Concerns about the Literature exam

After the Literature exam, lecturer Tran Hinh (Faculty of Literature) commented that this year's Literature exam was easy and the scores would likely fall mostly between 5 and 7 points. He also shared some of his concerns about the way this year's Literature exam was designed.

- What is your overall assessment of the Literature exam for khối C and D?I think the exam was still pretty normal, like in recent years, nothing too special. However, this exam made me understand and share the sentiment of Professor Huynh Nhu Phuong (Faculty of Literature and Linguistics - University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Ho Chi Minh City) when he "complained" in Thanh Nien Newspaper a few years ago that "it seems our source of exam questions for Literature has run out." The entire Literature curriculum (both 11th and 12th grades), as limited by the Ministry, has nearly 40 literary works, yet the exam questions are always the same few issues and works. Honestly, with this kind of exam, if I were teaching students for the exam, I only needed to teach them 5 to 10 texts to pass. No need to guess the answers at all.- Question 1 of the Literature exam for Group C asks about a typical detail or image in the work and asks candidates to comment on its meaning. This is a fairly common way of formulating questions in recent years. Do you think this method of question formulation is beneficial for testing candidates' knowledge?If compared to the criteria for questions that test knowledge of authors and literary works (worth 2 points), I think this question is acceptable. However, I still feel it leans towards rote memorization. Literary competence, in my opinion, should aim for something higher than that, not just focusing on trivial questions like, "How many times did Chí Phèo visit Bá Kiến's house?" or "Why did the author name the short story 'The Picked-Up Wife'?". In my view, Literature exams should be different from History and Geography exams, and should avoid overly trivial questions.

- Regarding question two of the Literature exam for Group C, many candidates said that despite having practiced methods for writing social commentary essays, they still couldn't answer it because they didn't understand the core issue being discussed. Given this situation, what do you think should be considered when designing social commentary essays?I'm not against this type of question, but I never have high expectations for it. After all, it's just a question testing students' social knowledge; it's not a true literary test. I'm sure that if this type of question were given to many older people who are "less knowledgeable" in literature, they would still write very well, perhaps even better than the students. Returning to the specific question, some students, despite being thoroughly prepared for this type of question, still couldn't answer it because the issue posed was "beyond their comprehension." I agree with that thought. I've always believed that for students, even those in their final year of high school, exam questions should focus on wholesome topics and works that encourage positive thinking about humanity, rather than dragging them into the "fight against negativity" that some adults are "forced" to confront. In the last three years, since this question was used in the university entrance exam, I've noticed that public expectations are too high, while the exam mainly focuses on the "bad and evil" in society, such as "deceit, dishonesty, hypocrisy, irresponsibility, idol worship, and the obsession with achievement...". Don't force pure souls to become "tainted" by having to discuss these issues too much.- Some argue that the Literature exam for Group D is more difficult than that for Group C, and that both exams help to differentiate between candidates. What are your thoughts on this statement?Public opinion generally considers the exam for Group D to be "tougher" than Group C. Personally, I think that, in a fair comparison, neither group is inherently more difficult than the other. Specifically, question 1 was equally difficult for both groups; question 2 (social commentary) was more difficult for Group C than Group D; but question 3 was easier for Group C than Group D. Regarding whether the exam effectively differentiates candidates, frankly, I don't like this kind of talk, as I've heard this "rhetoric" repeatedly before, during, and after exams for many years. In response to press questions, those responsible at the Ministry affirmed this; after each exam, students and the press wrote about it; and now you're asking me about it again. Honestly, I still can't figure out what kind of exam is more effective at differentiating candidates than another. Does a difficult exam really differentiate students better than an easy one? I don't think so. In my opinion, simply asking students to write a one-page essay with a very easy question is enough to immediately know which students are better than others. I don't know about other subjects, but I can confidently say that what I'm saying is true for Literature. Therefore, we could absolutely organize a single-day university entrance exam, as suggested by someone in an online newspaper I read a few days ago.- Question 3a, part of the standard curriculum for the Literature exam for Group D, asks for an interpretation of the meaning of the two endings in two short stories. This question has sparked much debate. Could you please share your perspective?This is only a 2-point exam question, as Professor Thien (from the University of Education) stated in the press. I agree with Professor Thien. Expressing feelings about the two endings in two works, or more precisely, two details in two works, can hardly be considered a 5-point question. I'm sure students would find it very difficult to answer this question. And therefore, they would choose to answer a different question.Trang GiangThis belongs to the Advanced section (which is actually a lesson in the Standard Literature section). Personally, I find this a "terrible" exam question. If I were allowed to create an exam, I would never "dare" to ask such a "sensitive" question. How could it possibly compare two details—the "old, abandoned brick kiln" that Thi Nho imagined when running to Ba Kien's house, with the detail of "the red flag with a yellow star fluttering" that Trang recalled in the work?The Picked-Up WifeOkay? I still find it rather "hesitant." It seems that the exam setters are under "pressure" regarding the selection of works, so they keep "trying" to include "old" works and put them in the essay type, a very common type of question in university entrance exams for Literature for many years. They seem "confused." Even the exam for Group C is like that. I'm still not very convinced that the exam "forces" students to express their feelings about two stanzas from two different works.Longingby Nguyen Binh andThis is Vi Da villageby Han Mac Tu. Actually, placing these two poems side by side feels so awkward. I don't see any connection between the image of the "areca nut" in these two poems. The line in Han Mac Tu's poem is about nature, the scenery of Vi Da, Hue; the areca nut in...LongingNguyen Binh's works revolve around romance, love, and unrequited love. Or perhaps the question setter intended for students to clarify this particular characteristic?- Can you predict the score range for Literature in the C and D subject groups, even if only approximately?The exam for blocks C and D this year was generally easy. I personally supervised the exam and saw that the students performed relatively well. Of course, the exact score distribution will only be known after the grading is complete. If I were allowed to guess, I think the average score for Literature in blocks C and D will be between 5 and 7. If the scores for block D are slightly better, it's probably because the students taking the block D exam are more academically gifted than those in block C.