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MINISTERIAL EXAMINATION OF COLLEGE ENGLISH
LANGUAGE OF INSTRUCTION AND LITERATURE

WRITING GUIDELINES

18 May 2005


The task: Write a 750-word essay that 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. Make sure that your essay does more than simply summarize the reading; make sure, as well, that you write the required number of words.



READING 1: A short story

Identify a main idea in Carter's short story and structure your essay around a thesis statement that expresses your interpretation of her story. Make appropriate references to the reading and be sure to comment on her use of techniques and devices.*

Text :  “Leaving the Iron Lung” by Anne Laurel Carter

Reference : 

Carter, Anne Laurel. “Leaving the Iron Lung.” No Missing Parts. Calgary: Red Deer Press, 2002. 88-99.


READING 2: An essay

Identify a main idea in Pierson's text and structure your essay around a thesis statement that expresses your response to he issues he raises. Make appropriate references to his text and comment on his use of techniques and devices.*

Text :  “War is not an excuse for savagery” by Frank Pierson

Reference : 

Pierson, Frank. “War is not an excuse for savagery.” The Montreal Gazette 28 Nov. 2004: D8.


READING 3: An essay

Identify a main idea in Steinem's text and structure your essay around a thesis statement that expresses your understanding of her argument. Make appropriate references to her essay, and comment on her use of techniques and devices.*

Text :  “The Politics of Muscle” by Gloria Steinem

Reference : 

Steinem, Gloria. “The Politics of Muscle.” Reader's Choice. 3rd Canadian ed. Ed. K. Flachmann, M. Flachmann and A. MacLennan. Scarborough: Prentice Hall, 2000. 322-327.


* 

Techniques and devices may include the following: allusion, analogy, argumentation, cause and effect, characterization, comparison, contrast, description, dialogue, diction, enumeration, example, imagery, irony, level of language, metaphor, narration, narrative point of view, repetition, rhetorical questions, setting, symbolism, and tone. You may be familiar with others as well.


© Gouvernement du Québec, 2009