LITS3303 EXAM ADVICE

The exam is based solely on Module 2 and is devoted to Phenomenological aesthetics  / critical theory as well as Feminist and Post-colonial engagements therewith.

The exam is two hours in length. 

You must answer any two questions (in the form of essays) chosen from a total of 7.

Some of the questions are comparative (i.e. they ask you to compare the views of two theorists on a particular topic) but others ask you to focus on a single theorist. 

In the final module, we examined the following topics which I have divided into three broad areas (however, the paper is not subdivided into sections, which means that you can answer any two questions):

A. Phenomenological aesthetics  / critical theory: there will be three questions chosen from the following topics:

  1. Sartre on the dialectic of writing and reading; on realism;
  2. Hirsch on how to ensure that your interpretation is objective;
  3. Poulet on how the reader temporarily assumes the identity of the author in the process of reading, seeing through his eyes, etc.;
  4. Jauss' attempt to rethink literary history from the point of view of the reader; his four theses to this end;
  5. Iser on the reading process.

B. Phenomenological Feminist Theory: there will be two questions on the following topics:

  1. De Beauvoir on the nature of femininity (the male/female dialectic); on the myths which men have historically circulated about women, not least in literature;
  2. Firestone's critique of De Beauvoir's 'idealism'; her rewriting of the Base / superstructure model of Marx and Engels to emphasise gender;
  3. Spender on the role which language plays in shaping our perceptions and, thus, in the perpetuation of sexism;
  4. Schweickart's views on mainstream reader-response theory; the feminist reader of male writers; the feminist reader of female writers; her engagement with Poulet's ideas.

C. Phenomenological Post-colonial Theory: there will be two questions on the following topics:

  1. Fanon on the identity of the 'Antillean Negro' (the white/black dialectic); on Post-colonial literary and intellectual history;
  2. Lamming on the negro writer;
  3. Walcott on the obsession with the past in Caribbean culture and academia;
  4. JanMohamed on colonialist literary constructions of Africa.

It might be wise to focus on one of the areas above (A, B or C) and to prepare the topics listed under that rubric.