Exam questions

PART A: Essay (60 marks)

Two of these three questions will appear on the final exam. You will be asked to write one essay that fully answers one of those two questions.

1) In the Skin of a Lion and Volkswagen Blues are full of intertextual references. Define intertextuality and look at several of the ways in which intertextuality functions in both novels.

2) What is literary theory? Why is it important for students of literature to learn about theory? Using In the Skin of a Lion as an example, discuss some of the ways in which theory can help us to understand Ondaatje’s novel more fully.

3) Michael Ondaatje’s In the Skin of a Lion and Jacques Poulin’s Volkswagen Blues are frequently referred to as postmodern novels. After defining literary postmodernism by identifying some of its most important characteristics, pinpoint and describe in detail one way in which each of these novels is decidedly postmodern.

HERE'S WHAT THE QUESTION FOR PART B WILL LOOK LIKE.

PART B: Passage identification and discussion (40 marks)

CHOOSE FOUR OF THE FOLLOWING SEVEN PASSAGES AND IDENTIFY THE FOLLOWING:

• The title and author of the text from which the passage is taken (1 mark)
• The significance of this passage. Questions you will want to address in your answer include: What do we learn from this passage? How does this passage connect with the rest of the text from which it is taken? What is important about this text? How does this passage tie into other ideas or theories we’ve seen in any of the other texts we’ve looked at in the course? What else do you notice about this passage? (9 marks)

FOR PART B, ANSWER ONLY IN COMPLETE SENTENCES AND PUT YOUR ANSWER IN PARAGRAPH FORM:

Discussion Question: Questions about the final?

This will be a great place to discuss the final exam if you have any questions. If you have a question, you can be certain that other people have the same question and will be glad you asked it here.