(2) the Eight Skis That the Questions Aredesigned to Test

DOCUMENT RESUME TE 000 502 ED 022 748 By- Purves, Alan C. DESIGNING TIC BOARDS NEWLITERARRE ACHIEVEMENT TEST. Pub Date 68 Teachers of Note-6p.; Adapted from an address givenat the Annual Conventionof the National Council of English (Hilu. Hawaii. Nov.1967). Office. Box 592. Princeton. NewJersey Available from-College EntranceExamination Board. Publications Order 08540 (Subscription rate. $2.00 per year.Single copy. S0.50). Journal Cit -College Board Review; n67p16-20 Spring 1968 EDRS Price W -S025 HC Not Availablefrom EDRS. ENGLISH INSTRUCTION. Descriptors-CRITICAL READING. CRITICALTHINKING. *EDUCATIONAL TESTING. CRITICISM. LITERARY DISCRIMINATION.LITERARY GENRES. *LITERATURE. LII'ARY ANALYSIS. LITERARY TESTS. TEST CONSTRUCTION. LITERATURE APPRECIATION. MULTIPLECHOICE TESTS. *OBJECTIVE TESTING PROBLEMS Identifiers-*College Board Achievement Tests This article descriDes theproblems that the CollegeEntrance Examination Board's Committee of Review for theExaminations in Englishencountered in creating afair. achievement test which would meetfour objectives--to objective. hour-long literature that reading. his measure thebreadth of a student's reading.his understanding of response toliterature, and his critical slob.Sample multiple-choice questions onLouise Bogan's poem 'Medusa." ilustrate(1) the kinds of questionschosen by the Committee. (2) the eight skis that the questions aredesigned to test. (3) the reasonsfor choosing these types of questions.and (4) the patternof questioning which moves from testing sharpness of observation todepth of understanding.(S) U.S. 011111011111 Of MIEN. EDUCATION & MOAN OfIKE Of EDUCATION

DOS DOCUMENT HAS NEN IMPIODUCED EXACTLY AS INCEIVED FROM liff PERSON 01 01611111111011 011611111;...7., ItPOINTS Of VIEW 01 OPINIONS STATED DO NOT NECESSARILY IRPIESEks OFFICIAL OfFICE OF EDUCATION POSITION 01 POLICY. College Board Review SPRING 1968, NO. 67

News of the College Board, 3

Letters, 3 How can we make testing more relevant?, 5 by William W. Turnbull Upward Bound at Bowdoin: Who's teaching whom?, 11 by Daniel Levine and Herbert R. Courten Jr. Designing the Board's new literature Achievement Test, 16 by Man C. Purves Do most students need 'time out' between school and college?, 21 by Howell F. Nomer New role for the student aid officer: 'resourceful uncle', 24 by John W. Harris Quotes, 28

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.a-- -it., to' '4 ---Zr- 1--:.".:,....7" 1 Illustrations: Our Spring cover is by a .,11, .... - "t, '..f 1_1 ' g ,C4"... 4.1-011- '-' Ian Reid. Vincent Malta created 4!- 4 14' t ....t.. .44- V ... *A ? c,. . _. the frontispiece and illustrated the . -. .4 ....' r' : 0". , s articles beginning on pages 5 and 11. . 1 . , 4:-.PrC i- .. f .- t 11;4 ",'. . Stanley Wyatt illustrated those .!!... sP 2 q . ...-, s. . -.7:1 ... N -. :-4' P beginning on pages 16, 21, and 24. al % .:- e aw. . The cartron on page 14 is oft, -- a- -' .,.. .10 40 !i- - , - f ' Henry Martin's. ,...? lo - ; . i ). ' f - --: -- 1 - 01.8. II- r 4 0, s i ..., , in.! a. ; r a '.. 3 . ; N.1 4'.; 4 -. Id. mr Stra.4. 1

. fbr-, r BY ALAN C. PURYES "PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL BY MICROFICHE ONLY HAS N GR D BY TO ERIC 0 ORGANIZATIONS OPERATING UNDER AGREEKNTS WITH THE U. S. OFFICE OF EDUCATION. FURTHER REPRODUCTION OUTSIDE THE ERIC SYSTEM REQUIRES PERMISSION OF IHE COPYRIGHT OWNER." Designing the Board'snewliterature Achievement7est

To construct a nonessay literature test that measures both sharpness lems will be of use to the creator of of observation and depth of understanding, yet is still fair to classroom tests. The first objective, to measure the students of varied backgrounds, is less easy than you may have guessed. breadth of a student's reading, seems easiest,particularlywith multiple- This May, the College Board offered nary experiments had shown the com- choice questions. What could be sim- for the first time a one-hour, multiple- bined two-hour test to be neither pler than ; Duncan is Macbeth's (A) choice Achievement Test in English psychometrically nor administratively son; (B) brother; (c) king; (n) mur- literature. In effect, the new test is an feasible, but that the objective portions derer; (E) conqueror? Such a ques- outgrowth of the recommendations of of the literature section seemed usable tion can separate those who remember the Committee of Review for the Ex- as a one-hour test. With the approval the play from those who do not. It is aminations in English, appointed by of the Board's trustees, the first ad- unimpeachable. And when taken by it- Board President Pearson in 1964 to ministrations of the new test were self, it is unfair. review the Board tests in English in scheduled for this May and for twice Macbeth is the most-taught work in the light of the findings of the Com- next year. American high schoolsabout 70 permission on English and the testing In this article, one of the test's de- cent of them include it in their curric- needs for admissions and placement. signers details the "gripping saga" of ulums. But what about the other 30 A major recommendation of this com- how the literature committee* of the percent? When you go beyond Silas mittee was that the Board's English Committee on Examinations created Marner, Romeo and Juliet, Huckle- examinations should reflect the tripar- the new test: what objectives were con- berry Finn, and similar pedagogical tite naturelanguage, literature, and sidered, how they were evaluated, what bestsellers, you will find that not more compositionof most English curricu- kinds of questions were finally selected, than about 10 percent of the schools lums today. and why. assign any single title. Particular short Work on the test began in October stories and lyric poems are used by 1965, when Board members author- The literature committee was origi- even fewei schools. To give every stu- ized the Board's Committee on Exam- nally charged by the College Board's dent a fair shake, a test of literary inations to develop an experimental Committee of Review for the Examina- breadth should include at least 100 two-hour test of both English compo- tions in English with creating a test to questions, and even then the examiner sition and literature. The Committee meet four objectives: 1) to measure gains less an index of achievement reported in March 1967 that prelim& the breadth of a student's reading; 2) than of mere acquaintance. to measure his understanding in some The second objective, "to measure depth of works he has studied and understanding in depth" of works read; 3) to measure his response to studied by the student, poses a differ- literature, jointly affective and eval- ent sort of problem. Such a measure uative; and 4) to measure his ability requires an essay answer, because a set to use whatever critical skill he has on of multiple-choice questions cannot be texts unfamiliar to him. made up for every book a student These four objectives include most might have read, and a universal series of those listed in statements on second- of such questions is absurd. Essay ary school literature teaching. Omitted questions do exist in the Advanced Man C. Purves, a are the attitudinal and the broad, hu- former member of the test development manistic objectives which are long- division of Educational Testing Service, *Committee members were Laurence A. term goals rather than immediate Michel Jr., State University of New York at is now an associate professor of English rewards. Each of the four presents cer- Buffalo, chairman; Arthur A. MacConochie, at the University of Illinois. His article Norfolk Academy, Norfolk, Va.; Martin L is slightly adapted from his address be- tain measurement problems, particu- Parry, John Burroughs School, St. Louis, fore the members of Pi Lambda Theta larly within the hour-long format of Mo.; R. Christine Royer, Barnard College; College Board Achievement Tests. My William T. Stafford, Purdue University; Nell at the annual convention of the National H. Thomas, Greenville High School, Miss.; Council of Teachers of English, held last hope is that this gripping saga of the and Graham C. Wilson. San Jose State Col- November in Honolulu. committee's struggle with these prob. lege. IBlacemenl English Examination, but en they run into practical snags that ould take on immense proportions in really large-scale examination. The first snag is that of differing interpretations. If, in all honesty, some benighted candidate wrotean interpretation of Macbeth which made Duncan a symbol of France, Macbeth of Ho Chi Minh, and Macduff of Henry Cabot Lodge, most responsible graders would color him dense. But it might be the interpretation he was taught. The second snag is, once again, that of va- riety. Few Advanced Placement students choose Leon Uris as their author of literary merit; he isn't assigned in Advanced Placement classes. But his work is often assigned in other classes, and a student cannot be blamed for literature. If students aren't moved by middle ground on which John O'Hara writing about the theme of man and books and have not developed -r and John Updike reside is full of society as exemplified, for instance, in for them, then English teachers have quicksands. A taste test is intriguing Exodus. failed. Everything else is merely a dynamite but, unfortunately, inappro- The third snag, that of sampling, is means to this goal, the achievement of priate as a College Board Achievement the biggest one. The Advanced Place- which will determine the reading hab- Test. A measure of the premises of ment Examination is three hours long. its and the very being of the student. taste might have a better chance of This means the candidate can write at How then to measure response? Should success, but there are still problems. least two essays of this sort as well as the candidate report on his enjoyment Whether a poem is good primarily be- answer other questions. An inappro- of what he is reading? Should his cause of its form, its theme, or its priate choice, a misunderstanding of taste be measured against some norm? effect on the reader is moot: what the, question, or a dubious interpreta- Should we take an electroencephalo- counts is the persuasiveness of the tion in one essay can be atoned for in graph? argument for using any one of these the other. In an hour-long essay test, The answer to the question of meas- criteria in a particular case. In effect, however, the number of targets at uring affective response is that we such a test would be more a test of which to shoot is limited, and the don't know yet how to do it well composition than of literary skill. candidate cannot demonstrate his abil- enough. In part, we do not trust the The last objective, "to measure his ity as fully as he might. students to be honest; often enough we ability to use whatever critical skill he ourselves aren't honest, particularly has in texts unfamiliar to him," also Mastery and response: untestable? when we teach something for the twen- presents problems. Critical skill may In addition tothese three snags, tieth timeSilas Marner, for instance be said to consist of the ability toper- there is a theoretical criticism af the simply because the school board ceive the parts and the relationship of importance of the goal itself. It main- won't buy another set of books until parts to each other and to the whole tains that you teach a particular work the old ones wear out. Besides, affective of a work; the ability to devisea co- Macbeth, for instanceless so that responses differ in nature, and no sin- herent interpretation of the work; the students may become masters of Mac- gle criterion exists. We want students ability to perceive the effect of the beth than that later they may be to be caught up in books, but at the work on the reader's response; and the equipped to deal with Hamlet. The same time we want them to be detached ability to make a reasoned judgment goal of understanding in depth, then, observers and interpreters. The bal- about the work. The problem inmeas- is only a way station to a larger goal. ancing point is hard to find. uring this goal is the tentativeness you In any case, the committee decided How about testing for a measure of must assume in asserting anything that the circumstances under which taste? One might use 20 passages-10 definitive about a person. the new test was to be introduced mili- judged good, 10 bad, by a panel of With some degree of assurance,you tated against measuring the objective teachersand ask students to rank can say that a person who can answer of understanding in depth alone. How- them. Experiments with this sort of six subtraction problems using three ever, a brief essay on a book of the test have shown, though, that more columns can answer most subtraction candidate's choice still could be paired often than not the students make poor problems. But assurance meltsaway with objective three or four. choices. Besides, what teacher would when you discover thata student can Objective three, "to measure his re- be willing to do more than make a answer sixquestions on imagery, sponse to literature, jointly affective rough distinction between Shakespeare rhythm, substance, tone,structure, and evaluative." deals with one of the and Neil Simon, between William and point of view in a lyric by William most important goals of instruction in Faulkner and Mickey Spillane? The Butler Yeats. Can he do thesame with another poem by Yeats, let alone with positively and would not hamstring "Medusa" by Louise Bogan, in the one by a poet like Robert Herrick or them, as might tests of literary ac- box on the next page (asterisks indi- Ben Jonson? We know that students quaintance or tests on set books, the cate correct answers) . who have cut their critical teeth on literature committee decided that the These 10 questions represent the sort John Donne, Andrew Marvell, and the Achievement Test in literature should that will be asked on the new test. The early T S. Eliot are often incapable of "seek knou ledge about a student's first asks the source of an allusion, the talking or writing about Walter Landor, ability to comprehend, analyze, and second the form of the work. Both re- William Cowper, or Alfred, Lord evaluate literary works. It will focus quire factual information that the stu- Tennyson. This is not to say that they on passages in thevarious genres, dent should be able to bring to the ere not good students of literature, drawn primarily from English and poem.(Otherappropriatefactual but that they have become so absorbed American literature." questions might be about approximate in the explication of difficult works date, or in some cases the probable The eight skills finally chosen that they have trouble appreciating author.) Questions 3, 4, and 5 are also simplicity. Other students may be put It was decided that the test questions relatively factual, but deal with in- off by certain words in a poem. After should seek to measure a student's ternal aspects of the poem. Numbers all, that is what literature isa quick- ability : 1) to paraphrase parts of the 3 and 4 ask about the effect of the silver art that changes with each read- work or summarize the whole work; language and ask the student to re- ing without losing its weight and mass. 2) to comprehend the structure of the ject an implausible connotation or an Anyone measuring this objective, text; 3) to comprehend languageand unimportant point about structure. In therefore, must consider the unique- style; 4) to comprehend rhetorical and question 5, the student is asked to con- ness of the work and the response toit, literary devices; 5) to comprehend the trast the details in two parts of the and the tentativeness of 1.ny assertion ways by which structureand language, poem. The last of these can be verified about achievement. Yet this objective, and rhetorical and literary devices en- empirically: the first two depend on the developed ability to apprehend a hance and even create the meaning and the student's knowledge of semantics new literary work, is the chief one un- form of a work; 6) to classify a text by and of the concept of organicism in a derlying most literature curriculums genre, tradition, or period;7) to un- work of art (that certain aspects of be they historical, thematic, or generic. derstand allusions to common figures linguistic form are coincidental and Further, the problems of measurement or symbols in mythology,literature, others are meaningful). are ones that can be borne moreeasily and folklore; and 8) to deal with such The first four questions, then, are than can the problems involved in each general aspects of literary study as relatively straightforward and empiri- of the other objectives. For this rea- theme, history, and the writer's art. cally verifiable, given a basic consen- tm)n, as well as for the reason that a The last of these abilities was in- sus about the nature of poetic language measure of criticalability would in- cluded so that the committee might and form. But you may argue that fluence secondary school curriculums feel free to add an essay portion to these are not searching, and you would the test should it deem such an addi- be right; yet to answer them correctly tion worthwhile. For the foreseeable is to display a basic knowledge of what future, however, the test will consist literary language is all about. of multiple-choice questions,allof them directed at specific passages Three measures of discernment prose, poetry, or dramapresumably Questions 6, 7, and 8 move beyond unfamiliar to the candidate. In the this point. They ask students to make hour-long test, there will be from 6 to summary statements about the rela- 12 passages varying in length, genre, tionships between parts of the poem form, and historical period. This num- (questien 6),about the tenor of a ber of passages should provide a suffi- metaphor (question 7), and about the cient aggregate to enable one to assert functional effect of stylistic devices that a candidate who does well on the (question 8). The first of these ques- test can handle not any text that might tions calls upon an ability to make come along, but a goodly number of generalizations about the content, the them. Such acandidatecertainly second to comprehend the relationship should be acknowledged as a compe- of resonant language to the work as a tent reader of literature, and therefore whole, and the third to relate a stylis- that much more eligible for admission tic devicein this case aberrant versi- to a liberal arts college. ficationto thc pace of the poem. This What of the questions, however? Can last question goes a bit further than any searching questions be cast into the others in that it asks students to the multiple-choice moM? The answer reject various overinterpretations of depends on what you mean by "search- stylistic devices. It is perhaps a danger- ing." Certain limitations are imposed ous question, but I think its incorrect on the questions. Let me take as an options can all be dismissed as periph- example the sample questions on eral at best, misguided at worst. These tleee questions, then, go be- the poem as a whole and the other on erence to the verbal context. (Other yond the factual and ask students to certain of its facets. They do not go questions might have been asked: on read discerningly, keeping one eye on beyond that which is verifiable by ref- the relation between Medusa and a

