Teachers' Outlines for Studies in English Part 33

(Only candidates taking _final_ examinations may choose the last.)

B

1 (_a_) Explain the significance of the italicized words and phrases: "_Memorize_ another _Golgotha_"; "To _alter favor_ ever is to fear"; "Wicked dreams _abuse_ The curtained sleep"; "But in them _nature's copy's_ not _eterne_"; "His two chamberlains Will I with wine and _wa.s.sail_ so _convince_."

(_b_) What important persons of the drama are absent from the banquet?

Where is each at that time? How far do these circ.u.mstances influence any later events in the play?

(_c_) Give the substance of Malcolm's actions and utterances as far as they are presented on the stage.

2 (_a_) What is said respecting the parentage of Mirth and Melancholy in _L'Allegro_ and _Il Penseroso_? Interpret the meaning of each of the various suggestions.

(_b_) What was that snaky-headed Gorgon shield That wise Minerva wore, unconquered virgin, Wherewith she freezed her foes to congealed stone, But rigid looks of chaste austerity, And n.o.ble grace that dashed brute violence With sudden adoration and blank awe?

_Locate the above quotation as exactly as you can, and show its relation to the general subject of the poem. Explain fully the allusions in the first three lines._

3 (_a_) "First, then, I cannot admit that proposition of a ransom by auction, because it is a mere project.... Secondly, it is an experiment which must be fatal in the end to our Const.i.tution.... Thirdly, it does not give satisfaction to the complaint of the Colonies." What was "that proposition"? Give the substance of Burke's objections under the above headings. What is the relation of this part of the speech to the whole?

Was the "proposition" accepted?

(_b_) What connection with the main argument has Burke's discussion of slave-holding in the Colonies?

4 (_a_) Macaulay's remarks on _Comus_; (_b_) on Addison as a critic.

(1906)

A

_Write about two hundred words on each of three topics selected by yourself from the following lists (of a pair of subjects enclosed in brackets, choose but one):_

{The Banquet Scene in _Macbeth_.

{ {The Character of Antonio.

_The Jessamy Bride._

Gurth.

{The Contrast between Gareth and Geraint.

{ {Tennyson's Use of Natural Scenery in _The Pa.s.sing of Arthur_.

A comparison of the Moral of _The Ancient Mariner_ with that of _The Vision of Sir Launfal_.

The finding of Eppie.

B

I (_a_) Narrate the events in _Julius Caesar_ that occur on the Ides of March, _before_ the murder.

(_b_) In what book did Shakespeare find the material for _Julius Caesar_? How does his conception of the character of Caesar resemble or differ from that which you have formed in your study of Caesar's _Gallic Wars_ or of Roman history?

II (_a_)

Sometime let gorgeous Tragedy In sceptred pall come sweeping by, Presenting Thebes, or Pelops' line, Or the tale of Troy divine, Or what (though rare) of later age 5 Enn.o.bled hath the buskined stage.

(1) To what is Milton referring in line 3? (2) Comment on lines 5 and 6.

(3) What is meant by "sceptred pall"? by "buskined stage"? (4) What similar pleasures were enjoyed by _L'Allegro_?

(_b_) Milton's remarks on the clergy in _Lycidas_.

III (_a_) Into what great divisions does Burke's _Speech on Conciliation with America_ fall? What digression from the main subject is made, and for what reasons?

(_b_) What plan had been proposed by the "n.o.ble Lord in the Blue Ribbon"? On what grounds did Burke criticize it?

IV Macaulay's remarks on the nature and influence of Addison's _Spectator_.

(1907)

A

_Write about two hundred words on each of three topics selected by yourself from the following list (of a pair of subjects enclosed in brackets, choose but one):_

The Conversation between Lorenzo and Jessica in Act V of _The Merchant of Venice_.

The Effect of the Murder upon the Character of Lady Macbeth.

Sir Roger and the Widow.

The Publication of _The Vicar of Wakefield_.

The Personal Appearance of Silas Marner.

{ Bedivere.

{ Gareth's Combat with "The Noonday Sun."

B

I Describe (_a_) the interview between Brutus and Portia, and (_b_) Brutus's treatment of Lucius in his tent near Sardis. How does each of these scenes affect our estimate of the character of Brutus? What is the last we hear of Portia?