Format: Final Exam Paper for PEN0035
Dear all,
I have just gotten news about the format of the exam paper. There seems to be some changes to the format. Section A, first part, there will be 5 questions testing your knowledge on literary elements based on all five short stories. The second part will be an excerpt of one of the 5 short stories with comprehension questions. Thus, you will not be given a literature piece that you have not seen before. Section A will only test you based on the 5 short stories that you have covered in class. Below is an example of the final exam paper for PEN0035. Hope this clear things up for you guys.
SECTION A: LITERATURE (30 MARKS)
PART 1: LITERARY APPRECIATION (20 marks)
Answer all questions.
1. Describe the conflicts as occurred in the short story “The Piece of String.”
(5 marks)
2. In the short story “The Lottery”, what are the conflicts faced by Mrs Hutchinson and how are they being resolved?
(5 marks)
3. Discuss briefly the character of Miss Emily Grierson in “Rose for Emily”.
(5 marks)
4. Explain briefly the symbolism in the short story ‘The Chrysanthemums”.
(5 marks)
PART 2: READING AND VOCABULARY (10 marks)
Read the passage below and answer all questions that follow.
A Rose for Emily
They rose when she entered—a small, fat woman in black, with a thin gold chain descending to her waist and vanishing into her belt, leaning on an ebony cane with a tarnished gold head. Her skeleton was small and spare; perhaps that was why what would have been merely plumpness in another was obesity in her. She looked bloated, like a body long submerged in motionless water, and of that pallid hue. Her eyes, lost in the fatty ridges of her face, looked like two small pieces of coal pressed into a lump of dough as they moved from one face to another while the visitors stated their errand.
So she vanquished them, horse and foot, just as she had vanquished their father thirty years before about the smell. That was two years after her father’s death and a short time after her sweetheart—the one we believed would marry her—had deserted her. After her father’s death she went out very little; after her sweetheart went away, people hardly saw her at all. A few of the ladies had the temerity to call, but were not received, and the only sign of life about the place was the Negro man—a young man then—going in and out with a market basket.
Continue… “Just as if a man—any man—could keep a kitchen properly,” the ladies said; so they were not surprised when the smell developed. It was another link between the gross, teeming world and the high and mighty Griersons.
A neighbour, a woman, complained to the mayor, Judge Stevens, eighty years old.
“But what will you have me to do about it, madam?” he said.
“Why, send her word to stop it,” the woman said. “Isn’t there a law?”
“I’m sure that wont be necessary,” Judge Stevens said, “It’s probably just a snake or a rat that nigger of hers killed in the yard. I’ll speak to him about it.”
The next day he received two more complaints, one from a man who came in diffident deprecation. “We really, must do something about it, Judge. I’d be the last one in the world to bother Miss Emily, but we’ve got to do something.” That night the Board of Aldermen met—three greybeards and one younger man, a member of the rising generation.
“It’s simple enough,” he said. “Send her word to have her place cleaned up. Give her a certain time to do it in, and if she don’t…”
“Dammit, sir,” Judge Stevens said, “will you accuse a lady to her face of smelling bad?”
So the next night, after midnight, four men crossed Miss Emily’s lawn and slunk about the house like burglars, sniffing along the base of the brickwork and at the cellar openings while one of them performed a regular sowing motion with his hand out of a sack slung from his shoulder. They broke open the cellar door and sprinkled lime there, and in all of the outbuildings. As they recrossed the lawn, a window that had been dark was lighted and Miss Emily sat in it, the light behind her, and her upright torso motionless as that of an idol. They crept quietly across the lawn and into the shadow of the locust that lined the street. After a week or two the smell went away.
That was when people had begun to feel really sorry for her. People in our town, remembering how old lady Wyatt, her great-aunt, had gone completely crazy at last, believed that the Griersons held themselves a little too high for what they really were. None of the young men were quite good enough for Miss Emily and such. We had long thought of them as a tableau, Miss Emily a slender figure in white in the background, her father a spraddled silhouette in the foreground, his back to her and clutching a horsewhip, the two of them framed by the back-flung front door. So when she got to be thirty and was still single, we were not pleased exactly, but vindicated; even with insanity in the family she wouldn’t have turned down all of her chances if they had really materialised.
