Teachers' outlines for studies in English, based on the requirements for admission to college

THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO

(Spring, 1907)

State:

1. At what school you studied English.
2. Under whose instruction.
3. For how long.
4. 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.

1. The history of the writing of The Ancient Mariner, and its place in the development of English Literature.
2. The story of The Passing of Arthur.
3. Banquo.
4. The siege of Front-de-Bœuf's Castle.
5. The character of Oliver Goldsmith.

B—Intensive Reading

Explain the following passages:

Who speaks, and when?

C—Rhetoric

1. Explain and illustrate the principle of coherence, (a) in the sentence, (b) in the paragraph.
2. 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.
3. 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:

1. At what school you studied English.
2. Under whose instruction.
3. For how long.
4. The text-books used.

A—Composition and Rhetoric

1. Write, first making an outline, on two of the following topics:
   1. Was Portia a lovable character—a girl who would make a good wife?
   2. The story of Lancelot and Elaine.
   3. Johnson and Goldsmith.
   4. Macaulay's ideas of the Puritans and of King Charles I.
   5. High-school fraternities.
   6. The town I like best.
2. Explain the principle of coherence, and show how, from sentence to sentence, you have made the coherence plain in your two foregoing compositions.
3. 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.
4. Give, in a sentence of 30 words or more, three examples of parallel constructions.

B—Literature

1. Who wrote: The Faerie Queene, Rasselas, Treasure land, Vanity Fair, Tintern Abbey, Love's Labor's Lost, Robinson Crusoe, Locksley Hall?
2. 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?
3. 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.

BROWN UNIVERSITY

(1905)

I

Answer all the questions:

1. Correct any errors in the following sentences. Give reasons for the changes you make.
   1. The man whom she thought was her cousin was not.
   2. After digging for some weeks longer, another strata was discovered.
   3. Seating myself by the fire, which my odious companion had lighted, he thus began his tale.
   4. To the right of this monument stands the City Hall, a building of granite, and a few more structures of less importance.
   5. The tire was cut all the width and was caused by a wood-chopper who placed an axe beneath the tire.
2. Insert the proper forms (shall or will) in the following sentences:
   1. I _____ be glad to do it.
   2. I _____ gladly do it.
   3. If the school year is shortened, we _____ find that less work is accomplished.
   4. _____ you take my book, or _____ you be able to do without one?
3. Define the following expressions: predicate, passive voice, intransitive, possessive, superlative.

II

Answer three questions:

1. Describe the quarrel between Brutus and Cassius in the Fourth Act of Julius Cæsar. What characteristics of each does the quarrel reveal?
2. Narrate the adventures of Moses at the fair in The Vicar of Wakefield.
3. Where does Carlyle place the responsibility for the misfortunes of Burns?
4. Sketch the life of Lowell.
5. Describe the change which came over the title-character in The Princess.

III

Answer all the questions:

1  Explain words in italics.

2  Scan the last two lines in the second passage above, as they would be read naturally. Name the feet in the first of the two lines, and give the metrical name for the second line as a whole.

3  What does Macaulay say of Addison as a satirist?

(1907)

I

1 Decline the personal pronouns.

2 Give the preterites and past participles of the following verbs: lie, lay, sit, set, raise, rise, dive.

3 Give the plurals of the following nouns: spoonful, Mussulman, mother-in-law, series, sheep, alumnus, prospectus.

4 Give the case, number and construction of each noun and pronoun, and the mood, tense, voice and construction of each verb in the following sentence: If, in short, a writer sincerely wishes to communicate to another mind what is in his own mind, he will choose that one of two or more words equally in good use which expresses his meaning as fully as it is within the power of language to express it.

II

Write carefully prepared themes, about two pages in length, on two of the following topics:

1. A mediæval tournament.
2. The career and character of Lancelot.
3. The outlaws in Ivanhoe.
4. Goldsmith's early life.
5. The death of Banquo.
6. Literary life in England in the eighteenth century.

III

Answer all the questions:

1. Explain the italicized words in the following passages from Il Penseroso:
   1. The fickle pensioners of Morpheus' train.
   2. 'Less Philomel will deign a song.
   3. Or call up him that left half told The story of Cambuskan bold.
   4. Storied windows richly dight.
2. Give some account of Johnson's works.
3. Who were Garrick, Reynolds, Burke, and Boswell?
4. In what form were Macaulay's Essays first published?
5. From what source did Shakespeare take most of the material for Julius Cæsar?

