English 104A
Teaching Associate: Patrick Mooney, M.A.
Spring 2012
These questions will not, themselves, appear on the final exam, but are similar to questions that will (they've been pulled off of my list of potential questions for one reason or another, but are similar to the options still on the list). Along with the questions, I provide a set of sample answers at varying point levels so that you can see how different types of responses will be scored.
This is an eight-point answer:
"Ted" Babbitt is the son of George Babbitt, the protagonist of Sinclair Lewis's novel Babbitt. At the end of the novel, when George has abandoned his rebellion and been re-accepted into Zenith society, he places his hopes for a better future in Ted, taking pleasure in Ted's ability to pursue what he really wants out of life instead of being bound by social conformity.
There are many other possible eight-point answers. Note that the answer, though not composed in flawlessly brilliant prose, contains several pertinent observations, all of which are correct and point to ways in which the term is significant to broader concerns.
Note that you need to explicitly mention the title of the work and the author's name in order to receive points for these, even if you think that it's obvious from the context. Not explicitly saying it means you don't get the points for doing so.
This is a six-point answer:
Theodore Roosevelt Babbitt is George Babbitt's son in Sinclair Lewis's novel Babbitt.
This is a four-point answer:
Harry Sinclair Lewis Babbitt
Note that you can get half credit just by naming the author and title. If you are trying to pick up points, this is one way to do so.
This is a two-point answer:
Babbitt
This is a zero-point answer:
Theodore Roosevelt Babbitt is Lord Voldemort's personal trainer.
This is an eight-point answer:
This is a pair of terms for discussing how words (and other signs) operate. Generally, we assume that a signifier, such as a word, indicates some other thing, a "signified." Modern versions of this theory began with Ferdinand de Saussure's Course in General Linguistics. It has broad applications for many areas of twentieth-century thought.
There are many other possible eight-point answers. Note that the prose is clunky and repetitive, and there are several ways in which the writer could be more specific, but the writer has indicated several important relevant concepts, some specifically, in a way that is factually correct in all particulars.
This is a six-point answer:
This is a theory that talks about how words point to objects in the outside world. There are many complicated ways in which it was developed in the twentieth century. It is associated with Ferdinand de Saussure.
The terminology is less specific, but there is a fair definition in there. The writer also gestures toward at least some understanding of the broader implications, and provides a name.
This is a four-point answer:
This is how words work. It was a theory published posthumously by a Swiss guy.
This is a two-point answer:
Saussure
This is a zero-point answer:
"Signifier/Signified" was a flavor of ultra-hipster ice cream test-marketed by Ben & Jerry's in the states of Vermont and Nevada. After a six-month trial, the project was abandoned when a Ukrainian cinnamon wholesaler abruptly declared bankruptcy, preventing Britain's Plumtree Co. from continuing to manufacture their famous Plumtree's Potted Meat product -- without which the ice cream was incomplete. Existing stocks of Signifier/Signified were destroyed nationwide on July 3, 2007.
And still he missed it, even set — sitting right there in his own office and actively watching Flem rid Jefferson of Montgomery Ward. And still I couldn’t tell him.
This is a four-point answer:
This is Ratliff speaking in William Faulkner's novel The Town. This quote is the entirety of chapter 11.
There are many other possible four-point answers, but this is one way to do it. You need to provide the name of the author, the name of the text in which the quote occurs, who is speaking, and some relevant, insightful fact that indicates some important aspect of what is significant about the quote. (There are many things that are more insightful than knowing that the quote is the entirety of chapter eleven, but this is a very specific piece of knowledge to have, so I'll reward it.)
You should be able to identify Ratliff as the speaker based on his diction. Any quote that you see on the final should have an identifiable speaker for one reason or another: this may be because the character's diction is identifiable, or because it describes a certain character's experience, or for some other reason. You should be aware that sometimes the person speaking may just be a novel's narrator or a poem's speaker, and consider this possibility when making this determination.
This is a two-point answer:
This is in The Town. It is about how Gavin misses why Flem sent his cousin to jail.
No author or speaker, but the title is there, and there's an observation that demonstrates familiarity with the text and how the quote is relevant, even if it is phrased vaguely.
This is a zero-point answer:
This is Mick Kelly talking to John Singer in
i sing of Olaf, glad and big.
Loneliness, far from being a rare and curious circumstance, is and always has been the central and inevitable experience of every man.
This is a four-point answer:
This is the editor's introduction to book four of Thomas Wolfe's You Can't Go Home Again, entitled "The Quest of the Fair Medusa." This book describes George Webber's four years living in Brooklyn while he writes.
Again, this is not perfect, but provides more than enough information to pick up all the points. There are many other ways to write a four-point answer to this question.
This is a two-point answer:
This is from Thomas Wolfe. It is about how George realizes that an author must also be an ordinary man.
Phrased vaguely, but indicates some familiarity with the text and the quote's role in the plot.
This is a zero-point answer:
This is from Carson McCullers's The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter.