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MINISTERIAL EXAMINATION OF COLLEGE ENGLISH
LANGUAGE OF INSTRUCTION AND LITERATURE

WRITING GUIDELINES

8 August 2001


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 discussion of the ways in which the author develops his/her ideas.



READING 1

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

Text :  “Is Love an Art?” by Erich Fromm

Reference : 

FROMM, Erich. “Is Love an Art?” Introduction to The Art of Living. New York: Harper & Row, 1956.


READING 2

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

Text :  “If You Drop a Stone . . .” by Hugh MacLennan

Reference : 

MACLENNAN, Hugh. “If You Drop a Stone …” In The Harbrace Reader for Canadians, edited by J. Buckley, 201-205. Toronto: Harcourt, 2001.


READING 3

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

Text :  “A Blizzard Under Blue Sky” by Pam Houston

Reference : 

HOUSTON, Pam. “A Blizzard Under Blue Sky.” In Literature and the Environment, edited by L. Anderson, S. Slovic, and J. O'Grady, 184-187. New York: Longman, 1999.


* 

Techniques and devices may include the following: narration, description, dialogue, analogy, example, contrast, setting, comparison, characterization, irony, tone, symbolism, imagery, simile, metaphor, repetition, diction, and level of language. You may be familiar with others as well.


© Gouvernement du Québec, 2009