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MINISTERIAL EXAMINATION OF COLLEGE ENGLISH
LANGUAGE OF INSTRUCTION AND LITERATURE

WRITING GUIDELINES

9 August 2000


Write a 750-word essay which explores a main idea in one of the three readings. Your essay should include an interpretation of the reading and some discussion of the ways in which the author develops his/her ideas.



READING 1

Identify a main idea in Abbey's essay and structure your essay around a thesis statement which expresses your point of view about Abbey's account of his experience. Be sure to make appropriate references to his text and to comment on the techniques and devices* he uses to support his position.

Text :  “The Canyon” by Edward Abbey

Reference : 

Abbey, Edward. “The Canyon.” In Writing from Life: Collecting and Connecting, edited by Phyllis Ballata, 196-199. Mountain View, CA: Mayfield Publishing Company, 1997.


READING 2

Identify a main idea in Gup's essay and structure your essay around a thesis statement which expresses your point of view about Gup's approach to his idea. Be sure to make appropriate references to his text and to comment on the techniques and devices* he uses to support his position.

Text :  “The End of Serendipity” by Ted Gup

Reference : 

Gup, Ted. “The End of Serendipity.” In The Blair Reader, 3rd ed., edited by Stephen R. Mandell and Laurie G. Kirszner, 567-571. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1999.


READING 3

Identify a main idea in Wolff's short story and structure your essay around a thesis statement which expresses your point of view about Wolff's story. Be sure to make appropriate references to the reading and to comment on his use of techniques and devices.*

Text :  “Powder” by Tobias Wolff

Reference : 

Wolff, Tobias. “Powder.” In The Night in Question, 33-37. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1996.


* 

Techniques and devices you may wish to consider include the following: narration, description, dialogue, analogy, example, contrast, setting, comparison, persona, character, irony, imagery, simile, metaphor, repetition, and level of language. You are probably familiar with others as well.


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