Re: In search of User Perspectives on Catcher in the Rye

Emily Friedman (bananafish_9@yahoo.com)
Wed, 02 Dec 1998 19:55:46 -0800 (PST) 

> 
> hmm. this may be a case of differing educational systems. where i
live you
> are judged on one final exam; similar to the a levels they have in
the uk,
> or the HSC in australia. for my honours english paper, iirc, my set
> reading
> was one shakespearean play (set), one modern play (choice of eight),
one
> classic novel (set), and one
> modern novel (choice of eight), a selection of about 8 poems each from
> about 10 poets. 
> 
> this is over a period of two years. then, at the end of it all, in
two 2
> and a half hour exams
> on the same day, you answer one drama question, one novel question,
one
> poetry question, and an essay, all a minimum of 800 words, plus do a
> reading comprehension of a few thousand words.
> 
> so there isn't much room for pondering and hashing out questions.
you have
> to know your material inside out, and be able to sit down, in 40
mins, and
> write a well thought out logical argument about a random question on
the
> piece, providing quotes, references, the lot. [1]
> 
> this is where i believe study notes are helpful. you *will not* be
able to
> do the task i described above, for example, using silas marner,
unless you
> have *some* sort of in-a-nutshell help. i'm not saying you shouldn't
read
> the book, but it certainly helps pick out important themes and issues.
> 
> >
> 
>                      helena at netsoc dot tcd dot ie
>            'the church is near, but the road is icy.
>          the bar is far, but i will walk carefully.'
>                                    - russian proverb
> 
> 
You are probably right. We don't have any kind of exams like that. I
know that high school in the U.S. is a lot different than in the U.K.
or Australia. I suppose that we have an easier time because we have no
o or a levels. Our exams are only about 4 hours of filling in dots. I
am very thankful that I don't go to school anywhere else. (:
-Liz Friedman
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