Prepared by: David J. Birnbaum (djbpitt+tales@pitt.edu) and Seth
Graham
Last modified: 2004-01-03
Location:
http://clover.slavic.pitt.edu/~tales/sample_questions.html
Quizzes will consist primarily of specific, factual questions about the most recent reading assignment. For example, if the tale "Baba Yaga and the Brave Youth" had been assigned for the day of the quiz, the quiz might include the following question:
In the tale "Baba Yaga and the Brave Youth," Baba Yaga counts:
(The correct answer is "spoons." The tale is in Afanas'ev, pp. 76-78.)
Prepare for quizzes by doing all the reading on the assigned dates and reviewing everything quickly before class.
Some examination multiple-choice questions may resemble quiz questions, but others will require interpretation, rather than just memorization. A sample examination question about the same tale would be:
Baba Yaga's role in the tale "Baba Yaga and the Brave Youth" is that of:
(The correct answer is "villainess.")
Examination questions may also involve our showing pictures or playing music that have been discussed previously and asking you to identify the artist or composer or subject matter.
Prepare for multiple-choice examination questions by reviewing critical readings carefully and looking at tales from different critical perspectives. For example, as we study psychoanalytical, feminist, and Marxist approaches to fairy tales, review the descriptions of these approaches and then try reading the same tale three times, once from each perspective.
For a detailed guide to answering essay questions, see http://clover.slavic.pitt.edu/~tales/essay_guide.html.
Examination essay questions normally require analysis, interpretation, and engagement with theoretical models. For example, an essay question about the same tale would be:
How might Bruno Bettelheim interpret the characters and events in "Baba Yaga and the Brave Youth"?
A good answer would be:
Bettelheim would interpret "Baba Yaga and the Brave Youth" in terms of how it symbolically represents and resolves common childhood fears. At the beginning, the brave youth is left alone at home, a frightening situation about which all young children worry (separation anxiety). As a result, the child to whom the tale is told identifies with the hero from the outset. The youth's feeling of panic when Baba Yaga touches his spoon (a phallic symbol) symbolizes the child's castration anxiety. Baba Yaga's pestle and broom are also phallic symbols and suggest that the witch is both a castrating mother figure and a powerful father figure. The first two times the youth is captured by Baba Yaga, the cat and sparrow, who play a parental role in the tale (even though they are later referred to as the youth's "brothers"), come to rescue him when he calls, confirming the child's comforting belief that s/he can call on parents in times of trouble. The third time Baba Yaga carries him off, the cat and sparrow are too far away to hear his cries for help, and the youth defeats his enemies all by himself. This suggests to the child that s/he can rely on his/her own abilities when necessary. Moreover, the youth's adversaries get progressively younger (the eldest daughter, the second daughter, then the youngest daughter), illustrating his growing maturity. By finally defeating Baba Yaga herself, the youth has symbolically made the transition from passive, dependent child to active, independent adult. At the end of the tale, when the brave youth runs home and tells his brothers of his triumph, the child hearing the tale shares his pride in having taken decisive steps towards independence and adulthood. The child might also experience pleasure from the youth's proven superiority to his "brothers" (the cat and the sparrow merely scratched and pecked the witch, but the youth killed her), which appeals to a child's sense of sibling rivalry.
This answer states a central idea in the first sentence and then provides a long list of examples supporting that central idea, in each case not only stating the example, but also explaining how it is related to the central idea. In this case the essay unfolds in an organized way without requiring an explicit summary conclusion, although some essays may feel incomplete if they lack a final sentence that summarizes the argument.
Preparation for essay examination questions is similar to preparation for multiple-choice examination questions. The principal differences are that1) an essay answer is more comprehensive in content and 2) an essay answer requires structure (a beginning that tells your reader what to expect, a middle that develops your arguments, and a conclusion that summarizes what the middle section has illustrated).