When her father died, it got about that the house was all that was left to her, and in a way, people were glad. At last they could pity Miss Emily. Being left alone, and a pauper, she had become humanized. Now she too would know the old thrill and the old despair of a penny more or less.
The day after his death all the ladies prepared to call at the house and offer condolence and aid, as is our custom. Miss Emily met them at the door, dressed as usual and with no trace of grief on her face. She told them that her father was not dead. She did that for three days, with the ministers calling on her and the doctors, trying to persuade her to let them dispose of the body. Just as they were about to resort to law and force, she broke down, and they buried her father quickly.
Continue… We did not say she was crazy then. We believed she had to do that. We remembered all the young men her father had driven away, and we knew that with nothing left, she would have to cling to that which had robbed her, as people will.
Adapted from Faulkner, W (1930) A Rose For Emily. Retrieved 1 November 2005, from
A. Comprehension (7 marks)
1. What could possibly be the reason when the people hardly saw Emily?
(2 marks)
2. Why were the ladies not surprised when the smell developed?
(2 marks)
3. Why did Judge Stevens say “…will you accuse a lady to her face of smelling bad?” (line 33-34)
(1 mark)
4. Why did she ‘broke down’ (line 64) when the ministers and the doctors came to her house?
(2 marks)
B. Vocabulary (3 marks)
Provide a word from the passage that has the same meaning with each of the following phrases.
eg: to lose the shine (line 1 - 5) Word: tarnished
1 abandoned somebody without the intention to return (line 10 - 14)
2 inhaling through the nose (line 34 - 38)
3 expression of sympathy (line 57 - 61)
SECTION B: WRITING – SYNTHESIS ESSAY (30 MARKS)
1. Read the following two passages.
2. Drawing relevant information from the passages, write an essay of about 400 words in answer to the following question:
What are the risk factors that can trigger suicidal tendencies among teenagers?
3. You may include your own elaboration to support the main ideas taken from the passages.
Passage 1
Teenage Suicide: Identification, Intervention and Prevention
In the past 25 years, while the general incidence of suicide has decreased, the suicidal rate for those between 15 and 24 has tripled. It is generally considered to be the second or third most common cause of death among adolescents, even though it is seriously underreported. No one has advanced a good theory explaining why teens are taking their own lives in greater numbers, but it is important for everyone to be aware of the problem. Many researchers have described a few major risk factors of suicide among young people.
The main risk factor that can trigger suicidal acts among youngsters is depression. Depression is often not recognized. In younger children and in adolescent boys, it may seem that the child is simply angry or sullen. If this lasts more than a week or so with no relief, and if there are other signs of depression - changes in appetite, activity level, sleep pattern, loss of interest in activities that normally give pleasure, social withdrawal, thoughts of death or punishment - it should be taken seriously.
The majority of suicide attempts and suicide deaths happen among teens with depression. Consider these statistics about teen suicide and teen depression: about 1 percent of all teens attempts suicide and about 1 percent of those suicide attempts results in death (that means about 1 in 10,000 teens dies from suicide). However, for adolescents who have depressive illnesses, the rates of suicidal thinking and behavior are much higher. Most teens who have depression think about suicide, and between 15 percent and 30 percent of teens with serious depression who think about suicide go on to make a suicide attempt.
Continue… Keep in mind that most of the time for most teens, depression is a passing mood. The sadness, loneliness, grief, and disappointment we all feel at times are normal reactions to some of the struggles of life. With the right support, some resilience, an inner belief that there will be a brighter day, and decent coping skills, most teens can get through the depressed mood that happens occasionally when life throws them a curve ball. However, sometimes depression does not lift after a few hours or a few days. Instead, it lasts; it can seem too heavy to bear. When someone has a depressed or sad mood that is intense and lingers almost all day, almost every day for 2 weeks or more, it may be a sign that the person has developed major depression. Major depression, sometimes called clinical depression, is beyond a passing depressed mood - it is the term mental health professionals use for depression that has become an illness in need of treatment.
Availability of a gun at home is another risk factor, as it increases easy access to firearms. Having a firearm in the home greatly increases the risk of youth suicide. Sixty-four percent of suicide victims aged from 10 to 24 years old use a firearm to complete the act. The availability also makes the consequences of an impulsive act much more lethal. Surprisingly, even when a child has made one attempt, parents often fail to remove guns from the home. How many fatal, impulsive decisions have been aided by the presence of a handgun in the home? If you have a gun in your home, you are five times more likely to have a suicide in your house than homes without a gun.