SHEFFIELD SCIENTIFIC SCHOOL

(1905)

The candidate is advised to be careful in paragraphing, spelling, punctuation, and form of expression.

Select either of the two following lists of topics, plainly indicating at the head of the paper which list is selected. Write short compositions (containing about one hundred words each) on five subjects chosen from that list.

The candidate must draw all his subjects from the one list selected.

1. The Excursion to the Waterfall in The Princess.
2. The Elopement of Jessica.
3. Cedric's Escape from Front-de-Bœuf's Castle.
4. Antony's Speech over Cæsar's Body.
5. Sir Launfal and the Leper.
6. Sir Andrew Freeport.
7. Carlyle on the Sincerity of the Poetry of Burns.
8. The Influence of Eppie upon Silas Marner.
9. Carlyle on Burns as a Poet of Scottish Peasant Life.
10. A brief Sketch of Goldsmith's Life.

1. Sir Lancelot in Gareth and Lynette.
2. Sir Lavaine in Lancelot and Elaine.
3. Arthur's Sword, Excalibur.
4. The Elopement of Jessica.
5. The Witches in Macbeth.
6. Sir Andrew Freeport.
7. Cedric's Escape from Front-de-Bœuf's Castle.
8. The Songs in The Lady of the Lake.
9. The Influence of Eppie upon Silas Marner.
10. Goldsmith's Acquaintance with Dr. Johnson.

(1906)

The candidate is advised to be careful in paragraphing, spelling, punctuation, and form of expression.

Write short compositions (containing about one hundred words each) on four subjects chosen from this list. One of these must be number 1, the others must be chosen from three different works. The Idylls of the King is to be regarded as one work.

1. My Preparation for this Examination.
2. The Discovery of the Murder of Duncan.
3. The Elopement of Jessica.
4. Gareth's Arrival at King Arthur's Court.
5. Sir Roger and Moll White.
6. Athelstane.
7. Nancy Lammeter.
8. Gawain's Search for the Winner of the Tournament.
9. The Sleep-Walking Scene in Macbeth.
10. The Stealing of Silas Marner's Gold.

The questions should be answered in order:

1. 1. How does Artemidorus figure in Julius Cæsar?
   2. How does Antony characterize Lepidus?
   3. Describe in detail the scene between Brutus and Portia.
2. 1. The earliest printed editions of Comus entitle the piece "A Mask presented at Ludlow Castle." Explain fully the circumstances of its presentation. What passages in the Mask itself refer to these circumstances?
   2. Describe in detail the method of your preparation for the examination on Milton's minor poems.
3. 1. What successive steps in Burke's argument lead to the definite resolutions which he introduces?
   2. What are the chief arguments by which Burke supports these resolutions?
4. 1. What does Macaulay say of Addison's Cato?
   2. Of Addison's poem, The Campaign?
   3. What information does Macaulay give concerning "Johnson's Club"?

N. B.—For IV (a) and (b) may be substituted the following:

1. What does Macaulay say of Milton's minor poems?
2. Of Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained?

(1907)

Answer all questions fully and in order:

1.  
2. 1. Discuss the relation of Addison's literary fame to his political preferment.
   2. How did Johnson come to write The Lives of the Poets?
3. 1. What was the occasion, and what the nature of Lycidas?
   2. Describe the part played by the Attendant Spirit, from first to last, in Comus.
4. Trace the successive steps by which Brutus was won to the conspiracy.
5. How did Burke's plan of conciliation with the colonies differ from other plans?

UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA

(Spring, 1907)

Note.—"No candidate will be accepted in English whose work is notably defective in spelling, punctuation, idiom or division into paragraphs."—Extract from the University Catalogue.

1 Analyze the following sentence and parse the words italicized:

1. How did Antony think the motive of Brutus in killing Cæsar differed from that of the other conspirators.
2. What attitude toward slavery is revealed in Burke's speech?
3. Tell the story of Comus.
4. Tell where the following passage is found; in what measure it is written; scan it; and explain the italicized words:

(Autumn, 1907)

1. Analyze the following sentence and parse the words italicized:
   

   The river goes on and on, and down through marshes and sands, until at last it falls into the sea, where the ships are that bring parrots and tobacco from the Indies.

2. Write a paragraph of about fifty words on each of the following subjects taken from the books of which a general knowledge is required:
3. • a The Death of Roderick Dhu.
   • b Lynette's Contempt of Gareth.
   • c The Witches' Part in Macbeth.
   • d The Characteristics of Saxon and Norman in Ivanhoe.
   • e Nancy Lammeter.