"PFRMISS ION TO REPRODUCE NIS COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL BY MISROFICHE ONLY H&S BEEN GRANTED ByPeivatAilart44.B4,amd WAirat40.13ne,. 1 TO ER IC AND tRGANIZATrONS OPERATING UNDER AGREEMENTS WITH ME U. S. OFFICE OF EDUCATION. MEDUSA FURTHER REPRODUCTION OUTSIDE ME ER IC SYSTEM (E) wo."When" line 5 REQUIRES PERMISSION OF THE COPYRIGHT OWNER." 5. Which of the following is true of the description in lines 16-17 I had come to the house, in a cave of trees, but not of the description in lines 10-15? Facing a sheer sky. (A) Lines 16-17 contain references to natural events. Everything moved,a bell hung ready to strike, (a) There is a lack of action in lines 16-17. Sun and reflection wheeled by. (c) Events described in stanza 1 are repeated in lines 16-17. * (n) In lines 16-17, there is a possibility that Medusa's spell is When the bare eyes were before me incomplete. And the hissing hair, (E) In lines 16-17, there is a reference to the future like the ref- Held up at a window, seen through a door. ences in stanza 2. The stiff bald eyes, the serpents on the forehead Formed in the air. 6. The difference between the scene in stanza 1 and that in stanzas 3, 4, and 5 is primarily the difference between This is a dead scene forever now. (A) joyful events and sad events Nothing will ever stir. (a) a realistic scene and a scene in a play The end will never brighten it more than this, (c) a scene on earth and a scene in hell Nor the rain blur. (n) action that did happen and action that will happen The water will always fall, and will not fall, * (E) action and arrested action And the tipped bell make no sound. 7. By comparing himself to a "shadow" (line 18), the speaker The grass will always be growing for hay 'indicates that Deep on the ground. * (A) in this scene his own reality is dubious And I shall stand here like a shadow (B) his consciousness has been destroyed by his experience Under the great balanced day, (c) the sky has grown brighter than it was when the poem My eyes on the yellow dust that was lifting in the wind, began And does not drift away. (n) he thinks he will disappear when the daylight finally ends Reprinted from Collected Poems by Louise Bogan by permission of Farrar, (E) he has died and become a ghost because of Medusa's spell Straus & Giroux, Inc. Copyright 1954 By Louise Bogan. 8. What is the function of the extra line and more rapid move- ment in stanza 2? 1. Medusa is the name of (A) To suggest that Medusa was a vigorous and active creature (A) a sea nymph (a) To indicate that the speaker moved quickly when he was (B) the muse who was the inspiration of lyric poets frightened (c) the girl who led Theseus through the labyrinth * (c) To focus attention on the central experience of the poem (n) a woman who turned those who looked at her to stone (n) To show that the central experience lasted longer than (E) the girl who married Jason after helping him find the others in the poem Golden Fleece (E) To help the reader to see that the poem is like an old ballad 2. This poem is written in 9. The events in the first stanza are told in the past tense; the (A) free verse 1 events in the third, fourth, and fifth stanzas are told in the I (a) heroic couplets present and future tenses. Which of the following is the best (c) sonnet form inference one can draw from this fact? 40 irregular quatrains (A) The first scene happened in the speaker's past; the second (E) blank verse scene is an attempt to relate what happened after the speak- 3. In stanza 2, depicting Medusa's eyes as "bare," "stiff," and er left. t "bald" does all of the following except (a) The first scene happened when the speaker was alive ; the indicate that the speaker only imagines her effect on him second scene occurs after death. (B) prepare for the description of the speaker's state in stanzas (c) The first scene is perceived by the speaker; the second scene 3-5 is perceived by Medusa. (c) emphasize her inhuman appearance and its effect on the (n) The first scene is real; the second scene is a metaphoric in- speaker terpretation of it. (n) create a contrast with "moved" and "wheeled" in stanza 1 * (E) The first scene occurred in the speaker's life; the second (E) show that her eyes are a prime force behind her spell 1 scene occurs in his mind. 4. The contrast in effect between stanza 2 and stanzas 3, 4, and 10. The poem as a whole deals with 5 is produced by all of the following devices in stanza 2 ex- (A) encountering and killing the mythical Medusa cept the * (a) experiencing an unnamed shock as powerful as Medusa's (A) single-syllable rhyme, "air" in line 6 and "hair" in line 9 spell (B) lack of a finite verb in the sentence in lines 8-9 (c) meeting someone as horrible to look at as Medusa was (c) lack of a main clause in the sentence in lines 5-7 (n) enjoying the idea that the myth of Medusa is not true (n) four short phrases in hues 7-8 (E) thinking about how Medusa would look if she were real