Having access to guns is extremely risky for any teen who has any of the other risk factors. Depression, anger, life stress, substance abuse, feelings of alienation or loneliness - all these factors can place a teen at major risk for suicidal thoughts and behavior. Availability of guns along with one or more of these risk factors is a deadly equation. Many teen lives could be saved by making sure those who are at risk do not have access to guns. Yet, parents whose children are coping with depression, anger, alienation or loneliness - the factors that place kids at suicide risk - still maintain private arsenals. Sure, kids can kill themselves with a rope or pills. But many teen suicides are born of impulse, despair over a breakup or a setback in school. If the gun did not allow instant action on the impulse, many teens might be alive today.
Adapted from Peters, J. (2004). Teenage Suicide: Identification, Intervention and Prevention. Retrieved November, 2, 2005, from http://www.ericdigests.org/pre-923/teenage.htm
Passage 2
Teen Health
Suicides among young people have increased dramatically in recent years. Each year in the United States, thousands of teenagers commit suicide. Suicide is the third leading cause of death for people between the age of 15 and 24 and is the sixth leading cause of death for children aged from 5 to 14 year olds. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 27 percent of high school students think about suicide, 16 percent have a plan, and 8 percent make an attempt. It is estimated that 500,000 teenagers try to kill themselves each year. About 5000 succeed. Why do teens kill themselves? There are many contributing factors.
Continue… Teens who abuse alcohol or drugs are more likely to consider, attempt or succeed at suicide than are non-abusers. Substance abuse problems can put teens at risk for suicidal thinking and behaviour. Alcohol and some drugs have depressive effects on the brain. Misuse of these substances can bring on serious depression, especially in teens prone to depression because of their biology, family history, or other life stresses. Sometimes teens try alcohol or other drugs to relieve depression. Unfortunately, the drugs themselves have a depressant effect, and lower inhibitions against self-injurious behavior.
Besides depressive effects, alcohol and drugs alter a person's judgement. They interfere with the ability to assess risk, make good choices, and think of solutions to problems. Many suicide attempts occur when a teen is under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Teens with substance abuse problems often have serious depression or intense life stresses, too, further increasing their risk. Drugs decrease impulse control, and this makes impulsive suicide more likely. Additionally, some individuals try to self-medicate their depression with drugs or alcohol. Some young people who have never expressed a suicidal thought have taken their own lives when they got drunk to ease the pain of a disappointment or loss. Unfortunately, they only felt worse while drunk, and committed a rash, impulsive act which they would not have done if they were sober.
Dealing with an unplanned pregnancy can be scary and confusing. Some of the emotions that the future mothers may encounter when facing an unplanned pregnancy are: it is a natural response for them to think about and want to protect the baby that is growing inside them, but the worrying part is that, it is also natural for them to be scared and confused about how to deal with this unplanned pregnancy. This is when the urge to commit suicide will linger in their minds.
Facing an unplanned teen pregnancy can be hard. The effects of teenage pregnancy are not limited to having to decide whether or not to keep the baby, how to cope with motherhood or whether to make an adoption plan. One of the most immediate effects of teen pregnancy is how to face the intense pressure from their parents and the society. As they have failed to conform to the standards set by the society, which is normally opposed to pre-marital sex, they often have the tendencies to take their own lives.
Many behavioral and verbal clues can alert the informed parent, teacher, counselor or friend to an adolescent's suicidal intentions. A teen at risk of committing suicide is experiencing deep depression, which may be indicated by loss of weight, appetite or interest in personal appearance; a change in sleeping pattern; fatigue; and feelings of hopelessness and low self-esteem. Some signals should come through loud and clear: the teenager may express a desire to die, threaten to commit suicide, or inform friends of a plan. The teen may develop a preoccupation with death and dying, make arrangements to give away prized possessions, withdraw from therapeutic help, or rapidly lose interest in once-valued activities and objects.
Adapted from Sheen, M. (2005). Teen Health. Retrieved November 10, 2005, from http://kidshealth.org/teen/your_mind/mental_health/suicide.html
End of Page
I have just gotten news about the format of the exam paper. There seems to be some changes to the format. Section A, first part, there will be 5 questions testing your knowledge on literary elements based on all five short stories. The second part will be an excerpt of one of the 5 short stories with comprehension questions. Thus, you will not be given a literature piece that you have not seen before. Section A will only test you based on the 5 short stories that you have covered in class. Below is an example of the final exam paper for PEN0035. Hope this clear things up for you guys.
SECTION A: LITERATURE (30 MARKS)
PART 1: LITERARY APPRECIATION (20 marks)
Answer all questions.
1. Describe the conflicts as occurred in the short story “The Piece of String.”
(5 marks)
2. In the short story “The Lottery”, what are the conflicts faced by Mrs Hutchinson and how are they being resolved?
(5 marks)
3. Discuss briefly the character of Miss Emily Grierson in “Rose for Emily”.
(5 marks)
4. Explain briefly the symbolism in the short story ‘The Chrysanthemums”.
(5 marks)
PART 2: READING AND VOCABULARY (10 marks)
Read the passage below and answer all questions that follow.
A Rose for Emily
They rose when she entered—a small, fat woman in black, with a thin gold chain descending to her waist and vanishing into her belt, leaning on an ebony cane with a tarnished gold head. Her skeleton was small and spare; perhaps that was why what would have been merely plumpness in another was obesity in her. She looked bloated, like a body long submerged in motionless water, and of that pallid hue. Her eyes, lost in the fatty ridges of her face, looked like two small pieces of coal pressed into a lump of dough as they moved from one face to another while the visitors stated their errand.
So she vanquished them, horse and foot, just as she had vanquished their father thirty years before about the smell. That was two years after her father’s death and a short time after her sweetheart—the one we believed would marry her—had deserted her. After her father’s death she went out very little; after her sweetheart went away, people hardly saw her at all. A few of the ladies had the temerity to call, but were not received, and the only sign of life about the place was the Negro man—a young man then—going in and out with a market basket.
Continue… “Just as if a man—any man—could keep a kitchen properly,” the ladies said; so they were not surprised when the smell developed. It was another link between the gross, teeming world and the high and mighty Griersons.
A neighbour, a woman, complained to the mayor, Judge Stevens, eighty years old.
“But what will you have me to do about it, madam?” he said.
“Why, send her word to stop it,” the woman said. “Isn’t there a law?”
“I’m sure that wont be necessary,” Judge Stevens said, “It’s probably just a snake or a rat that nigger of hers killed in the yard. I’ll speak to him about it.”
The next day he received two more complaints, one from a man who came in diffident deprecation. “We really, must do something about it, Judge. I’d be the last one in the world to bother Miss Emily, but we’ve got to do something.” That night the Board of Aldermen met—three greybeards and one younger man, a member of the rising generation.
“It’s simple enough,” he said. “Send her word to have her place cleaned up. Give her a certain time to do it in, and if she don’t…”
“Dammit, sir,” Judge Stevens said, “will you accuse a lady to her face of smelling bad?”
So the next night, after midnight, four men crossed Miss Emily’s lawn and slunk about the house like burglars, sniffing along the base of the brickwork and at the cellar openings while one of them performed a regular sowing motion with his hand out of a sack slung from his shoulder. They broke open the cellar door and sprinkled lime there, and in all of the outbuildings. As they recrossed the lawn, a window that had been dark was lighted and Miss Emily sat in it, the light behind her, and her upright torso motionless as that of an idol. They crept quietly across the lawn and into the shadow of the locust that lined the street. After a week or two the smell went away.
That was when people had begun to feel really sorry for her. People in our town, remembering how old lady Wyatt, her great-aunt, had gone completely crazy at last, believed that the Griersons held themselves a little too high for what they really were. None of the young men were quite good enough for Miss Emily and such. We had long thought of them as a tableau, Miss Emily a slender figure in white in the background, her father a spraddled silhouette in the foreground, his back to her and clutching a horsewhip, the two of them framed by the back-flung front door. So when she got to be thirty and was still single, we were not pleased exactly, but vindicated; even with insanity in the family she wouldn’t have turned down all of her chances if they had really materialised.
