Suggested answers for the Literature subject in the high school graduation exam.
OFFICIAL EXAM PAPER
I. GENERAL SECTION FOR ALL CANDIDATES: (5.0 points)
Question 1. (2.0 points)
In the final part of Lu Xun's short story "Medicine," what was the mother Xia Yu's reaction upon seeing the wreath on her son's grave? What is the significance of that wreath?
Question 2. (3.0 points)
Write a short essay (approximately 400 words) expressing your thoughts on the courageous act of saving a life by student Nguyen Van Nam, based on the following information:
On the afternoon of April 30, 2013, on the banks of the Lam River, in the section flowing through Trung Son commune, Do Luong district, Nghe An province, Nguyen Van Nam (a 12th-grade student from Do Luong I High School) heard cries for help from someone drowning in the river, so he immediately ran to the scene. He saw a group of students struggling in the water,Nam jumped in and rescued three ninth-grade students and one sixth-grade student.When they managed to push the fifth child to shore,
(According to Khanh Hoan, Thanhnienonline, May 6, 2013)
II. OPTIONAL SECTION: (5.0 points)
Candidates are only allowed to answer one of the two questions (question 3.a or question 3.b).
Question 3.a. According to the Standard Curriculum (5.0 points)
Analyze the psychological development and actions of the character Mị through the scene of Mị wanting to go out and being tied up on a spring night in the work "A Phủ's Wife" by Tô Hoài (excerpt from Literature 12, Volume two, Vietnam Education Publishing House – 2012).
Question 3.b. According to the Advanced Program (5.0 points)
Analyze the following stanza from "The Country" (excerpt from the epic poem "The Road of Thirsting Hopes") by Nguyen Khoa Diem:
The land is where he goes to school.
Water is where I bathe.
The country is where we meet.
The Homeland is where I dropped my scarf in silent longing.
This land is where "the phoenix flies to the silver mountain."
Water is where "the fisherman's fish swims in the open sea."
A long, drawn-out period of time
Vast space
The homeland is where our people are reunited.
The land is where the birds return.
Water is where dragons live.
Lac Long Quan and Au Co
Our people were born from an egg sac.
(Advanced Literature 12, Volume One, Vietnam Education Publishing House)
Suggested answers for the exam:
Question 1: What is the meaning of the image of the wreath on Ha Du's grave?
- General introduction: The image of the wreath on Ha Du's grave is a unique artistic detail, carrying profound meaning and artistic value, reflecting the work's thematic ideas and the writer's artistic talent.
- Detailed Reenactment: The detail of the wreath on Xia Yu's grave appears at the end of the short story "Medicine" (Lu Xun). One Qingming Festival morning, Xia Yu's mother visits her son's grave and is astonished by what she sees: a wreath of "pink and white flowers" curving over her son's tomb. As the grave of a condemned prisoner, despised, scorned, and misunderstood, she had always assumed no one would bother to pay attention to the grave and the deceased. The image of the wreath truly surprised and astonished her. For a moment, she didn't understand what had happened, didn't know who had brought the wreath to place before her son's grave. Finally, in a moment of overwhelming emotion, she burst into heart-wrenching sobs.
- Meaning of the image:
+ Meaning of the content:
The wreath symbolizes the writer Lu Xun's affection for the life, career, and sacrifices of revolutionaries like Xia Yu. He cherished and respected this revolutionary fighter.
The wreath also symbolizes optimism and faith in a bright future for the Chinese revolution, as there are now people who understand and sympathize with the revolutionary soldier. The wreath is also a good omen, an affirmation that there will be people who continue to rise up in revolution, following in the footsteps of Xia Yu and his comrades, completing the unfinished work he left behind.
+ Artistic significance:
The image of the wreath on Xia Yu's grave is a unique artistic detail that contributes to expressing the work's thematic ideas and showcases Lu Xun's masterful short story artistry in creating a richly symbolic image. It is the final detail, closing the story, yet it opens up countless emotions and associations for the reader, creating a lingering sense of exhilaration and inspiration. In contrast to the image of the blood-soaked dumplings, the wreath on Xia Yu's grave represents Lu Xun's compassion, his anxieties, and his unwavering faith in the revolutionary future and in the nation's transformation and awakening.
