Mid-term writing test

Part A. Short-answer questions. 40%

1. What is Louise Mallard’s opinion of marriage? Indicate the paragraph that suggests it?
Louise's opinion of marriage is a very negative one. I am pretty sure that she felt stuck and imprisoned while she was married to Brently. This I figured because after learning about her husband's death, Louise is relieved and realises that '' There will be no powerful will bending hers in that blind persistence in which men and women believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow-creature. '' She is also glad because she will finally be able to live for herself. (You can find this information in the 12th paragraph.)

2. Why does Louise Mallard suddenly stop crying? Indicate the place in the text?
After going up to her room alone and sitting in the comfy armchair in front of the window, Louise finally starts to realise that living without her husband will not be that bad. At that point, she had started thinking of the rest of her life without her husband and started feeling free of him, free to live her own life. Unfortunately, this new thought was so overwhelming that '' She did not stop to ask if it were or were not a monstruous joy that held her. '' (This information is related in the paragrpahs 10 to 12)

3. How does she feel about her future as a widow? Cite the line in the text, using just the first few words, then a series of dots …?
Louise feels her future as a widow will be quite nice since she will be free of her husband. She even says how she feels aloud, to herself ; ''free, free, free!''. '' There would be no one to live for during those coming years; she would live for herself, '' is what she thought.

7. Explain how Louise can feel joy and sadness at the same time?

At the end of the story when Louise sees her husband and realises he is not truly dead, she is happy to know the person she has lived with and been married to for so many years is alive. Her husband did not really die of a horrable train accident, which is great. Of course, Louise had already gotten so used to the idea of living alone for the rest of her life, that the sadness of not having that dream come true hurt her so much it killed her.

Part B. Development question. 60%

In Kate Chopin’s "The Story of an Hour," irony is used to great effect. Kate Chopin was a critic of some sort. For example, in this story, she criticizes marriage. Wikipedia says that "Kate Chopin experienced differentiated lifestyles throughout her time, which lent to her wide realm of societal understanding and analysis. " Therefore, criticizing marriage would make perfect sense, for it would simply be another understanding she had of society. Of course, most authors, while criticizing one of the many flaws of the society in which they live in, will use irony to send a more subtle message. Authors, like Chopin, usually do not look to offend anybody in particular. They simply want to make as many people as possible understand how horrible or hypocritical some situations are. In this case, the horrible situation would be marriage between two people no longer in love or who never loved each other, which Chopin represents through the marriage of Brently and Louise Mallard.

Right from the beginning of the story, something is not quite right between the Mallard couple when Chopin says that Louise did not take the news of her husband’s death the way most wives do: "with a paralyzed inability to accept its significance. " Instead, " She wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment, in her sister's arms...''
Afterwards, poor Louise starts to see the bright side of things. She realizes that maybe her life won’t be that bad after all. She might even be happier than she was while she was still married to a live man. She finally feels free and knows she can live for herself and that nothing will hold her back. Unfortunately, a part of the irony in the Chopin’s story, is that when Louise is finally getting used to the idea of being a widow and living alone, her husband comes back and causes her such a surprise that she dies.

A larger view of the irony in the story goes from the start all the way to the end. At first. we learn that Louise Mallard has a heart disease; therefore, her sister Josephine and her friend Richards are so very careful when telling her the bad news about her deceased husband. They want to avoid any dangerous health problems that may occur. It is sad, yet ironic to learn that no matter how hard they tried to break such news to her in a soft and calm manner, Louise Mallard died that day, of a heart attack.

Basically, Kate Chopin who must be in love with everything ironic, made sure that the irony in the story does not end until the very last word.

(442 words)

Poetry analysis

Figures of speech

Simile: His hair is dark as the hyacinth blossom.

Metaphor: Flame-coloured are his wings

Personnification: The oaktree shook its head.

Alliteration (repetition of initial conssonants) : She sat silently. / 'tis true, 'tis true

Assonance (repetition of voyel sounds) : As the shadow of the rose.

