CSET English Subtest III

Posted by admin on December 23, 2008

There has been many repeat takers on this portion of the English CSET exam, because it does require prior background knowledge of literary genres, and it requires you to know what types of themes that come with the genres presented. Here’s a for example. The test given last March consisted of a prompt concerning Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe and Chinese writer Amy Tan. If you are a literary buff, or have been around a middle school or high school in the last decade, you already know Achebe wrote the highly acclaimed Things Fall Apart going on over 50 years ago and Amy Tan wrote The Joy Luck Club.

Achebe is the one of the fathers of modern Nigerian literature and is considered Nigeria’s most acclaimed living author. One common theme you will find throughout Achebe’s body of work is the idea of rapid expansion of Christian missionaries throughout many parts of Africa. Achebe asserts that this idea leads to a culture losing ones identity with it’s past, present and future—and we see this theme in Things Fall Apart. One major conflict you will be presented with in this novel is the influence of Christianity versus native religions that believed in more than one God. Also, it touches on the effects Christianity has on the youth and their tendencies to abandon their culture and inherited religion with no remorse or care to their parents or elders.

Above is just one of many themes in Things Fall Apart that you can present in your essay should you get that question. Wait! I haven’t discussed Amy Tan yet. The essay question discussed above also involves a short story or excerpt of a novel of hers. The theme in the selection given carries the same distinct theme, which to review, is the losing of ones cultural identity. My advice is to address the theme, compare the two bodies of work (should you get the same question), and know a little bit about both authors bodies of work, so you have a point of reference. I believed I reference both The Joy Luck Club  and Anthills of the Savannah. The first being Tan’s most popular novel, the second being Achebe’s lesser known novel. Remember, it never hurts to have background knowledge regarding a question and referencing it when you are writing, because it can certainly validate your essay and help you answer the prompt correctly.

In short, with classrooms in California becoming more and more diverse by the minute, teachers are presented with students from many different cultures. Meaning, teachers must be prepared to deal with multiple cultures in the classroom. The CSET test givers know this and if you don’t get the aforementioned question scenario above, you can count on getting a question that deals with a diverse realm of writers from around the world.