Midterm exam
Dr. Manuel F. MedinaML 260
Fall 2019
Midterm Exam
Date: Monday, October 21
EXAM: worth 20% of the final grade
Format:
1. Five (5) of six (6) short questions about the short stories, film and novel. (8 points each, 40% grade)
e.g., "One of These Days is Whose's story?" Defend your answer.
What is "The South"'s basic conflict? Defend yor answer.
2. Two (2) essays. (30 points each; 60% grade)
Use an essay traditional structure: 1. introduction where you present a thesis statement, 2. arguments and 3. conclusion where you summarize the main points.
Sample question: "Explore the representation of Colombia during the Violence as depicted by the narrators in “One of These Days” and “Just Lather. That’s All.”
What would the exam cover?
Prepare answers to the questions of analysis (see website for a copy). The section one of the exam questions will come from that list as the apply to each story, or novel we have studied in class.
The exam will cover the material study until now:
- Short Stories and articles:
- García Márquez, Gabriel: “One of These Days”
Téllez, Hernando. “Just Lather. That’s All.”
To answer question on la Violencia as a social and political background for the stories listed above read the following: LaRosa, Michael, and Mejía P Germán. “La Violencia” Colombia: A Concise Contemporary History, ONLY pp.93-95 & 106. -
Bombal, María Luisa. “The Tree.”
Castellanos, Rosario. ”Cooking Lesson"
To answer questions on the role of women in Latin America read PAGES 155-157 from the following article: Barton, Jonathan R. “5. Communities of Poverty, Bodies of Power.” A Political Geography of Latin America. - Borges, Jorge Luis. “The Circular Ruins"
- Borges, Jorge Luis. “The South"
- Films:
-
La mujer de Benjamín (Benjamin's Woman), (Carlos Carrera, Mexico, 1991),
(Questions of Analysis for Benjamin's Woman) - Even the Rain, (Icíar Bollaín, Spain, 2010)
(Questions of Analysis for Even the Rain)
NOTE: Make sure to use the "Questions of analysis" as a study guide.
Read the article "Who Controls the Water?" Environmental Justice in Latin America: Problems, Promise, and Practice.Edited by David Carruthers, MIT Press, 2008. 287-319 (notes 313-319) to answer the question on the social, political and economical context in the film.
- Novel:
- Álvarez, Julia. In the Time of the Butterflies