CHAUCER EXAM 1
Dr. Michael Delahoyde
Washington State University
YE OLDE MID-TERME EXAMINACCIOUN
I.IDENTIFICATIONS. [Total 26 points.]
You know, maybe match Column A with Column B; or identify the character who says, “I am dronke” — that kind of question, only harder. These mysfortunes will be inflicted individually and intracerebrally during the scheduled class period.
II.QUOTATIONS. [Total 50 points; answer 10 for 5 points each.]
A combination of identification and, more importantly, significance questions will follow quotations from the works and perhaps other relevant materials of the semester so far, extracted for their representativeness of our discussions over key points during these first weeks. This is not Trivial Pursuit. If you have read the plays and paid attention in class, only a close review of notes is necessary for preparation. My own web notes may function as a partial “study guide.”
III.TAKE-HOME ESSAY. [Total 24 points.]
Answer the following question thoroughly and precisely, but do not exceed two (2) pages, double-spaced. The essay should be a virtuoso piece of brilliance manifested in impressive eloquence, with facile reference to specifics from the Chaucerian texts, properly documented.
Geoffrey Chaucer appears to you in a dream-vision. What questions have you been meaning to ask him, and what are his responses? What does he ask you? Construct a dialogue or mutual interview based on this premise, or describe such an encounter. Subject matter must be relevant but interesting. (Also, we saw the first day of class Chaucer¹s concern over posterity and his own works, so it would be ill-advised to have your dream-visionChaucer sneering at everyone — meaning me — making “a big deal” over his poetry.)
The essay is due on exam day to accompany the other in-class components of the test.