1. Write a character sketch of Dr. Johnson as you see him in Macaulay's essay.
2. Give your impression of Addison as a man of letters, judging by Macaulay's essay.
3. What part do Portia and Calpurnia play in Julius Cæsar?
4. Tell where the following passage is found: in what measure it is written; scan it; and explain the italicized words:

YALE COLLEGE

(Spring, 1905)

The purpose of this examination is to test (1) the candidate's knowledge and appreciation of certain specified works, and (2) his ability to write correctly. As bearing on the latter point, he is advised to go over his paper carefully before the end of the time allowed, correcting any inaccuracies, not neglecting capitals and punctuation.

Write about two hundred words on each of three topics selected by yourself from the following list (of a pair of subjects enclosed in brackets, choose but one):

{ Jessica's Escape from her Father's House.
{ Launcelot Gobbo.

Sir Roger at Church.

The Encounter of Fitz-James and Roderick Dhu.

{ Goldsmith's Life as a Student.
{ The Circumstances of the Composition, the First Performance, and the Publication
{ of She Stoops to Conquer.

{ Lynette's Behavior toward Sir Gareth.
{ The History of "the nine-years-fought-for diamonds."

Carlyle's Defense of Burns's Personal Character.

(Only candidates taking final examinations may choose the last.)

1. (a) Explain the significance of the italicized words and phrases: "Memorize another Golgotha"; "To alter favor ever is to fear"; "Wicked dreams abuse The curtained sleep"; "But in them nature's copy's not eterne"; "His two chamberlains Will I with wine and wassail so convince."

   (b) What important persons of the drama are absent from the banquet? Where is each at that time? How far do these circumstances influence any later events in the play?

   (c) Give the substance of Malcolm's actions and utterances as far as they are presented on the stage.

2. (a) What is said respecting the parentage of Mirth and Melancholy in L'Allegro and Il Penseroso? Interpret the meaning of each of the various suggestions.

   (b)
   What was that snaky-headed Gorgon shield
   That wise Minerva wore, unconquered virgin,
   Wherewith she freezed her foes to congealed stone,
   But rigid looks of chaste austerity,
   And noble grace that dashed brute violence
   With sudden adoration and blank awe?
   

   Locate the above quotation as exactly as you can, and show its relation to the general subject of the poem. Explain fully the allusions in the first three lines.

3. (a) "First, then, I cannot admit that proposition of a ransom by auction, because it is a mere project.... Secondly, it is an experiment which must be fatal in the end to our Constitution.... Thirdly, it does not give satisfaction to the complaint of the Colonies." What was "that proposition"? Give the substance of Burke's objections under the above headings. What is the relation of this part of the speech to the whole? Was the "proposition" accepted?

   (b) What connection with the main argument has Burke's discussion of slave-holding in the Colonies?

4. (a) Macaulay's remarks on Comus; (b) on Addison as a critic.

(1906)

Write about two hundred words on each of three topics selected by yourself from the following lists (of a pair of subjects enclosed in brackets, choose but one):

{The Banquet Scene in Macbeth.
{The Character of Antonio.

The Jessamy Bride.

Gurth.

{The Contrast between Gareth and Geraint.
{Tennyson's Use of Natural Scenery in The Passing of Arthur.

A comparison of the Moral of The Ancient Mariner with that of The Vision of Sir Launfal.

The finding of Eppie.

• I
  1. Narrate the events in Julius Cæsar that occur on the Ides of March, before the murder.
  2. In what book did Shakespeare find the material for Julius Cæsar? How does his conception of the character of Cæsar resemble or differ from that which you have formed in your study of Cæsar's Gallic Wars or of Roman history?
• 
  
• II
  1. Sometime let gorgeous Tragedy
     In sceptred pall come sweeping by,
     Presenting Thebes, or Pelops' line,
     Or the tale of Troy divine,
     Or what (though rare) of later age      5
     Ennobled hath the buskined stage.
     

     (1) To what is Milton referring in line 3? (2) Comment on lines 5 and 6. (3) What is meant by "sceptred pall"? by "buskined stage"? (4) What similar pleasures were enjoyed by L'Allegro?

  2. Milton's remarks on the clergy in Lycidas.

• 
  
• III
  1. Into what great divisions does Burke's Speech on Conciliation with America fall? What digression from the main subject is made, and for what reasons?
  2. What plan had been proposed by the "Noble Lord in the Blue Ribbon"? On what grounds did Burke criticize it?
• 
  
• IV
• Macaulay's remarks on the nature and influence of Addison's Spectator.

