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MINISTERIAL EXAMINATION OF COLLEGE ENGLISH
LANGUAGE OF INSTRUCTION AND LITERATURE

WRITING GUIDELINES

10 August 2005


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 Nowlan's short story and structure your essay around a thesis statement that expresses your interpretation of his story. Make appropriate references to the reading, and be sure to comment on his use of techniques and devices.*

Text :  “The Fall of a City” by Alden Nowlan

Reference :  Nowlan, Alden. “The Fall of a City.” Will Ye Let the Mummers In?. Toronto: Irwin, 1984. 1-7.


READING 2: An essay

Identify a main idea in Jaffer's autobiographical text and structure your essay around a thesis statement that expresses your interpretation of the issues she raises. Make appropriate references to her essay, and be sure to comment on her use of techniques and devices.*

Text :  “I Ain't Sitting Beside Her” by Shyrose Jaffer

Reference :  Jaffer, Shyrose. “I Ain't Sitting Beside Her.” Talking About Difference: Encounters in Culture, Language and Identity. Ed. Carl E James and Adrienne Shadd. Toronto: Between the Lines, 1994. 57-62.


READING 3: A short story

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

Text :  “Name Games” by Michael Dorris

Reference :  Dorris, Michael. “Name Games”. Literature Across Cultures. 2nd ed. Ed. Sheena Gillespie, Terezinha Fonseca, and Carol A. Sanger. Boston: Allyn, 1998. 353-356.


* 

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