THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO
Reading edition
(Spring, 1907)
State:
At what school you studied English.
Under whose instruction.
For how long.
The text-books used.
A—Composition
Write a short composition on two of the following topics. Use plain, natural English, free from errors in spelling, punctuation, and grammar, and correct in idiom. Before you begin, think what you are going to say. You will be judged by how well you write, not by how much.
The history of the writing of The Ancient Mariner, and its place in the development of English Literature.
The story of The Passing of Arthur.
Banquo.
The siege of Front-de-Bœuf's Castle.
The character of Oliver Goldsmith.
B—Intensive Reading
Explain the following passages:
aAnd Cæsar's spirit, ranging for revenge,
With Ate by his side come hot from hell,
Shall in these confines with a monarch's voice
Cry "Havoc."
—Julius Cæsar.
Who speaks, and when?
bYou shall digest the venom of your spleen,
Though it do split you;...
I'll use you for my ... laughter,
When you are waspish.
—Julius Cæsar.
cPhilomel will deign a song,
In her sweetest, saddest plight,
Smoothing the rugged brow of Night
While Cynthia checks her dragon yoke
Gently o'er the accustomed oak.
—Il Penseroso.
dAlas, what boots it with incessant care
To tend the homely slighted shepherd's trade,
And strictly meditate the thankless Muse?
—Lycidas.
C—Rhetoric
Explain and illustrate the principle of coherence, (a) in the sentence, (b) in the paragraph.
Define and illustrate simple, complex, and compound sentences. Write a brief account of a happening of yesterday; first write it in simple sentences only, then rewrite it in complex and compound sentences.
Comment on the use of the italicized words in the following sentences: The quick fishes steered to and fro about the body. How terrible, in "The Ancient Mariner," are the dead throats singing spectral carols! Stars are my candles, and the wind my friend.
(Autumn, 1907)
State:
At what school you studied English.
Under whose instruction.
For how long.
The text-books used.
A—Composition and Rhetoric
Write, first making an outline, on two of the following topics: Was Portia a lovable character—a girl who would make a good wife? The story of Lancelot and Elaine. Johnson and Goldsmith. Macaulay's ideas of the Puritans and of King Charles I. High-school fraternities. The town I like best.
Explain the principle of coherence, and show how, from sentence to sentence, you have made the coherence plain in your two foregoing compositions.
Define and give synonyms for the following words: passive, taunt, sanguine, affect, fix, stingy. Be equally careful about the truth and the form of your definitions.
Give, in a sentence of 30 words or more, three examples of parallel constructions.
B—Literature
Who wrote: The Faerie Queene, Rasselas, Treasure land, Vanity Fair, Tintern Abbey, Love's Labor's Lost, Robinson Crusoe, Locksley Hall?
What becomes of Fleance? of Rebecca, the Jewess? of Cassius? of Gareth? of Godfrey Cass? What was the result of Burke's speech on Conciliation?
Locate and explain the following passages: a Comes the blind Fury with the abhorred shears. b Or bid the soul of Orpheus sing Such notes as warbled to the string Drew iron tears down Pluto's cheek, And made Hell grant what love did seek. c He were no lion, were not Romans hinds. d I am a soldier, I, Older in practice, abler than yourself To make conditions. e The death of each day's life, sore labor's bath.