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MINISTERIAL EXAMINATION OF COLLEGE ENGLISH
LANGUAGE OF INSTRUCTION AND LITERATURE

WRITING GUIDELINES

16 December 1998

READING 1

If you choose this essay to analyse, explore a central idea common to the three sections of LeGuin's text. Develop a thesis statement which expresses your own point of view about this essay and structure your response around your thesis. Include comments on how the techniques and devices* clarify and develop this idea.

Text :  “Winged: The Creatures on my Mind” by Ursula LeGuin

Reference : 

Ursula LeGuin. “Winged: The Creatures on my Mind.” In The Conscious Reader, 7th edition, edited by C. Shrodes et al. 560-563. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1998.


READING 2

What do you think is the main point of McMurtey's essay? Develop a thesis statement which expresses your own point of view about this short story and structure your response around your thesis. How does the author use of literary techniques and devices* to make his essay convincing?

Text :  “Smash Thy Neighbour” by John McMurtry

Reference : 

John McMurtry. “Smash Thy Neighbour.” In The Simon and Schuster Short Prose Reader, edited by R. Funk, S.X. Day and E. McMahan, 318-323. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1997.


READING 3

What do you think is one of Narayan's central themes in this short story? Develop a thesis statement which expresses your own point of view about this shoet story and structure your response around your thesis. What do you think is the significance of the story? How does the author's use of literary techniques and devices bring out the main themes?

Text :  “Forty-Five a Month” by R.K. Narayan

Reference : 

R.K. Narayan. “Forty-Five a Month.” In World Literature: An Anthology of Great Short Stories, Drama and Poetry, edited by D. Rosenberg, 538-543. Chicago: National Textbook Company, 1992.


* 

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.


© Gouvernement du Québec, 2009