Consonance (repetition of consonants within words) : __________________________



Other forms :

Apostrophe = Talking directly to a person (dead or alive).
Hyperbole = Exaggeration.
Oxymoron = Contrasting elements. example: Sounds of Silence




Symbolism, Imagery (senses like hearing, seeing, smelling, touching, tasting) , Level of Language (from slang to informal to formal), Irony, Pun.

Combining sentences

Write 2 sentences of each sentence pattern (CC and CA) :

1.
CA . She went to bed early; however, it took hours for her to fall asleep.
CC. She went to bed early, but it took hours for her to fall asleep.

2.
CC. She wants to lose weight, so she has gone on a strict diet.
CA. She wants to lose weight; therefore, she has gone on a strict diet.

3.
CC. The night air was very still, and a light rain had begun to fall.
CA. The night air was very still; moreover, a light rain had begun to fall.

4.
CC. Her friend did her best to learn to cook, but nothing she prepared came out right.
CA. Her friend did her best to learn to cook; however, nothing she prepared came out right.

5.
CC. Our team learned that the train would be very late, so we decided to take the plane.
CA. Our team learned that the train would be very late; therefore, we decided to take the plane.

6.
CC. The girl can sing very well, and she is also a very talented actess.
CA. The girl can sing very well; moreover, she is also a very talented actress.

7.
CC. Their basement was damaged by the flood, and they can't afford to fix it now.
CA. Their basement was damaged by the flood; moreover, they can't afford to fix it now.

8.
CC. My boss wants to live like a millionaire, so he bought an expensive house in an exclusive area.
CA. My boss wants to live like a millionaire; therefore, he bought an expensive house in an exclusive area.

9.
CC. Their army lost few battles, but they kept on fighting.
CA. Their army lost few battles; however, they kept on fighting.

10.
CC. Capital punishment is often applied unfairly, and a mistake is sometimes also made
CA. Capital punishment is often applied unfairly; furthermore, a mistake is sometimes also made.

11.
CC. The boy has been absent from class many times, so the principal called him to his office for an explanation.
CA. The boy has been absent from class many times; therefore, the principal called him to his office for an explanation.

The Nightingale and the Rose

Follow up

1- Find symbols (symbolic) of the student, the girl, the nightingale and the oaktrees.

Symbol = symbolic of

(Red) Rose = (Unrequited) love (unrequited love = love that becomes rejected)
Nightingale = Devotion, virtue
Student = Naïveté
Oaktree = Wisdom
Girl = Materialism

2- Find examples of similes, metaphors, personification, alliteration, assonance and consonance.

"Sorrow has set her seal upon his brow" : metaphor

"Passion has made his lace like pale ivory" is a simile.

The nightingale, the oaktrees and the butterflies that can speak are all personifications.

3- Write 2 paragraphs of your interpretation (message, bla bla bla) (250 words)

I recently learned that the famous write Oscar Wilde, after spending two years in jail, did not get to see his two sons much. Shortly after this information settled in my mind, Mister Bonkowski asked me the following question: "Did you know that Oscar Wilde dedicated The Nightingale and the Rose to his two sons?" As a matter of fact, I did not know that. I was glad my teacher told me this pertinent piece of information because by putting all of the knowledge I now had of Oscar Wilde together, I started wondering about Wilde's intentions in writing such a story. Did he want his kids to learn a life lesson out of The Nightingale and the Rose? Did he want to transmit personal information through it? Did he want to tell them that life was full of deceptions? Or on the contrary, did he want to tell them that life was full of loving people just like the Nightingale who are willing to help in time of need? After asking myself all these questions, I came up with a theory.

We knew that Oscar Wilde was in fact quite different from everyone else. He was also gay or bisexual and he wasn't very shy in letting people know. Unfortunately for him, he did not live in the year 2009. When he was out and about, being anything other than a heterosexual was a very bad thing. No matter how hard he tried to stand out and be liked by others, people despised him. When he was a student, other students would trash his room just for fun, just because Wilde was "weird". Therefore, my theory is that, just like the student in his story, Wilde must have wanted to be with a boy or a girl at one point in his life and been rejected. Maybe while writing his story, he hoped his sons would get a glimpse of his life. Maybe he was trying to teach them that love was worthless and that books and studying were much better. But in reality, who knows?

