Good Practice in World Literature: An Examiner¡s Perspective
1. Show real personal engagement. Example: Chinese-speaking student re-translated a poem and compared her version to that read in class, focusing closely on the implications in English of the near-synonyms which might be used in translating a single Chinese character and explaining her choice as it related to the Taoist philosophy of the poet.
2. Be literary in focus. Papers on technique, skillfully handled, are often more convincing as evidence of a serious study of literature than those which treat sociological issues or compare characters as if they were living individuals. An essay on magic realism as seenin a Marquez novel is thus more appealing than one using the same text as a source of examples of machismo in Latin American culture.
3. Avoid the temptation to treat the ¡§theme¡ around which the three Part 1 works were selected.
4. Variety of papers in class is positive.
5. A clear and carefully selected title is very helpful.
6. Papers which analyze and interpret text¡Xnot merely narrate and describe¡Xwin favor. Close analysis of aptly chosen quotations create convincing argument while papers which rely on paraphrase alone are less successful. Those which throw in quotations without discussing their relevance are simply wasting words.
7. Creative pieces (WL2) which include a clear rationale explaining convincingly what the student is trying to do receive higher marks than those omitting this. The rationale, in the case of pastiche, should comment on what aspects of the original are being imitated.
8. Practical matters: stapled once, cover sheet, accurate word-count, double-spaced, accurately number pages, clearly labeled.
ć 1. Re-read the scoring guide. Do you know what the examiner will be looking for?
ć 2. Re-read the relevant Part 1 texts. Have you considered them with a fresh eye and open mind?
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