Paper+Two+Sample+Questions

NOVELS and SHORT STORY


 * “Every work of fiction needs an element of ‘good old-fashioned storytelling’.” With reference to ** at least two ** works you have studied, show how different writers have made use of the techniques of storytelling and to what effect.
 * Writers must usually provide reasons for how characters behave, what they say, and their decisions. By what means, and how effectively, have both obvious and/or secret motivations been made convincing in ** at least two ** works you have studied?
 * In what ways and for what reasons do the works of prose fiction you have studied seek to represent thought or interior consciousness? In your answer you should refer to ** at least two ** of the works you have studied.
 * “Fiction is an essentially rhetorical art – that is to say the novelist or short-story writer persuades us to share a certain view of the world for the duration of the reading experience.” To what extent do you agree with this statement? In your answer you should refer to ** at least two ** of the works in your study.

GENERAL


 * Sometimes literary works proceed in slow and measured ways and sometimes their pace is accelerated, almost leaving the reader puzzled or frustrated. How have ** at least two ** writers in your study used pace to produce interesting effects in their works?
 * Sometimes works of literature succeed because they present vivid portraits of interdependence, whether it be between people and places, or with other people or the natural world. In what ways have ** at least two ** works you have studied portrayed such interdependence?
 * “Any literary work that aspires to the condition of art must forget politics.” Deciding what is meant by this statement, consider how well it does or does not measure up as a description of works by ** at least two ** writers you have studied.
 * Myths defined in various ways enliven works of their own era and sometimes appear in some form in works written much later. In the works of ** at least two ** writers you have studied, explore the use and the impact of myths and mythmaking.
 * Authors are aware of the power of their works to shock the reader. Referring to ** at least two ** of the works in your study, explore some of the methods they have employed to do this.
 * In what ways and to what effects do ** at least two ** of the works you have studied make use of one or more aspects of the natural world as a significant motif?
 * Texts frequently present two (or more) realities, which are often very different. Referring to ** at least two ** of the works you have studied, show to what extent and in what ways writers have made use of the interest and tension this creates.
 * “A writer is always being asked ‘For whom do you write?’.” Discuss the author’s sense of his or her audience in ** at least two ** of the works you have studied.