When her father died, it got about that the house was all that was left to her, and in a way, people were glad. At last they could pity Miss Emily. Being left alone, and a pauper, she had become humanized. Now she too would know the old thrill and the old despair of a penny more or less.
The day after his death all the ladies prepared to call at the house and offer condolence and aid, as is our custom. Miss Emily met them at the door, dressed as usual and with no trace of grief on her face. She told them that her father was not dead. She did that for three days, with the ministers calling on her and the doctors, trying to persuade her to let them dispose of the body. Just as they were about to resort to law and force, she broke down, and they buried her father quickly.
Continue… We did not say she was crazy then. We believed she had to do that. We remembered all the young men her father had driven away, and we knew that with nothing left, she would have to cling to that which had robbed her, as people will.
Adapted from Faulkner, W (1930) A Rose For Emily. Retrieved 1 November 2005, from
A. Comprehension (7 marks)
1. What could possibly be the reason when the people hardly saw Emily?
(2 marks)
2. Why were the ladies not surprised when the smell developed?
(2 marks)
3. Why did Judge Stevens say “…will you accuse a lady to her face of smelling bad?” (line 33-34)
(1 mark)
4. Why did she ‘broke down’ (line 64) when the ministers and the doctors came to her house?
(2 marks)
B. Vocabulary (3 marks)
Provide a word from the passage that has the same meaning with each of the following phrases.
eg: to lose the shine (line 1 - 5) Word: tarnished
1 abandoned somebody without the intention to return (line 10 - 14)
2 inhaling through the nose (line 34 - 38)
3 expression of sympathy (line 57 - 61)
SECTION B: WRITING – SYNTHESIS ESSAY (30 MARKS)
1. Read the following two passages.
2. Drawing relevant information from the passages, write an essay of about 400 words in answer to the following question:
What are the risk factors that can trigger suicidal tendencies among teenagers?
3. You may include your own elaboration to support the main ideas taken from the passages.
Passage 1
Teenage Suicide: Identification, Intervention and Prevention
In the past 25 years, while the general incidence of suicide has decreased, the suicidal rate for those between 15 and 24 has tripled. It is generally considered to be the second or third most common cause of death among adolescents, even though it is seriously underreported. No one has advanced a good theory explaining why teens are taking their own lives in greater numbers, but it is important for everyone to be aware of the problem. Many researchers have described a few major risk factors of suicide among young people.
The main risk factor that can trigger suicidal acts among youngsters is depression. Depression is often not recognized. In younger children and in adolescent boys, it may seem that the child is simply angry or sullen. If this lasts more than a week or so with no relief, and if there are other signs of depression - changes in appetite, activity level, sleep pattern, loss of interest in activities that normally give pleasure, social withdrawal, thoughts of death or punishment - it should be taken seriously.
The majority of suicide attempts and suicide deaths happen among teens with depression. Consider these statistics about teen suicide and teen depression: about 1 percent of all teens attempts suicide and about 1 percent of those suicide attempts results in death (that means about 1 in 10,000 teens dies from suicide). However, for adolescents who have depressive illnesses, the rates of suicidal thinking and behavior are much higher. Most teens who have depression think about suicide, and between 15 percent and 30 percent of teens with serious depression who think about suicide go on to make a suicide attempt.
Continue… Keep in mind that most of the time for most teens, depression is a passing mood. The sadness, loneliness, grief, and disappointment we all feel at times are normal reactions to some of the struggles of life. With the right support, some resilience, an inner belief that there will be a brighter day, and decent coping skills, most teens can get through the depressed mood that happens occasionally when life throws them a curve ball. However, sometimes depression does not lift after a few hours or a few days. Instead, it lasts; it can seem too heavy to bear. When someone has a depressed or sad mood that is intense and lingers almost all day, almost every day for 2 weeks or more, it may be a sign that the person has developed major depression. Major depression, sometimes called clinical depression, is beyond a passing depressed mood - it is the term mental health professionals use for depression that has become an illness in need of treatment.
Availability of a gun at home is another risk factor, as it increases easy access to firearms. Having a firearm in the home greatly increases the risk of youth suicide. Sixty-four percent of suicide victims aged from 10 to 24 years old use a firearm to complete the act. The availability also makes the consequences of an impulsive act much more lethal. Surprisingly, even when a child has made one attempt, parents often fail to remove guns from the home. How many fatal, impulsive decisions have been aided by the presence of a handgun in the home? If you have a gun in your home, you are five times more likely to have a suicide in your house than homes without a gun.
