In the final exam, in addition to a section in which you are asked about key concepts, you will also be given three of the questions that are provided below, from which you will choose one as the topic of a written essay.
There is no specific required length for this essay, but you should use the time available to you and note that this section of the exam is worth a higher percentage of the grade than the other one, so you should spend more time on it and I expect the extent of what you write to reflect that fact.
- Take two or more of the texts we have covered in this course, and analyze and compare the ways in which they treat the topic of community (which might include how communities are defined, how they are created and sustained, what threats they face etc.). In your answer, you should discuss concrete examples, passages, or scenes to illustrate your argument.
- Take two or more of the texts we have covered in this course, and analyze and compare the ways in which they treat the topic of language (which might include the relationship between oral and written language, or between specific languages, as well as the use of language itself either to describe or to change the world). In your answer, you should discuss concrete examples, passages, or scenes to illustrate your argument.
- Take two or more of the texts we have covered in this course, and analyze and compare the ways in which they seek legitimation and explanation through their paratexts (which may include forewords, introductions, epigraphs, afterwords, and so on). In your answer, you should discuss concrete examples, passages, or scenes to illustrate your argument.
- Take two or more of the texts we have covered in this course, and analyze and compare the ways in which they are instances of hybridity (which may include Western/European influences, collaboration between two authors, or any other forms or instances of mixture and/or cross-contamination). In your answer, you should discuss concrete examples, passages, or scenes to illustrate your argument.
- What is Indigenous Latin America? What are the commonalities between the different contexts (Mexico/Central America, Peru, and the Amazon) that we have studied? What are the differences? What can we learn from their study? In your answer, you should discuss concrete examples, passages, or scenes from the texts we have covered in this course to illustrate your argument.
Remember: you are allowed to bring to the exam a “cheat sheet”: notes and ideas, key quotations or essay outlines, or whatever else you think will be useful. This sheet should be no larger than one side of a standard US Letter (8.5″ x 11″; 216 x 279 mm) sheet of paper.
