1. English Literature II - ROMEO & JULIET

1. English Literature II - Romeo and Juliet 

Instructions:

There are 21 questions and you are 20 in the class. You must choose a question, copy and paste it into the comment window, write your response, followed by your name. 

DEADLINE:  SAT 12th, MAY, at 10.20 a.m.

XI.Goddard, Harold. The Meaning of Shakespeare.Volume I. “Chapter XIII: Romeo and Juliet.” 

    Chicago,U.S.A.:The University of Chicago Press,1951.Pp.117-139.Print.

XI.1.What’s the significance of the adjective “star-crossed”?

XI.2.Why does Goddard consider Romeo and Juliet an “inferior” play?

XI.3.What’s the theme of the play and why does Goddard claim that this is “an astrological play”?

XI.4.Villains and Heroes: Why don’t these two concepts apply here?

XI.5.Mercutio and the Nurse are masterpieces of characterisation. Explain this idea.

XI.6.Why is Mercutio’s bawdiness important in the play? Why did Shakespeare give the “Queen Mab Speech” to Mercutio if he’s such a bawdy character?

XI.7.Which scene brings about the crisis in the play and why does Goddard think it is misunderstood? How does Mercutio precipitate the end?

XI.8.Is Romeo “star-crossed” or is he a free agent?

XI.9.Shakespeare has given us 4 Romeos. Explain

XII. Mahood, M. M., “Wordplay in Romeo and Juliet.”In Lerner, Laurence. Editor. Shakespeare’s 

     Tragedy – An AnthologyOf Modern Criticism. London: Penguin Books, 1992. Pp. 17-34. Print.

XII.1.Romeo and Juliet has aspects of the “Liebestod”: which are they? Which are the objections to this view? Why?

XII.2.Aspects of Love that are explored in the play. Explain them.

XII.3.Wordplay in these words: Beauty – Use - Consume

XII.4.How does the play become a tragedy according to Mahood?

XII.5.Imagery behind stars, torches, lightning, flowers.

XIII.Linnea, Sharon.William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. New York: Barron’s Book 

     Notes,1984. Print.

XIII.1- Define MATURING and STATIC characters. Give two examples of each.

XIII.2- What are the parallels between Verona and London in Shakespeare’s times?

XIII.3- Explain the themes: LOVE and the different ways in which it is explored – WHAT CAUSES THE LOVERS TO DIE – ORDER VS CIVIL DISTURBANCES – ISOLATION – INNOCENCE AND EXPERIENCE.

XIII.4- What makes this play unique as regards style?

XIII.5- What did Shakespeare use as a source for his play?

XIII.6- How is the play structured? Consider scenes, public vs private people and condensed time as well.

XIII.7- What is the importance of the Prologue? What is its form? 

English Literature III- THE MERCHANT OF VENICE

English Literature III-  THE MERCHANT OF VENICE 

There are 20 questions and you are 11 students in the class. You should answer 2 questions each. 

Copy and paste the questions you are about to answer, write your answer and sign off with your name. 

DEADLINE:  WED 9th, MAY - 12.30 PM 

2.Goddard, Harold. The Meaning of Shakespeare. Chapter XII: The Merchant of Venice.             

       Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1951. Pp. 81-116. Print.

Questionnaire:

1.What seem to be the controversies surrounding The Merchant of Venice?

2.What’s the difference between a playwright and a poet? How does it explain the kind of plays Shakespeare wrote?

3.How is the play structured? Explain each story.

4.What are Venice and Belmont like? What role do gold, money, and trade play here?

5.What seems to affect most of the characters in the play? Why?

6.The Other in the play: Shylock. Why is he an outsider, a pariah even?

7.Bassanio is a good example of someone who appears to be one thing on the outside and another thing underneath. Explain this idea.

8.What are Antonio and Shylock like? What connects them? (You’ll need to read pages 86-92).

9.Gratiano says of his beloved, “Now, by my hood, a Gentile, and no Jew.” What does this line imply about Jessica?

10.Why does Shylock offer Antonio a loan of 3,000 ducats without interest?

11.Shakespeare uses all his art to show us the noble potentialities of Shylock. Explain this idea.