An occurence at Owl Creek

images :

-Beating of the watch is compared to ''stroke of a blacksmith's hammer upon an anvil''.

-Sand is compared to ''diamonds and emeralds''.

-'' They hurt his ear like the thrust of a knife.'' (simile)

-'' The water roared in his ear in his ear like the voice of Niagara '' (falls). (simile)

- The ''dancing driftwood'' caught his eye (metaphor)

- He found himself whirling around - spinning like a top. (simile)



10 words :

Sentence Patterns

Background information

IC = Independent Clause = subject + verb + direct object = complete idea
example : CSL has 3200 students.

DC = Dependent Clause = subject +verb + usually contains an SC = incomplet idea

M = Modifier
example : CSL has 3200 (talented) students.

PP = Prepositional Phrase (no verb)
example : CSL has 3200 talented students (in many programs).

DO = Direct Object

IO= Indirect Object

SC = Subordinating Conjuction
example : because, while, after, until, etc.

CC = Coordination Conjuction
ex: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so, etc.

CA = Coordinating Adverbs
ex : hence, therefore, thus, moreover, nevertheless, likewise, consequently, accordingly, furthermore, etc.

RP = Relative Pronoun
example : CSL has 3200 talented students in many programs, (which are very interesting).
sub verb M DO ---- PP -------------------- ---RP---- -------- DC ---------------------



Sentece Pattern number 1 : IC ; IC.
, comma
: colon
; semi-colon
Ex : Hard work is only one side of the equation ; talent is the other.
Ex2: Some people dream of being something ; others stay awake and are.
Ex3 : Some people get away with their crimes ; others don't.
Ex4 : Half the class would tell the boy to listen to the princess ; the other half would not.
Ex5 : Some people think they are sane ; others would disagree.
Ex6: Ceasar, try on this toga ; it seems be your size.


Sentence Pattern 1a : IC ; CA , IC.
Ex: The narrator in the story, '' The Tell-Tale Heart'', claimed he was sane ; however, he was really nuts.
Ex2: The narrator thought the old man's eye was evil ; nevertheless, it was all in his head.
Ex3: The king in the story, '' The Lady or the Tiger? '' , was known to be cruel and barbaric ; nevertheless, he let the criminals choose their own fate.
Ex4: Frank Stockton had one leg shorter than the other ; therefore, he took up writing to compensate.

Sentence Pattern 1b : IC ; IC, CC IC.
Ex: Poe was a great writer ; he influenced many others, and he was immensely admired.
Ex2 : The princess was semi-barbaric ; she was manipulative and cunning, but she could not have her way.

Sentence pattern 2 : IC : IC ---> general statement to specific statement
Ex : Darwin's origin of species states a harsh truth : only the fittest survive.
Ex2: The empty coffin in the crypt had a single horrifying meaning : Dracula had awoken to search for fresh blood.
Ex3 : Peyton's fate was decided : he was about to be hanged.
Ex4: The story was quite ironic : Ambierce, a northern soldier, took a southern view.

Sentece pattern 3: A, B, C for emphasis or A,B and C or A and B and C ---> using a series wihtout a conjuction
Ex: With passion, determination, purpose, Lincoln fought slavery.
Ex2: Being a family man, being rich, being happy, he still gave up his life.
Ex3: Peyton closed his eyes, though of his wife, felt pain.

Sentence pattern 4: An introductory series of appositives, using a dash ( - ) and a summarizing subject (these, those, which, what, each, such, someone, all, etc.)
Ex: '' The Tell-Tale Heart, '' '' The Nightingale and the Rose, '' '' Hills like White Elephants'' - each of these has some form of internal or psychological conflict.



Using quotes...

...with a complete idea (:)
Ex: Hemingway uses action to emphasize a character trait : '' The girl looked at the bead curtain ... ''

...with an incomplete idea (,)
Ex: In Hemingway's story, the girl said, '' They look like white elephants. ''

...with an incomplete quotation within a sentence
Ex: Hemingway's story takes place at a railway station '' between two lines of rails in the sun. ''

...within a quote
Ex: Hemingway wrote, '' 'They're lovely hills,' she said. 'They don't really look like white elephants.' ''

The Lady or the Tiger?

