Assignment 16:
MID-COURSE EXAMINATION

Approach this exam as a practice session for the final exam you will eventually write. To prepare, review your notes and prior 15 assignments, and re-read any texts on which you feel less prepared. Then, set aside a 60-minute period for writing. Use your text, if needed.

1. Identification (15 minutes)

 Identify four of the following seven characters, events, or passages from our readings thus far, by giving the author's name and the title of the work in which it appears. Then, in a well-written paragraph, discuss the significance of each item.

  1. Governor Keith.

  2. "The God that holds you over the pit of hell, much as one holds a spider, or some loathsome insect over a fire, abhors you."

  3. The trial of Martha Carrier.

  4. The Pequot War.

  5. "I am obnoxious to each carping tongue / Who says my hand a needle better fits."

  6. A City upon a Hill.

  7. "Lord, Can a Crumb of Dust the Earth outweigh, / Outmatch all mountains, nay, the Crystal sky?"

2. Brief Response Questions (15 minutes)

 In several well written paragraphs, respond to one of these two questions:

  1. What are the main ingredients of the American, this "new made man," as defined by Crevecoeur and Franklin?

  2. How does the view of Nature, in Bradford's Of Plymouth Plantation, contrast with that of Bradstreet, in "Contemplations"?

3. Short Essay (30 minutes)

 In a well written short essay, respond--using any of the texts we've read--to the following topic:

  1. The American Revolution was commonly understood as a throwing off of English patriarchal authority. But how was that revolt against the symbolic parent anticipated in the work of any three American writers, from Bradford on? Discuss.

CLICK HERE TO SUBMIT ASSIGNMENT
CONTENTS | DESCRIPTION | GUIDELINES | TIMELINE | ASSIGNMENTS | INDEPENDENT STUDY PROGRAM