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MINISTERIAL EXAMINATION OF COLLEGE ENGLISH
LANGUAGE OF INSTRUCTION AND LITERATURE

WRITING GUIDELINES

14 December 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 Baxter'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 :  “Hombre” by Joan Baxter

Reference : 

Baxter, Joan. “Hombre.” Strangers Are Like Children. Lawrencetown Beach, Nova Scotia: Pottersfield Press, 1996. 95-100.


READING 2: An essay

Identify a main idea in Bissoondath's autobiographical text and structure your essay around a thesis statement that expresses your response to his experience and argument. Make appropriate references to his text and be sure to comment on his use of techniques and devices.*

Text :  “Selling Illusions: The Cult of Multiculturalism in Canada” by Neil Bissoondath

Reference : 

Bissoondath, Neil. “Selling Illusions: The Cult of Multiculturalism in Canada.” 75 Readings Plus. 1st Canadian ed. Eds. Santi V. Buscemi, Charlotte Smith, and Robert Wiznura. Toronto: McGraw Hill, 2002. 371-374.


READING 3: A short story

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

Text :  “Dark Girl” by Neale McDevitt

Reference : 

McDevitt, Neale. “Dark Girl.” One Day Even Trevi Will Crumble. Toronto: Exile Editions, 2002. 141-147.


* 

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