This document contains test questions and essay assignments for two literature courses: ENG4U and English 12 Final Exam. For the ENG4U test, students must choose 4 of 6 short story analysis questions to answer in paragraph form. They will be evaluated on their understanding of the text, use of evidence, and writing clarity. The assignment also includes essay prompts on themes in The Kite Runner. The English 12 Final Exam includes multiple choice definitions, short answer questions on "The Story of an Hour" and themes/characters in Hamlet, and an essay question choosing from prompts on symbolism in The Kite Runner.

1. ENG4U – SHORT STORY TEST
Select any FOUR questions from the list below. Write a short,
argumentative paragraph for each. Each question is worth 15
marks.
1. Compare and contrast the stories “Hills Like White
Elephants” and “Things That Fly”. How do both stories give the
reader minimal information as a way to highlight the emotional
struggles the characters are going through?
2. Pick any story we read in class, other than “Hills Like White
Elephants”, and explain how the setting is used symbolically or
how it significantly contributes to the meaning of the story.
3. Pick any story we read in class that uses an open or
unresolved ending. Explain how this lack of resolution is an
effective and appropriate conclusion to the themes of the story.
4. Pick any two stories and show how they depict a power
struggle between the main characters. How does the author
indicate a moral victory in this struggle?
5. Consider either “Things that fly” or “Dressing Up For the
Carnival” and explain how the narrator's language (diction,
voice, stylistic devices) is appropriate and reflects something
about the theme or the characters.
6. Pick any story and explain how the characters achieve a small
but important triumph through their imaginations.
EVALUATION
(K/U, T/I) Answer shows strong understanding of the text (4 x 5

2. marks)
/20
(T/I, A) Effective use of evidence to support ideas (4 x 5 marks)
/20
(C) Writing is clear and well-organized (4 x 5 marks)
/20
The kite Runnert Essay Assignment
ENG 4U
So far we’ve been analyzing and discussing various issues in
The Kite Runner. Now is your opportunity to choose one of
these issues to discuss in further depth.
Choose one of the themes or issues discussed during class to
explore in a formal essay using MLA formatting. You will
create a clear and concise thesis statement (central argument)
that is related to the theme or issue you have chosen. The goal
of your essay will be to prove your thesis statement and show
your solid understanding and knowledge of the play.
Your essay must be between 3-4 double-spaced pages and
include a Works Cited page. You may or may not include a title
page. Your Works Cited and title page will not be included in
your page count! Please ensure each page of your essay is
numbered and contains your last name. Make sure your title is
creative and indicates to the reader what your essay is about.
Some questions to think about when creating your thesis:
- why is this important?
- what is Khaled Hosseini trying to say with the exploration of
this theme?

3. - remember an essay is not meant to just point out the different
times in the novelthat the theme occurs. Instead, the purpose is
to take a stand and argue a point about your specific topic.
Other points to consider
· The essay will be well-constructed and follow proper essay
format. It must be formal in tone, but you can and should use
the personal pronoun “I” when expressing your views
· Express your views strongly and clearly
· Use citations (direct evidence in the form of quotation) from
the novel only. Use MLA formatting to cite all quotes. Cite the
play in a Works Cited Page at the end of your essay
· Organize your response in a logical fashion. Provide an
introduction that outlines the topic and end the introduction
with a thesis. Use well-constructed, well-developed paragraphs
to support the thesis. Incorporate a minimum of 2-3 citations
per body paragraph from the novel as evidence to prove your
views. Conclude effectively by restating the thesis, your
arguments and broaden to a wider significance.
· Use present tense
English 12 Final Exam
ENG4U
Name:
Date
Total: /100
Part A: (K/U) Literary terms (10 marks)
Please define the following literary terms:

4. a) Soliloquy
b) Pun
c) Simile
d) Metaphor
e) Theme
f) Personification
g) Alliteration
h) Hyperbole
i) Onomatopoeia
j) Imagery
Part B: (K/U, T/I) Critical Reading (30 marks)
Please read The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin and answer 3
of the following questions, using grammatically correct
sentences. Each question is worth 10 marks."The Story of An
Hour"
Kate Chopin (1894)
Knowing that Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with a heart trouble,
great care was taken to break to her as gently as possible the
news of her husband's death.
It was her sister Josephine who told her, in broken sentences;
veiled hints that revealed in half concealing. Her husband's

5. friend Richards was there, too, near her. It was he who had been
in the newspaper office when intelligence of the railroad
disaster was received, with Brently Mallard's name leading the
list of "killed." He had only taken the time to assure himself of
its truth by a second telegram, and had hastened to forestall any
less careful, less tender friend in bearing the sad message.
She did not hear the story as many women have heard the same,
with a paralyzed inability to accept its significance. She wept at
once, with sudden, wild abandonment, in her sister's arms.
When the storm of grief had spent itself she went away to her
room alone. She would have no one follow her.
There stood, facing the open window, a comfortable, roomy
armchair. Into this she sank, pressed down by a physical
exhaustion that haunted her body and seemed to reach into her
soul.
She could see in the open square before her house the tops of
trees that were all aquiver with the new spring life. The
delicious breath of rain was in the air. In the street below a
peddler was crying his wares. The notes of a distant song which
some one was singing reached her faintly, and countless
sparrows were twittering in the eaves.
There were patches of blue sky showing here and there through
the clouds that had met and piled one above the other in the
west facing her window.
She sat with her head thrown back upon the cushion of the
chair, quite motionless, except when a sob came up into her
throat and shook her, as a child who has cried itself to sleep
continues to sob in its dreams.
She was young, with a fair, calm face, whose lines bespoke
repression and even a certain strength. But now there was a dull