Having access to guns is extremely risky for any teen who has any of the other risk factors. Depression, anger, life stress, substance abuse, feelings of alienation or loneliness - all these factors can place a teen at major risk for suicidal thoughts and behavior. Availability of guns along with one or more of these risk factors is a deadly equation. Many teen lives could be saved by making sure those who are at risk do not have access to guns. Yet, parents whose children are coping with depression, anger, alienation or loneliness - the factors that place kids at suicide risk - still maintain private arsenals. Sure, kids can kill themselves with a rope or pills. But many teen suicides are born of impulse, despair over a breakup or a setback in school. If the gun did not allow instant action on the impulse, many teens might be alive today.
Adapted from Peters, J. (2004). Teenage Suicide: Identification, Intervention and Prevention. Retrieved November, 2, 2005, from http://www.ericdigests.org/pre-923/teenage.htm
Passage 2
Teen Health
Suicides among young people have increased dramatically in recent years. Each year in the United States, thousands of teenagers commit suicide. Suicide is the third leading cause of death for people between the age of 15 and 24 and is the sixth leading cause of death for children aged from 5 to 14 year olds. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 27 percent of high school students think about suicide, 16 percent have a plan, and 8 percent make an attempt. It is estimated that 500,000 teenagers try to kill themselves each year. About 5000 succeed. Why do teens kill themselves? There are many contributing factors.
Continue… Teens who abuse alcohol or drugs are more likely to consider, attempt or succeed at suicide than are non-abusers. Substance abuse problems can put teens at risk for suicidal thinking and behaviour. Alcohol and some drugs have depressive effects on the brain. Misuse of these substances can bring on serious depression, especially in teens prone to depression because of their biology, family history, or other life stresses. Sometimes teens try alcohol or other drugs to relieve depression. Unfortunately, the drugs themselves have a depressant effect, and lower inhibitions against self-injurious behavior.
Besides depressive effects, alcohol and drugs alter a person's judgement. They interfere with the ability to assess risk, make good choices, and think of solutions to problems. Many suicide attempts occur when a teen is under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Teens with substance abuse problems often have serious depression or intense life stresses, too, further increasing their risk. Drugs decrease impulse control, and this makes impulsive suicide more likely. Additionally, some individuals try to self-medicate their depression with drugs or alcohol. Some young people who have never expressed a suicidal thought have taken their own lives when they got drunk to ease the pain of a disappointment or loss. Unfortunately, they only felt worse while drunk, and committed a rash, impulsive act which they would not have done if they were sober.
Dealing with an unplanned pregnancy can be scary and confusing. Some of the emotions that the future mothers may encounter when facing an unplanned pregnancy are: it is a natural response for them to think about and want to protect the baby that is growing inside them, but the worrying part is that, it is also natural for them to be scared and confused about how to deal with this unplanned pregnancy. This is when the urge to commit suicide will linger in their minds.
Facing an unplanned teen pregnancy can be hard. The effects of teenage pregnancy are not limited to having to decide whether or not to keep the baby, how to cope with motherhood or whether to make an adoption plan. One of the most immediate effects of teen pregnancy is how to face the intense pressure from their parents and the society. As they have failed to conform to the standards set by the society, which is normally opposed to pre-marital sex, they often have the tendencies to take their own lives.
Many behavioral and verbal clues can alert the informed parent, teacher, counselor or friend to an adolescent's suicidal intentions. A teen at risk of committing suicide is experiencing deep depression, which may be indicated by loss of weight, appetite or interest in personal appearance; a change in sleeping pattern; fatigue; and feelings of hopelessness and low self-esteem. Some signals should come through loud and clear: the teenager may express a desire to die, threaten to commit suicide, or inform friends of a plan. The teen may develop a preoccupation with death and dying, make arrangements to give away prized possessions, withdraw from therapeutic help, or rapidly lose interest in once-valued activities and objects.
Adapted from Sheen, M. (2005). Teen Health. Retrieved November 10, 2005, from http://kidshealth.org/teen/your_mind/mental_health/suicide.html
End of Page
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