Final Exam Essay

Whenever I read a good book, I feel like I’m spying on someone else as they do life—casually observing their activities, vicariously experiencing their triumphs, failures, joys, sorrows, friendships and relationships. And when I finish a really good book, I’m often almost sad as I become attached to the characters in the books. I hope that you had at least one experience like that through reading the literature that we’ve experienced together in class. All of the pieces were selected carefully as I had these questions in mind for us to explore:

What can literature tell us about the human experience? In other words, how does literature explore common experiences of every day people and how does this exploration affect the reader?

Which came first—the literature or the society/community in which it is set? In other words, what relationship do you think literature and the community or society to which the author belongs have? Does the literature grow from the society? Or is it unaffected by society? If Faulkner grew up in Maine, would he still write the same kinds of stories? If O’Connor was a native Californian, would she still write about the same subjects? If Twain were from Florida and had never traveled or left the area, would his writing change in any way?

There is an old adage that good authors write what they know. In other words, their literature grows out of their own life experiences. Do you agree or disagree with this position?

I think that if you think about the class and the activities we have done, you would agree that it has been organized around exploring these three questions. So I ask you, one more time before we part company, what do you think?

So here’s the actual assignment for your final exam: you have to select one of the questions—the one that you instantly have an answer to, can think of the most examples of, etc—and write a well-developed essay which cites specific examples from the literature that we have read in support of your position. I do not want you to do any more outside research. I want you to rely on your own opinion and what you have learned through your research through the class. Of course, because you will be providing specific examples from the texts, and possibly from other sources, you will need a works cited page (don’t forget our friend http://citationmachine.net/) Of course you could always cut and paste citations from previous works cited pages also.

Happy writing—

Mrs. M

Due: Your Final Exam Essay is due Monday, December 17 by 10:30 am. You may not submit your essay via email.