Question 2. Regarding the courage and selfless sacrifice of Nguyen Van
2.1. Explanation of the issue: Through the story of Nguyen Van Nam's actions, readers (especially young people) need to seriously reflect on courage, love, and self-sacrifice for the community.
2.2. Comment and provide evidence:
- To praise examples of courage, love, and self-sacrifice for others:
- Criticizing the manifestations of selfishness, self-interest, indifference, and irresponsibility towards oneself and the community among many young people today.
2.3. Lessons in Awareness and Action
- Lesson learned: We need to raise awareness of our responsibility to ourselves and the community, and to highlight and honor these exemplary individuals in order to spread their positive role models.
- Lesson for action: Take practical action for the community.
Question 3a. The development of Mị's emotions.
1. Introduction
- Introducing the author To Hoai: an outstanding prose writer of Vietnamese literature.
- Introduction to the work: "A Phu's Wife" is a representative short story by To Hoai, excerpted from the collection "Stories of the Northwest" (a work that won first prize in the 1953-1954 Literature and Arts Newspaper competition, along with "The Country Rises Up" by Nguyen Ngoc).
- Introduction to the issue to be analyzed: Mị is the central character of the work, most clearly demonstrating the author's ideological intentions and artistic talent. Mị's emotional development and actions during the spring night of love are vivid evidence of Tô Hoài's art of depicting character psychology and his humanitarian spirit.
2. Body Paragraph.
- Summary of Mị's life and fate before the spring night of love: Originally a beautiful, talented, and free-spirited girl, Mị was forced by injustice and exploitation by the feudal lords of the mountainous region (tyranny) and backward customs (religious power) to become a debt-paying daughter-in-law, a slave to the village chief's family, exploited, abused, and treated like an animal. It seemed as though all this suffering had destroyed the vitality of the young girl.
- Mị's psychological development during the spring night of love is stimulated by three catalysts: the spring atmosphere, the scent of alcohol, and the sound of the flute.
+ Changes in nature: Spring arrives in Hong Ngai, bringing new life to nature and the people here (evidence: the wind blowing through the golden thatched roofs, young women wearing flared skirts drying on the rocks in preparation for games, children playing in the yard...). Spring (of nature) has brought new life to people, breathing new life into the otherwise quiet lives of the highlanders, invigorating the spirit of spring.
+ The psychological development and actions of Mị:
* Scene 1: Mị hears the sound of singing (of lovers), the sound of a flute (the flute appears many times and is described in great detail and meticulousness: from far to near, from sounds of the outside world to inner haunting sounds). These songs and flutes remind Mị of a beautiful past, of a young, vibrant Mị full of life, yearning for life and love. The songs and flutes, like sounds from the outside world, revive the long-held desires hidden in the soul of the highland woman. The flutes and songs also remind Mị of reality, of the unjust and unreasonable suffering she endures.
* Scene 2: Mị drinks alcohol. This is truly a rebellious act of humanity, marking Mị's awakening. She gulps down large bowls of alcohol, as if swallowing all her anger and resentment. She thinks, "If others can drink, why can't I?" She has become aware of herself as a human being, abandoning her life of silence, animalistic behavior, and inanimate objects in the chieftain's house. But as soon as her self-awareness returns, she quietly walks into her room, sits on the bed, and thinks that if she had a handful of poisonous leaves, she would eat them to die. Her sense of humanity returns, and facing the dark reality, she refuses to accept a life of servitude and longs for liberation. Wanting to die is also an expression of her yearning to live, to live life to the fullest.
* Development 3: Mị wants to go out. This is the second act of rebellion. She walks to the corner of the house, wearing her dress, and uses a piece of fat to stir the lamp for more light. She wants to illuminate her dark and miserable life. This action shows the suppressed vitality within Mị, now powerfully surging forth. The yearning for happiness has overcome the shackles of power and authority. Wanting to go out means wanting freedom, wanting happiness, wanting to live fully as a human being.
* Scene 4: Mị is tied up by A Sử. Her desires flare up but are cruelly suppressed. A Sử returns, tightly binds Mị with a basket of jute rope, and wraps her hair around a post.