Thanks to the four students who did a quick research about The Lady or the Tiger, I learned that the author first started telling stories to his younger siblings to put them to sleep. Afterwards, in High School, he discovered his passion for writing in a short story contest that he won.
He did not start writing stories professionnaly right away though. He was a wood worker, he would carve and decorate word decorations. It's only when he had had enough of his job, that he decided to write the stories we know of his now.
FS was a busy writer while the romantic period was in bloom in the United States.


Advice for the lover : I would believe the princess's suggestion because I believe that love conquers all. She would probably much rather see her lover with another woman than dead and never see him again.


Vocabulary:

1-will : determintation
2-valour: courage
3-poetic justice: Virtue is rewarded. Evil is punished.
4-wails: lamentation, cries
5-mourners: people grieving.
6-dire: terrible
7-fate: destiny
8-fair: pretty (my fair lady) or just
9-choristers: singers
10-maidens: young women
11-the apple of his eye: somebody important
12-unsurpassed: the best, unequalled
13-startling: surprising
14-damsels: beautiful ladies
15-glances: looks quickly
16-mazes: labyrinths
17-fangs: sharp teeth
18-gnash: grind
19-shriek: loud scream
20-anguished: tormented, tortured

Learning Express Library

Course 1 :
Grammar Skills 3 : Practice with subjects, verbs and nouns

1. Interest:
At first, I figured this course (which has 5 different lessons) was going to be quite easy. When I realised the first lesson was about verb tenses and knowing that there are irregular verbs in the past participle I almost decided to take another course instead. Didn't we all learn and hear about irregular verbs all through High School? The second lesson was about active and passive verbs which is exactly like what we had seen in french class in grade 7, 8 or 9 ( I don't really remember). Fortunately, the course did become more interesting and difficult as I went on. After that, I'm pretty sure I learned something new per lesson.

2. What I learned:
There are many grammar rules I had never even heard of that I know now, thanks to this course. For example, I did not know that
'' if a singular and a plural noun or pronoun are joined by or, the pronoun agrees with the closest noun or pronoun it represents''.
This is an example of what the rule means:

Neither the soldiers nor the sergeant was sure of his location.
Neither the sergeant nor the soldiers were sure of their location.

(citation & example taken directly from the course Grammar skills 3 : Practice with subjects, verbs and nouns )

3. Difficulty:
Although I did not find such a notion difficult to understand, had I not read about it before hand, I would not have answered the questions following that information correctly because I did not know this rule even existed. It's the same thing for the rest of the course.
What I found strange though, is even if the course became more difficult, or more new to me the further I went, it ended with an activity about how to differenciate certain homonyms which, in my opinion, was the easiest part of the whole course.

4. My score:
At the end of this long course, I did not get a score. Instead, after each exercise, you could compare your answers to the right ones and learn if you had any wrong ones and why. This is just like when our teachers let us revise our exams after they have corrected them.

5. Course rating:
I would rate this course 9/10 because it is very useful. For each lesson, it explains which errors are most common in the english language and why and then helps you not make them by giving you simple tricks you probably would not have thought of yourself. Finally, you go through a certain amount of quizzes and questions to make sure you understand. I found that it was full of useful grammar rules I did not know and that not many people must know.





Course 2
Grammar skills 4 : Adjectives, Adverbs & Confusing Words

1. Interest:
This course was all about being able to tell the difference between adjectives and adverbs and knowing your homonyms (confusing words). I did not find this course very interesting. There was not much variety in it. Two thirds of the course was about homonyms. It was very well done, but it was repetitive and boring. Each ''confusing word'', was described with an example so you could understand the difference between the homonyms, and after a short list of words there were exercices to make sure you got the hang of it.

2. Difficulty:
The course was well done and easier to follow than the last one I did. Instead of long texts full of explanations, it was simply lists of words with their descriptions. Furthermore, I already knew most of the ''confusing words'' thanks to my grade 9 english teacher, this made the course much shorter and much easier than the last one. Of course, homonyms like ''seen'' and ''scene '' or the classic ''which'' and ''witch'' are words I have known, written and read for a while.

