Test Prep Start Now!

Test Prep—Start now!

SHORT ANSWER -- CHOOSE THREE and respond in about a paragraph each.  Your answers should cut straight to the point and not restate the question.  They should still, however, use at least one specific example (“specific” is not “Vardaman always calls his mom a fish.”) Quote the text when needed (you’ll probably need to at least twice over the course of the three questions.  answer all aspects of the question.

1. What does Cash say about the nature of insanity? How does Faulkner’s novel structure support Cash’s statements?

2. The Extremely Depraved Adventures of…Choose a character that you believe to be the main character or protagonist of the novel. Explain how this character is the one with whom Faulkner expects us to “sympathize”. In your discussion, focus on how this character faces obstacles, changes, and helps or harms others. Include also an antagonist and the primary conflict of the protagonist (and therefore the novel).

3. Say What? Communication or lack thereof is a theme of the novel. Discuss two or more of the following topics and come to a conclusion as to what Faulkner’s feelings are about modern man’s ability to communicate: Addie’s comments on words like “motherhood”; Darl’s clairvoyance; Dewey Dell’s passivity; Vardaman’s use of natural imagery; something else…

4. Reality Bites—Each of the characters views the world through a particular “lens” or philosophical stance. A careful reader will often see that those lenses will sometimes blind a character to what is really happening or at least shape his reaction to reality. What does the novel illustrate about the nature of reality? How does it comment on religion as a way of understanding reality?

5. “I think, therefore, I be” Several characters contemplate their existence. They think about the impermanence of life; the relationship of their physical bodies to themselves; their selves in the context of their family and so on. Discuss one character’s contemplation of his/her existence.

6. I reserve the right to come up with more prompts/questions as we go along. (i.e. a feminist lens option).

CLOSE READING – CHOOSE TWO

Perform a close reading of the following passage from As I Lay Dying. You will want to comment on  the style – use of / effect of diction, imagery, juxtaposition, etc. (refraining, of course, from statements such as, “The style is modern because it is strange and has never been done before”)  themes expressed, the characterization (including who the speaker is) and maybe the structure (placement in the novel).  You will also want to link this specific passage to the novel as a whole (you might have done this in your discussion of structure, theme, or character).  Quote the text in your answer.