ENGL112 Mid term
Answer ONE of the following two long answer questions in approximately 3-6 pages
(double spaced). I expect your answer to be divided into organized paragraphs, and to cite
evidence from our texts (either paraphrased or as quotations) in developing your close
reading/analysis. You will have 24 hours to complete the exam. Attachments must be typed
using a standard font and uploaded to Moodle as either Word documents or PDFs.
(40 marks total)
1. Both Burgess’ A Clockwork Orange and McCarthy’s The Road are set in dystopian
worlds. How is the nature of human goodness perceived differently in each of the two novels?
Consider how the protagonists in both texts are shaped or changed by their experiences within
these dystopian landscapes. Make sure that you support your response with a direct close reading
and analysis of evidence cited from the texts.
2. What is the significance in Cormac McCarthy’s The Road of “the fire” that the man
and boy carry within themselves? Discuss how they are able to use this figurative and emotive
symbol in order to overcome the dystopic nature of their post-apocalyptic world? Be sure to
focus on specific dystopian elements that we discussed in lecture and to develop your answer
using a direct close reading of evidence cited from the novel.
, ENGL112 Mid term
Question 2
In Cormac McCarthy’s The Road, “the fire” is importance during the path of the man and
the boy as it kept them to continue their life. They carried it to overcome the dystopic nature of
their post-apocalyptic world in three stages.
Firstly, “the fire” kept them to continue their journal when they face difficulties and
choices. From page 12, “Old stories of courage and justice as he remembered them until the boy
was asleep in his blankets and then he stoked the fire and lay down warm and full and listened to
the low thunder of the falls beyond them in that dark and threadbare wood.”. “The Fire” comes
from when the is trying to deliver the message of courage and justice. The father wanted the boy
to hold humanity and did not hurt others even they are starving.
There are three stages of change that “the fire” helps them to overcome. The first stage
will be the man is a hero that protecting the boy from threshold Guardians and taught the boy to
be a good man with “the fire”. The story happened in A post-apocalyptic setting which is the
world after its destruction. In the first page, “When he woke in the woods in the dark and the
cold of the night. He’d reach out to touch the child sleeping beside him. Nights beyond darkness
and the days grayer each one than what had gone before.” (1). The world is dark and empty. It is
destroyed from certain accident that the story did not mention. It seems like without hope in the
world.
Moreover, there are also cannibals which is dehumanized. From Page 18, “He raised his
head slowly, the pistol in his hand. He looked down at the boy and when he looked back toward
the road the first of them were already coming into view. God, he whispered. He reached and
shook the boy, keeping his eyes on the road. They came shuffling through the ash casting their
hooded heads from side to side. Some of them wearing canister masks. One in a biohazard suit.
Answer ONE of the following two long answer questions in approximately 3-6 pages
(double spaced). I expect your answer to be divided into organized paragraphs, and to cite
evidence from our texts (either paraphrased or as quotations) in developing your close
reading/analysis. You will have 24 hours to complete the exam. Attachments must be typed
using a standard font and uploaded to Moodle as either Word documents or PDFs.
(40 marks total)
1. Both Burgess’ A Clockwork Orange and McCarthy’s The Road are set in dystopian
worlds. How is the nature of human goodness perceived differently in each of the two novels?
Consider how the protagonists in both texts are shaped or changed by their experiences within
these dystopian landscapes. Make sure that you support your response with a direct close reading
and analysis of evidence cited from the texts.
2. What is the significance in Cormac McCarthy’s The Road of “the fire” that the man
and boy carry within themselves? Discuss how they are able to use this figurative and emotive
symbol in order to overcome the dystopic nature of their post-apocalyptic world? Be sure to
focus on specific dystopian elements that we discussed in lecture and to develop your answer
using a direct close reading of evidence cited from the novel.
, ENGL112 Mid term
Question 2
In Cormac McCarthy’s The Road, “the fire” is importance during the path of the man and
the boy as it kept them to continue their life. They carried it to overcome the dystopic nature of
their post-apocalyptic world in three stages.
Firstly, “the fire” kept them to continue their journal when they face difficulties and
choices. From page 12, “Old stories of courage and justice as he remembered them until the boy
was asleep in his blankets and then he stoked the fire and lay down warm and full and listened to
the low thunder of the falls beyond them in that dark and threadbare wood.”. “The Fire” comes
from when the is trying to deliver the message of courage and justice. The father wanted the boy
to hold humanity and did not hurt others even they are starving.
There are three stages of change that “the fire” helps them to overcome. The first stage
will be the man is a hero that protecting the boy from threshold Guardians and taught the boy to
be a good man with “the fire”. The story happened in A post-apocalyptic setting which is the
world after its destruction. In the first page, “When he woke in the woods in the dark and the
cold of the night. He’d reach out to touch the child sleeping beside him. Nights beyond darkness
and the days grayer each one than what had gone before.” (1). The world is dark and empty. It is
destroyed from certain accident that the story did not mention. It seems like without hope in the
world.
Moreover, there are also cannibals which is dehumanized. From Page 18, “He raised his
head slowly, the pistol in his hand. He looked down at the boy and when he looked back toward
the road the first of them were already coming into view. God, he whispered. He reached and
shook the boy, keeping his eyes on the road. They came shuffling through the ash casting their
hooded heads from side to side. Some of them wearing canister masks. One in a biohazard suit.