3. What I learned:
Other than homonyms, there was a part on how to tell the difference between adverbs and adjectives. In this part of the course, I learned that you have to place a word's modifier as close as possible to the word it modifies, otherwise, the phrase can mean something entirely different. For example, there was a sentence ressembling this one : Barking loudly, Mister Peterson walked his dog. This would mean that Mister Peterson was barking loudly as he was walking his dog. For the sentence to make more sense, it should be written like this : Mister Peterson walked his dog that was barking loudly. Or something like that.

4. My score:
In this course, just like in the first one I did, you do not get a score at the end. However, after every exercise you do, you get feedback and you learn if your answers were any good or not.

5. Course rating:
I would give this course 7.5/10.
It was very useful for those who have trouble with words that sound alike and their spelling but, as I've already mentionned, it lacked variety. Furthermore, some exercise questions were too cliché. For example : The confused (choose witch or which) did not know (chose witch or which) broom to pick for Halloween.

Tell Tale Heart Questions

1. Point of view :

Throughout this short story, we learn more and more about how disturbed the narrator is. The narrator is a man who, right from the start, mentions that his illness has made is hearing acute which is important to know to understand his actions, his POINT OF VIEW, and the end of the story. It's written in a first point of view and we do not know the main character's name.

2. Imagery:
Darkness
Sounds - Heartbeat, Drums, Time (clock ticking)

3. Metaphor :
The eye is compared to a vulture every single time the narrator talks about it.
Stone Dead (body)

4. Simile:
Black as Pitch
Heart beating like a drum.
" ... a single dim ray like the thread of a spider ..."

5. Personnification:

"Death in approching him had stalked with his black shadow before him and enveloped the victim. " This is like in movies where Death is a man dressed in a black robe with a big hood walking around, following those about to die...

6. Irony :
The narrator lets the reader know that he does not dislike the old man and he does find him kind, yet he kills him anyway because of his evil vulture-eye.
It is also ironic that the main character conceals the old man's body so perfectly that the police do not notice anything, yet he confesses his crime anyway.
Furthermore, he likes to mention time and time again that he's not mad, but he really is insane. How ironic is that?

7. Themes :
-A human being has a perverse, wicked side that can goad him or her into doing evil things with no apparent motive.
-Fear of discovery can bring about (out)...discovery.
-The evil within is worse than the evil or ugliness without.

Prefixes & examples :

Dis- Dissimulation
Im- Impossible
Fore- Foresight
De- Detect
Mid- Midnight
Un- Undid
Con- Conceal
Pre- Precautions
Intro- Introduced
Ex- Extent


Suffixes & examples :

-Less Motionless
-Able/ Ible Uncontrollable

Literary Elements

Plot (story line, dramatic structure, action) : numbers 2, 4, 5, 8, 11, 12, 13, 14, 21, 17
-Conflict can be internal or external
-Storyline includes Rising action, falling action, resolution, climax
-Flashback, Foreshadow
-Exposition

Setting (time, place, year, etc.) : numbers 2, 8, 9, 10

Characters (protagonist, angtagonist) : numbers 2, 3, 4, 6, 20, 22, 25
-Foil = minor character
-Round or flat character
-We get to know characters through their physical description, through dialogue and/or through the action of the story

Theme (meaning) : numbers 1, 2, 16, 19, 21, 26

Narration (point of view) : number 7
-The narrator can be present in the story (1st person) or omniscient.
-There can be multiple narrators, like when there are different point of views. Example : The movie Crash)

Style (diction, syntax) : numbers 6, 15, 18, 21, 23, 24
-Style includes Figurative language like metaphors and similes
-Satire, irony, the tone of a story and the mood are all part of the narrator's style.

4 speaking criteria :
1.Delivery - Loudness, eye contact, speed, pauses, natural, fluency, pronuciation
2.Content - Main point, development, examples, good intro (questions, facts, statistics). Structure (quotations, etc.)
3. Organisation - sequencers, transitional words.
4. Language - vocabulary, grammar, sentence variety.