(1907)

Write about two hundred words on each of three topics selected by yourself from the following list (of a pair of subjects enclosed in brackets, choose but one):

1. Describe (a) the interview between Brutus and Portia, and (b) Brutus's treatment of Lucius in his tent near Sardis. How does each of these scenes affect our estimate of the character of Brutus? What is the last we hear of Portia?
2. What opportunity is provided in Comus for the introduction of instrumental music? dancing? display of scenery? Describe the concluding scene (beginning with the appearance of Sabrina) as you imagine it to have been performed at Ludlow Castle in 1634.
3. 1. What, according to Burke, are the three possible ways of dealing with the American spirit of liberty? State his reasons for rejecting the first two.
   2. What does Burke think should be the attitude of one nation toward another in such a crisis as the one under discussion?
   3. Cite any reasons that appeal to you as helping to explain the fame of Burke's Speech on Conciliation with America.
4. 1. Write an account of Johnson's early years in London.
   2. Macaulay says of Johnson: "No human being who has been more than seventy years in the grave is so well known to us." Discuss the grounds for this statement.

WELLESLEY COLLEGE

(1906)

Answer two of the following questions:

1. What qualities do Lady Macbeth and Portia of Belmont have in common, and at what point do their characters diverge?
2. Which of the three required Idylls of the King, viz. Gareth and Lynette, Lancelot and Elaine, The Passing of Arthur, seems to you more beautiful, and why?
3. Compare the life of Goldsmith with that of Dr. Johnson. Which life seems to you the more successful?

Answer two of questions 1, 2, 3, question 4, and either question 5 or 6:

1. What makes the play of Julius Cæsar great?
2. Compare the nature pictures in L'Allegro with those in Il Penseroso, using, if you prefer, Milton's own language.
3. What were Burke's strong points as an orator?
4. Write a well-constructed paragraph of about two hundred words on the character of Samuel Johnson as presented by Macaulay. Give your reasons for the arrangement of the ideas in your paragraph. Show how the principles of unity and coherence are illustrated by the arrangement of the ideas or material of your paragraph.
5. 1. Give two examples of each of the following kinds of sentences: simple, complex, compound.
   2. Punctuate the following passage:
      "And night came down over the solemn waste
      And the two gazing hosts and that sole pair
      And darkened all and a cold fog with night
      Crept from the Oxus soon a hum arose
      As of a great assembly loosed and fires
      Began to twinkle through the fog for now
      Both armies moved to camp and took their meal
      The Persians took it on the open sands
      Southward the Tartars by the river merge
      And Rustum and his son were left alone."
      
6. 1. Give explicit reasons for the correctness or the incorrectness of the following sentences:
      1. He, in a moment of excitement and affection, did this act of beneficence and of which he was very proud.
      2. We know that Oliver Goldsmith was himself not unlike the Vicar of Wakefield, which may partly account for the charm of the book.
      3. I neither regarded myself as rich nor poor.
      4. The book will not fail of a permanent place in literature, because it is badly written.
   2. Give examples of the correct use of the following words: affect, complement, mad, nice, fellow.

WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY.

(1907)

Allow one hour for each division of the examination.

Consider what you will say, and in what order you will say it, before you begin to write at all.

Revise your work, and, if time permits, make a clean copy of it after revision.

No candidate will be accepted in English whose work is notably defective in spelling, punctuation, idiom, or division into paragraphs.

One especial purpose of this division of the examination is to test the ability of the candidate to express his thoughts in clear, connected sentences, properly combined in at least three paragraphs. Single, detached sentences will not meet the requirements.

Select three of the following topics for discussion. Be accurate and avoid generalities.

1. Give an account of Sir Roger at the play.
2. Describe Arthur's last battle and the last scene in The Passing of Arthur.

3. 1. Under what circumstances and by whom are the following lines uttered?

      The man that hath no music in himself,
      Nor is not moved with concord of sweet sounds,
      Is fit for treasons, stratagems, and spoils.
      
   2. Outline the action from this point to the end of the play.
4. Goldsmith's life on the Continent after he left Dublin.
5. Describe the place, the cause, and the results of the combat in The Lady of the Lake.
6. Give an account of the part of Gawain in Lancelot and Elaine.
7. Describe the attack on the castle of Front-de-Bœuf.

8. 1. Explain the following lines in every detail:

      I hear it by the way; but I will send:
      There's not a one of them, but in his house
      I keep a servant fee'd. I will to-morrow
      (And betimes I will) unto the weird sisters.
      
   2. What results from this resolution?