Senior Exam Questions

Here are the ten possible exam questions. You will write on FOUR of these questions.

1. How does the poem Beowulf meet the definition of a heroic epic? Explain.
2. Choose one of the following themes from Frankenstein and explain how the author develops this theme in the novel: love, parenting, friendship
3. How did the introduction of Christianity change the fabric of the Anglo-Saxon society? Use specific examples from Anglo-Saxon literature.
4. How does The Canterbury Tales depict society in Middle Ages England? Explain.
5. How is the theme of idealized love present in Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 18” and Marlowe’s “The Passionate Shepherd to his Love?” How do “Sonnet 130” and the “The Nymph’s Reply to the Shepherd” disavow the idealization of love? Explain.
6. Compare and contrast the fall of Macbeth to the fall of Tiger Woods. How are both tragic characters?
7. The renaissance was a period of rebirth in English literature. Explain the significance of Henry VIII and his daughter, Queen Elizabeth I, in the development of the literature of the period.
8. Explain the role of the supernatural in Macbeth. How do the witches disrupt the natural order of the world?
9. What two forms of romantic love are portrayed in Wuthering Heights? Explain.
10. How do the two settings of Wuthering Heights (Thrushcross Grange and Wuthering Heights) reflect the events and the characters of the novel?