...:....M. el C.-a-- Inxo retain some defensible points ; "action On q multiple-choice test, interpretive questions and inaction," "past and future," must be limited in their scopeand in "myth and reality," "chaos and order" are all defensible; "death and rebirth," their penetration or risk being untenable. "poverty and richness," "sea and land," "stone and wood" are all ridic- ulous. In short, once the premise that house; on the function of "stir," Both are good discussion questions but the poem has a certain kind of reso- "brighten," and "blue"; on the sum- would be untenable on a multiple- nance (from activity to inactivity and mary nature of the word"balanced" choice test. from ignoranceto knowledge)is in line 19; or on the mood of the The first one asks: Which of the fol- granted, any number of further reson- speaker in the last two stanzas.) All of lowing does not describe the overall ances are equally viable. The question, these call for accurate description of progression of the poem? (A) from then, is a good teaching question, but the words in the context of the poem. ignorance to knowledge; (n) from life not a good question for objective as- to death; (c) from activity to paraly- sessment. How do you test interpretation? sis; (D) from time to timelessness; A second untenable question asks: It might be argued that objective ques- (E) from happiness to despair? This Which of the following words gives tions cannot go beyond this point, is a favorite sort of question in liter- the first suggestion that something un- but questions 9 and 10 do, since both ature, asking the student to see move- usual is going to happen? (A) "had" ask for interpretations of the poem or ment in the poem and then to define it (line 1) ;(D) "cave" (line 1) ;(c) its parts. Question 9 asks for the best here negatively. The first four terms "sheer" (line 2) ;(D) "hung" (line inference to be drawn from an obser- serve as partial definitions and, in 3) ; (E) "wheeled" (line 4). This ques- vation of the poem's structure. (Op- fact,supplement eachother. The tion presents a similar problem, for a tionBcan't be totally rejected, per- adroit humanist can see that paralysis poem is by definition an organic unit, haps, butEis better, if only because and death have much in common, as and an argument can be made that poetic speakers do not usually speak do knowledge and timelessness. These every word has a potency equal to any from the grave. OptionsAand c are four, then, set the limits for the state other. "Cave" does stand out as a clearly unsubstantiated, and optionD the poem is describing and for the modifier of the image, but "had" by violates much of the logic of the speaker who is describing it. The fifth virtue of its tense also seems to estab- poem.) In a similar way, question 10 option stands out as dealing with a lish an ominous condition. The sensi- asks for the best summary of the poem. different dimension of the poemthat tire reader might agree that one word .(Clearly optionB ismost consonant of moodand in that respect is a bad is more suggestive than another, but with the statement and mood of the question. But you could not make a the difference is simply of degree. poem; only optionChas a plausible fifth and incorrect option that would Both of these questions indicate ring, but it is canjectural at best and not either stand out prominently or some of the limits involved in multiple- finally insupportable because there is choice testing of the understanding really little enjoyment in the poem.) and appreciation of literature. The Of these two questions, 9 is the literature committee and its consult- more searching, but it would seem that ants are constantly concerned with a question like 10 could be made more these limits and are always in search penetrating and still have one clearly of ways by which an objective test can acceptable option. For instance, sup- probe more deeply into the student's pose that the word in optionDwas response.Otherexperiments have "contemplating" instead of "enjoying" been carried out using questions that the idea that the myth of Medusa is ask for best and second-best answers, not true. It might not be as good an that ask a student to judge the validity answer asB,but the word contemplat- of certain responses, and that try to ing is ambiguous enough to render assess his ability to judge the appropri- the option acceptable. The same might ateness of various suggestions for be said of optionDif it were changed omitted lines from a poem. to "encountering and being petrified All of these experiments seek to by the mythical Medusa." This latter make the test of literary acumen one statement, while not the poem's sub- which finds out how deeply students ject matter, does underlie it. In any examine a poem, by following a pat- case, the wrong options for this sort tern of questions similar to those of question must be clearly inadequate asked about "Medusa." This pattern to the poem. attempts to move from a test of sharp- Thus, questions of interpretation ness of observation to a test of depth must be limited in scope and penetra- of understanding, the two qualities tion. The following two questions pro- which seem to mark the mature reader vide a good example of these limits: of literature.