Information about the test on May 27th

For those of you who are visiting here in search of test info, I've collected all of the sample questions I went over in lecture and info about the test's format here.

If you're looking for lecture notes, they are posted under the date on which the lecture took place. Check the "Archive" listing in the left sidebar.

The test will take place in the first hour of class. You'll have an hour to write, and then we'll take a break and come back for some introductory info about All's Well that Ends Well.

The test will include six short answer questions (1 point each), and two medium answer questions (two points each), for a total of 10 points. The test is worth 5% of your final mark.

Note that the test is open book. That means open text and open notebook. Anything that has been assigned reading so far is fair game for the test, whether I discussed it in detail in lecture or not. So, bring your Broadview anthology and your copy of Thomas Nashe's works (including Pierce Penniless and The Terrors of the Night) so you can research your answers.

Sample Test Questions
These are the sample questions I gave you to try last week on Tuesday and Thursday.

Sample Short Answer Questions
On page 221 of The Terrors of the Night, Nashe writes, “If [a man] chance to kill a spider, he hath suppressed an enemy; if a spinner creep upon him, he shall have gold rain down from heaven. If his nose bleed, some of his kinsfolks is dead; if the salt fall right against him, all the stars cannot save him from some immediate misfortune.” What is the purpose of this list of supersitions in the context of his overall argument?
Note that this question in particular is asking you to look not just at the passage itself, but at the surrounding discussion. You should go into the test having some idea of the overarching arguments / ideas at work in the readings we've done so far, so that you can recognize where the author is putting forward a point of view that stands in contrast to his own point.

On pages 60-62 of Pierce Penniless, just before the beginning of the section called The Description of Greediness, Pierce states, “I know a great sort of good fellows that would venture far for his freedom, and a number of needy lawyers, who now mourn in threadbare gowns for his thraldom, that would go near to poison his keepers with false Latin, if that might procure his enlargement…” Who is the prisoner in this statement?

On pages 79-80 in Pierce Penniless, Pierce composes a “Commendation of Antiquaries”. He gives (at least) two reasons why Antiquaries are able to convince people to buy old stuff. What are they?


Examining the section on “The Fruits of Poetry” from Pierce Penniless (91-2), name two of the fruits of poetry.

In “Of Plantations”, what does Bacon identify as the main cause of the failure of most colonies?

Sample Medium Answer Questions
Examine The Tunning of Elinour Rumming, lines 1-90. Identify three features of Skelton’s verse in this passage. In one or two sentences, using one of the features you’ve identified, state how it amplifies or undercuts the content of the passage.

In Pierce Penniless pages 71-2, Pierce describes “The Base Insinuating of Drudges and their Practice to Aspire”. What is a “drudge”? What warning advice does he give to drudges? In one or two sentences, theorize what this advice suggests about the role of women in 16th century society.

Considering the sections on “The Defence of Plays”, “The Use of Plays”, and “The Confutation of the Citizens’ Objections Against Players” in Pierce Penniless, compose three or four sentences about the place of plays and players in the social order.

Using Bacon’s essay “Of Truth”, compose three or four sentences noting his technique(s) for discussing his topic.