6. stare in her eyes, whose gaze was fixed away off yonder on one
of those patches of blue sky. It was not a glance of reflection,
but rather indicated a suspension of intelligent thought.
There was something coming to her and she was waiting for it,
fearfully. What was it? She did not know; it was too subtle and
elusive to name. But she felt it, creeping out of the sky,
reaching toward her through the sounds, the scents, the color
that filled the air.
Now her bosom rose and fell tumultuously. She was beginning
to recognize this thing that was approaching to possess her, and
she was striving to beat it back with her will--as powerless as
her two white slender hands would have been. When she
abandoned herself a little whispered word escaped her slightly
parted lips. She said it over and over under hte breath: "free,
free, free!" The vacant stare and the look of terror that had
followed it went from her eyes. They stayed keen and bright.
Her pulses beat fast, and the coursing blood warmed and relaxed
every inch of her body.
She did not stop to ask if it were or were not a monstrous joy
that held her. A clear and exalted perception enabled her to
dismiss the suggestion as trivial. She knew that she would weep
again when she saw the kind, tender hands folded in death; the
face that had never looked save with love upon her, fixed and
gray and dead. But she saw beyond that bitter moment a long
procession of years to come that would belong to her absolutely.
And she opened and spread her arms out to them in welcome.
There would be no one to live for during those coming years;
she would live for herself. There would be no powerful will
bending hers in that blind persistence with which men and
women believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a
fellow-creature. A kind intention or a cruel intention made the
act seem no less a crime as she looked upon it in that brief

7. moment of illumination.
And yet she had loved him--sometimes. Often she had not. What
did it matter! What could love, the unsolved mystery, count for
in the face of this possession of self-assertion which she
suddenly recognized as the strongest impulse of her being!
"Free! Body and soul free!" she kept whispering.
Josephine was kneeling before the closed door with her lips to
the keyhold, imploring for admission. "Louise, open the door! I
beg; open the door--you will make yourself ill. What are you
doing, Louise? For heaven's sake open the door."
"Go away. I am not making myself ill." No; she was drinking in
a very elixir of life through that open window.
Her fancy was running riot along those days ahead of her.
Spring days, and summer days, and all sorts of days that would
be her own. She breathed a quick prayer that life might be long.
It was only yesterday she had thought with a shudder that life
might be long.
She arose at length and opened the door to her sister's
importunities. There was a feverish triumph in her eyes, and she
carried herself unwittingly like a goddess of Victory. She
clasped her sister's waist, and together they descended the
stairs. Richards stood waiting for them at the bottom.
Some one was opening the front door with a latchkey. It was
Brently Mallard who entered, a little travel-stained, composedly
carrying his grip-sack and umbrella. He had been far from the
scene of the accident, and did not even know there had been
one. He stood amazed at Josephine's piercing cry; at Richards'
quick motion to screen him from the view of his wife.

8. When the doctors came they said she had died of heart disease--
of the joy that kills.
1. What is the significance of the title?
2. What is the major irony, on which the plot is constructed?
Does it seem persuasive or does it strain the credibility?
3. How does the description of the setting, reflect Mrs.
Mallard’s shifts in mood?
4. What is the attitude of those who would comfort Mrs.
Mallard? Do you agree with this attitude?
Part C: (K/U, T/I) Hamlet: Short Answer (30 marks)
Each question is worth 10 marks each.(Any 3)
a) PLOT: Specify a significant point in the plot. How or why do
you think this event is significant?
b) THEME: What themes are explored in Hamlet? Please prove
that these themes exist by providing evidence from the play.
c) CHARACTER: Characterize each of the following characters
as loyal or disloyal to Hamlet and explain why would describe
each as such. If neither, explain. The characters are Horatio,
Claudius, Gertrude, Ophelia, Rosencrantz/Guildenstern.
d) CONFLICT: Throughout the play Hamlet experiences a great
deal of inner conflict. In his inability to act decisively his
downfall or is it what makes him a hero?
e) SETTING: What is the setting of the play and why is it
important to the plot and/or theme?

9. Part D: (A/C) The Kite Runner: Essay Question (30 marks)
Choose ONE of the essay questions and answer it in the proper
essay format. Your answer must be well written with minimal
grammar and spelling errors. Your essay must have an
introduction, minimum of three body paragraphs and a
conclusion.
1. Discuss the symbolism of the kite throughout The Kite
Runner. How does Hosseini use the kite to characterize various
interrelated themes found in the text?
2. Discuss the role of fathers in the novel, calling attention to
three or more father figures
3. The themes of redemption and betrayal in the novel.
Please note you will be marked as follows:
Essay Format:
/5
Thesis:
/5
Knowledge/Understanding of the novel:
/10

10. Evidence:
/5
Writing Style (grammar and spelling):
/5