the text that follows, we will see that the principal character, Louise, is an archetype of the women's place in the society of that time.

Mourning, depression, powerlessness – those are all emotions that can be listed as responses to hearing about a cherished one’s death. However, Louise’s husband’s death does not arise these feelings in her mind. Of course, the woman cannot escape the sudden sadness to run through her soul and body at first, but somehow she manages to make it stop its course. Being alone in her bedroom and looking at the new life emerging from her window, Louise realizes that all the negative aspects of her widowhood are less important that what she can gain from this experience. She now has power over her life; her husband will not be able to control her destiny from the skies. As it is said in the text : "There would be no powerful will bending hers in that blind persistence with which men and women believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow-creature." By this, the author is trying to tell us that marriage or anything type of relationship should not swallow and make you forget about your own self, like it happened to Louise and thousands of women all around the globe. I believe that the author used a quite ironic ending to provide further proof that you should not wait to long to regain your identity. When Louise dies after seeing her husband, the physicians think that it is the joy created by that event that killed her. However, the reader knows that it is probably caused by the realization that she will never be free. The author is sending a message to all women to stop percieving themselves the way people want them to be (a perfect and obedient wife in this case), but to control our selfhood.

In conclusion, The Story of an Hour is a social critisicm that denounces inequality, sexism and the loss of our identity is the process. While still being of actuality, even a century later, we can say that things have progress since 1894. We now marry out of love and do not feel as confined as Louise in our relationships, but there is still inequality between the sexes. When will we reach total equality in our society and is it even possible?

Word count: 431

Cat on a Tin Roof

1. Where and when does the story take place?

The story takes place in Mississippi in the Fifties.

2. Who are the characters?

Brick and Maggie

3. What is their relationship?

They are husband and wife.

4. What is the mood of the scene?

There is a lot of tension in the scene: between Brick and Maggie, but between Brick and his dad.

5. What and whom are they talking about?

They are talking about Big Daddy, Brick's father, and how he isn't sick. Maggie is also insisting that Brick comes down to the party.


Context: Write short answers.

What kind of family did Tennessee Williams (TW) have? His family was dysfunctional. His father was a drunkard and a gambler, while his sister was schizophrenic.

Where does his first name come from? He is nicknamed Tennesse by a college friend.

What is the Pulitzer Prize? It is the top American award, worth $5,000, for journalism and literature, including plays, novels, poetry and short stories.

How was the original play changed for both Broadway and the cinema? The Broadway director changed Act III for a better resolution; the movie director took out references to Brick's homosexuality.

How did TW die?

What was the new American drama that TW represented?


Plot Overview: Put the events in the correct order.

Maggie confesses to making love with Skipper. _____

The family gets together with Mama and talks of Big Daddy’s cancer._____

Big Daddy asks Brick about his drinking problem. _____

Maggie says the Brick’s brother and wife are plotting to take all the inheritance. _____

Maggie announces that she’s pregnant. _____

Maggie talks about Brick and Skipper’s love for each other. _____

We learn that Brick injured his ankle. _____

Big Daddy enters the room. _____

Brick says that the relationship with Skipper was pure. _____


Character List: Write down all the adjectives used to describe each character. Find the definition of the words you don’t know.

Margaret:

Brick:

Big Daddy:

Big Mama:

Mae:

Gooper:

Reverend Tucker:

Doctor Baugh:

The children:


Analysis of Major Characters:

Why is Maggie the most interesting character?

What does Brick’s injury represent?

Why does Maggie call Big Daddy a “redneck’?

What does Mama desperately want?


Themes, Motifs, and Symbols:

What was American society’s view of homosexuality at the time?

What are the two “lies” in the play?

What does the image of the “cat” represent?

What is Big Daddy’s narcissistic love for Brick?

What do the children represent?

Symbols:What do these three things symbolize?

- Bed

- Console

- Crutch


Quiz

1. What is Gooper's occupation?
(A) He is a planter
(B) He is a defense attorney
(C) He is a corporate lawyer
(D) He is a sports annoucer

2. What is the name of Skipper and Brick's pro football team?
(A) The Dixie Chicks
(B) The Dixie Stars
(C) The Dixie Stripes
(D) The Dixie Cups

3. What happened to Big Daddy in Morocco?
(A) He was propositioned by a rent-boy
(B) He was fed to a man-eating plant
(C) He was eaten alive by a mob of street children
(D) He was propositioned by a child prostitute

4. What body part do Mae's children apparently lack?
(A) Chins
(B) Eyes
(C) Necks
(D) Legs

5. What did Maggie buy Big Daddy for his birthday?
(A) A clock
(B) A chandelier
(C) A tie
(D) A robe

6. Who is described as a cat at some point in the play?
(A) Maggie
(B) Mae
(C) Brick
(D) All of the above

7. Daddy believes that he suffers from which of the following?
(A) A ruptured spleen
(B) A spastic colon
(C) Appendicitis
(D) Liver failure

8. What is the ostensible object of Brick's disgust?
(A) Mendacity
(B) Time
(C) Women
(D) Children

9. Where did Maggie and Brick go to school?
(A) Emory
(B) Old Miss
(C) Duke
(D) Notre Dame

10. How old is Big Daddy?
(A) Seventy-five
(B) Fifty-five
(C) Seventy
(D) Sixty-five

11. Who was a cotton carnival queen?
(A) Maggie
(B) Big Mama
(C) Miss Sally
(D) Mae

12. What do the children sing to Big Daddy?
(A) Skinamarinka-dinka-dink
(B) My Heart Belongs to Daddy
(C) For He's a Jolly Good Fellow
(D) Yesterday Once More

13. What is Big Daddy's trademark word?
(A) Goddamn
(B) Shoot
(C) Darn
(D) Crap

14. What is Big Mama's name?
(A) Polly
(B) Cornelia
(C) Sally
(D) Ida

15. What were the names of the plantation's previous owners?
(A) Straw and Othello
(B) Straw and Ochello
(C) Ochello and Sawyer
(D) Othello and Sawyer

16. How many official versions of Cat are in circulation?
(A) Two
(B) Three
(C) Four
(D) One

17. Who directed the premiere of Cat?
(A) Burl Ives
(B) Richard Brooks
(C) Elia Kazan
(D) Madeleine Sherwood

18. When did Brick start drinking?
(A) When Skipper died
(B) When Maggie slept with Skipper
(C) When he injured his back
(D) When Big Daddy got sick

19. Who confronted Skipper on his love for Brick?
(A) Brick
(B) Big Daddy
(C) Gooper
(D) Maggie

20. Who revealed this love to Brick?
(A) Maggie
(B) Big Daddy
(C) Skipper
(D) Mae

21. How does Maggie get Brick to sleep with her?
(A) Big Mama convinces Brick to impregnate her
(B) Big Daddy commands Brick to do so
(C) She locks up his liquor
(D) She tricks him into thinking she is Skipper

22. Who tells Big Daddy that he is dying?
(A) Gooper
(B) Big Mama
(C) Brick
(D) Maggie

23.Who does Big Mama jostle in her lap?
(A) Big Daddy
(B) Mae
(C) Doctor Baugh
(D) Reverend Tooker

24. Who keeps calling from Memphis?
(A) Cornelia
(B) Sally
(C) Gladys
(D) Dixie

25. Who sleeps next to Maggie and Brick's room?
(A) Big Daddy and Big Mama
(B) Mae and Gooper
(C) Mae and Gooper's children
(D) The servants