* Scene 5: Mị gradually regains consciousness and painfully returns to reality. Tied to the post, the sound of the flute and the song calling to her lover still echoes in her head. But she soon returns to reality when she tries to walk and encounters the ropes tightening around her skin. The sound of horses' hooves at the front of the house reminds her of her fate as a beast of burden. Mị thinks she is no better than a buffalo or a horse. She bows her head in resignation. But once the flame of life has been ignited, it cannot be extinguished. The ropes can only bind her body, not her soul that loves freedom.
- Artistic significance: The psychological development and actions of Mị demonstrate the writer's compassion in discovering and cherishing the human desire to live, even under cruel torment. It also showcases Tô Hoài's masterful talent in depicting character psychology.
=> Overall assessment: Through the psychological development of the character Mị during the spring night of love, readers recognize the profound humanitarian value and realistic value (denouncing the feudal forces in the mountainous region) of the work. At the same time, it once again proves the artistic talent of the writer.
Mị's psychological state and actions during the spring night of love served as the prelude to her "rebellion" on that winter night in the highlands.
3. Conclusion.
- This provides an overall assessment of To Hoai's artistic talent in depicting the psychological development of his characters, while simultaneously affirming the writer's profound humanitarian ideals.
Question 3b. The Country by Nguyen Khoa Diem
1. Introduction
- Author Introduction: Nguyen Khoa Diem is a representative figure of modern Vietnamese literature, with a vibrant poetic voice typical of the youth generation in the temporarily occupied urban areas during the most brutal period of the resistance war against America. Nguyen Khoa Diem's poetry skillfully combines overflowing emotions with profound reflections and contemplations.
- Introduction to the work: The excerpt "The Homeland" is taken from Chapter V of the epic poem "The Road of Thirsting Hopes," composed in the Tri Thien war zone during the height of the anti-American and anti-puppet regime struggle. The work expresses the poet's profound reflections on the origins of the Homeland, which forms the basis of patriotism and the unwavering belief in the ultimate victory of the struggle.
- Introduction to the excerpt: The poetic excerpt to be analyzed focuses on explaining the concept of "the Nation" from a geographical perspective, incorporating numerous elements of folk culture.
2. Body:
- General overview of the first part of the poem: Nguyen Khoa Diem's general understanding of the country.
- The poem uses a unique form to interpret and explain the country: word separation (philosophy).
- The nation takes shape in many different spaces:
+ Familiar spaces: the school, the river.
+ The country appears in a space of love and affection (the place where we hẹn hò, where you dropped your handkerchief in silent longing) => Analyze the image of the handkerchief: a symbol of longing (evidence from folk songs)
The country is depicted through the magnificent and splendid landscape of its beautiful scenery: "silver mountains," "the vast ocean"...
+ The nation is also the space for survival, gathering, and livelihood of the entire community: "where our people reunite," where dragons reside, where birds return => the origin of the nation through the retelling of the legend of Lac Long Quan and Au Co.
- The country is closely linked to the simple, familiar, yet profoundly sacred activities and cultural practices of its people: learning, working, producing, loving, making a living, establishing a career, ... Along with that are the noble traditions of the nation: the tradition of studiousness, loyalty, solidarity, awareness of one's roots...
==> The country, both familiar and vast, evokes feelings of love and pride in us.
- Artistic features:
+ Free verse, with its alternating long and short lines, tells a story, sometimes whispering intimate feelings, sometimes overflowing with emotion like the endless flow of time, like the vast expanse of the country's landscape.
+ Lyrical and argumentative tone
+ The art of contrast and repetition creates musicality in the poem.
+ The way the word is interpreted to define the concept of "Nation" offers a fresh, multifaceted perspective.
+ Extremely effective use of folk cultural materials: folk songs, myths, legends... to once again affirm the overarching idea: The Nation Belongs to the People.
- Relate to other works about the country (Nguyen Dinh Thi's "The Country")
=> Love for one's homeland and country is deeply embedded in the poet's emotions.
- Personal connection
3. Conclusion
- Provide a general assessment of the successes and distinctive features in terms of content and artistry of the excerpt.
Reporters' team (compiled)
