In the final exam, in addition to a section in which you are asked about key concepts, you will also be given three of the questions that are provided below, from which you will choose one as the topic of a written essay.
There is no specific required length for this essay, but you should use the time available to you and note that this section of the exam is worth a higher percentage of the grade than the other one, so you should spend more time on it and I expect the extent of what you write to reflect that fact.
- Take two or more of the texts we have covered in this course, and analyze and compare the ways in which they treat the topic of childhood (which might include adolescence, coming of age, and parent-child relations). In your answer, you should discuss concrete examples, passages, or scenes to illustrate your argument.
- Take two or more of the texts we have covered in this course, and analyze and compare the ways in which they treat the topic of gender (which might include their treatment of women, the relationship between men and women, or the expected presentation or performance of gender by either men or women). In your answer, you should discuss concrete examples, passages, or scenes to illustrate your argument.
- Take two or more of the texts we have covered in this course, and analyze and compare the ways in which they treat the topic of time (which might include also historical time, the relationship between past, present, and future, or time passing). In your answer, you should discuss concrete examples, passages, or scenes to illustrate your argument.
- Take two or more of the texts we have covered in this course, and analyze and compare the ways in which they treat the relationship between truth and fiction (reality and imagination, history and invention). In your answer, you should discuss concrete examples, passages, or scenes to illustrate your argument.
- What is Romance Studies? What could it be, or what should it be? In your answer, you should discuss concrete examples, passages, or scenes from the texts we have covered in this course to illustrate your argument.
Remember: you are allowed to bring to the exam a “cheat sheet”: notes and ideas, key quotations or essay outlines, or whatever else you think will be useful. This sheet should be no larger than one side of a standard US Letter (8.5″ x 11″; 216 x 279 mm) sheet of paper.
