Humanities 221, Sp 98 Exam #2  7 April 1998
Professor Celia A. Easton

Write all your answers in your blue book.   You may keep these examination questions.

The manner in which you express yourself affects my response to your essays.  If I must figure out what you are trying to say, you haven't effectively answered the question.  Remember to cite CONCRETE EXAMPLES, making your response as DETAILED as possible.  Be sure to explain everything implied  by the question.  For example, in question 6, in order to explain the books' significances, you need to come up with their titles, as well.  In question 8, consider under what conditions labor might not  be a commodity. Explain context, even when you are not explicitly requested to do so.  Although I do not ask you to regurgitate information from the background lectures, your ability to assimilate such information into your discussion of the texts will enhance your answers.

Part I.  Choose five of the following short answer questions, and write a FULL answer for each in clear, understandable prose.  Each answer is worth 12 points (60 points total). Length=a long paragraph or page (in small bluebook), depending on the size of your handwriting.

1.  Describe what Marx and Engels call the three stages of Communism in The Communist Manifesto.
2.  Explain why Victor feels guilty about Justine's death.
3.  What is the significance of the name of the teacher at the school set up by Mr. Gradgrind, and how does Dickens describe that teacher's education?
4.  Explain why Engels says that Marx's understanding of "surplus value" was his greatest discovery.
5.  Give two examples of Sissy's confusion over the principles of Political Economy, and explain what Dickens is satirizing through that scene.
6.  Explain the significance of the three books (the published books; not Victor's lab notes) that Frankenstein's Creature finds and studies.
7.  What is ironic about the way Tom Gradgrind eludes Bitzer at the end of Hard Times?
8.  What does Marx mean when he says that, under Capitalism, labor has become a commodity?

Part II.  Choose one of the following long essay topics.  Again, be very well organized, and make thoughtful points about the argument you construct.  Where the first part of this exam pretty much tested your knowledge of the texts, this part tests your ability to make interpretive assertions, not just repeat class discussion.  Do not rewrite the question.  Instead, make an asssertion about the topic. (40 pts.)  Length=as long as it takes you to be thorough yet precise.

1.  Explain the four senses in which Marx claims labor is "estranged" or "alienated."  Then write an essay explaining how many of those senses can be applied to an understanding of the following characters, their actions, or the conditions in which they live:
Victor Frankenstein
Frankenstein's Creature
Louisa Gradgrind
Sissy Jupe
Stephen Blackpool

2.  Explain Engels' analysis of bourgeois marriage.  Then write an essay explaining how Engels would view these alliances:
Victor Frankenstein and Elizabeth Lavenza
Felix De Lacey and Safie
The Creature and his Would-be mate (had she been finished)
Louisa Gradgind and Josiah Bounderby
Stephen Blackpool and Rachael

Scoring, short answers: 11-12="A range" 10="B range" 8-9= "C range" 7="D range" 6 and below=failing
long answers: 36-40="A range" 32-35="B range" 28-31="C range" 24?27="D range" 23 and below=failing