12.What do Shakespeare and the Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky have in common? How does this comparison help us understand Shylock’s character better?

13.What changes Shylock’s mind about having his bond? Why does Shakespeare make him say “I will not hear thee speak” when he next sees Antonio?

14.What traits of Portia’s personality are revealed in the trial scene? How does she affect Shylock’s fate and why? (the answer is on pages 105-112)

15.”The metaphor that underlies and unifies The Merchant of Venice is that of alchemy, the art of transforming the base into the precious, lead into gold.” (Goddard 115) Explain this quote.

16.What makes The Merchant of Venice relevant today?

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3.McEvoy, Sean. Shakespeare The Basics. Chapter 6: Understanding Comedy- The Merchant of       Venice. London, U.K.:2000. Pp. 125-129; 142-149. Print.

Questionnaire:

1.Which are the conventions found in comedies?

2.”Contemporary critics, feminist and otherwise, seem very concerned about the question of prerogative when it comes to comedy.” (McEvoy 127) Explain this quote, what alternatives are considered by the critic and the schools of thought they belong to.

3. The society depicted in The Merchant of Venice is patriarchal. What does this mean for the women in the play?

4. How does Cross-dressing empower women? What does it add to the sexual ambiguity of any play? How does Shakespeare seem to imply that a more equal kind of relationship between men and women is possible?

ANGLO-SAXON LITERATURE & BEOWULF

1. English Literature I: BEOWULF and Anglo-Saxon Period and Literature

There are 25 questions and there are 35 students in the class. So each question can be answered by 2 students.

1-Agree with which partner you will answer what question.

2-Copy and paste the question in the answer window.

3-Write your answer. Write your names.

4- DEADLINE: Tue 1^st, MAY – 10.30 a.m. ( not after this time!)

Beowulf

Source : Alexander, Michael. Beowulf : A Verse Translation. England : Clays Ltd, St Ives plc, 2003. Pp xiii-xli. Print.

Read the introduction to Beowulf and answer these questions :

1.The Venerable Bede wrote the Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum in 731. What do we learn about the Angles there ?

2.How does the name « England » originate ?

3.Does Beowulf have any historical characters ? Who ? What do we know about them ?

4.Who wrote Beowulf, when was it written and what was its inteded audience ? Does the original manuscript survive ?

5.Why did the monks need to translate the gospel into English instead of leaving in Latin like they did in Gaul ? Why is this important for Literature ?

6. What makes Beowulf a remarkable poem ?

7.What is the primary theme of heroic poetry ?

8.What is Beowulf, the protagonist, like ? How is he different from Achilles or Aeneas ?

9.What do these names suggest : Grendel, Bjorn, Heorot, Beowulf ?

10.Beowulf belongs to the epic genre. What are the 4 characteristics of this genre ? Explain them briefly.

11.What do the monsters in the poem symbolise ?

12.Beowulf is a Christian poem. How is this made evident ?

13.Beowulf is different from other epic poems such as Homer’s The Illiad and The Odyssey ? Why ? What is the Ethos of this poem ? ( Ethos : the set of beliefs, ideas, etc. about the social behaviour and relationships of a person or group)

14.What are the monsters and why do they attack ?

Find the answers in your Booklet. If you surf the Internet to find more information, please write author, title of the article, website, etc., underneath your post.

15. What made King Alfred the greatest of the Anglo-Saxon kings?

16. List the characteristics of Anglo-Saxon civilisation. Describe them briefly.

17. When did Christianity come to Britain? Who brought it ? How was the conversion carried out? What did the new religion contribute to English Literature?

18. How is Anglo-Saxon Literature divided? What marks these divisions? 

19. Talk about the following topics: Role of Nature in  AS Literature. Tone. Time. A.S. Ideals of conduct.

20. Explain: supernatural element – style and poetic techniques – Alliteration – Kennings – Predominance of consonants – Onomatopoeia – style and construction.

21. What is the importance of Beowulf? Talk about  the origin of the poem.

22. Beowulf: Describe the settings and characters.

23. Explain the following characteristics of Beowulf: fusion of Christian and Pagan elements; Wyrd.

24. Beowulf: Describe its tone and the role of Nature.

25. Beowulf: Talk about its supernatural elements, its historical & national elements.