Hi all
Should you need to see me regarding AMSND, I am available in school Monday to Friday from 10am to 1pm.
Please sms me @ 9.0.1.6.6.2.4.9 to reserve a consultation slot. Please also email me your queries at least ONE day in advance so that I will have time to prepare a good answer for you. All consultations will take place in the Lit Room.
Slots taken up will be updated here.
Thank you & all the best with your revisions! :)
Monday- 12th
1000-1030
1030-1100
1100-1130 Alicia Teo
1130-1200 Shubin
1200-1230
1230-1300
Tuesday- 13th
1000-1030
1030-1100
1100-1130
1130-1200
1200-1230 Not available
1230-1300 Not available
Wednesday- 14th
1000-1030
1030-1100
1100-1130
1130-1200
1200-1230
1230-1300 Not Available
Thursday- 15th
1000-1030
1030-1100
1100-1130
1130-1200
1200-1230
1230-1300
Friday- 16th
1000-1030
1030-1100
1100-1130
1130-1200
1200-1230
1230-1300
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Sunday, August 9, 2009
CRITICAL ESSAYS & NOTES ON AMSND (OPTIONAL)
Hi all, hope that this post finds you well and that you are coping awesomely in school :)
I have spent the last month or so putting together essays that I have found online and in reference books. Some essays have been edited and re-hashed so that it makes more sense to readers (you). I have also spent some time paraphrasing essays that make references to history and other sources that may be obscure to you. The essays are strictly additional reading and are not compulsory in any way (which is also the reason why I've not uploaded them directly to the blog).
I realize the Sec 4s barely have time to indulge in additional reading, so please only elect to receive them if you are absolutely keen and are able to find the time to go through them. Please note that some of the essays require a little more effort in reading in terms of critical references etc but most of the essays are quite straightforward.
I have spent the last month or so putting together essays that I have found online and in reference books. Some essays have been edited and re-hashed so that it makes more sense to readers (you). I have also spent some time paraphrasing essays that make references to history and other sources that may be obscure to you. The essays are strictly additional reading and are not compulsory in any way (which is also the reason why I've not uploaded them directly to the blog).
I realize the Sec 4s barely have time to indulge in additional reading, so please only elect to receive them if you are absolutely keen and are able to find the time to go through them. Please note that some of the essays require a little more effort in reading in terms of critical references etc but most of the essays are quite straightforward.
Now the question is: Who would like me to email them what I have?
If you are keen, please reply via the comments box in the following format:
Full name_(Email address)_YES
I will only send the package to those who reply as per my instructions above. Please check that you have given me a valid email address.
The package will be emailed out BY Saturday, 22nd August 2009. Hope to hear from you soon!
Disclaimer: Reading the essays will NOT guarantee a distinction. Choosing not to read them will not necessarily result in an abysmal grade either.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
SECONDARY 4 MYE 2009 ELIT DEBRIEF
SUGGESTED ANSWERS
1(a) In what ways is the world of the Athenian woods different from the world of Athens in the play? Discuss the dramatic atmosphere and purpose of each setting.
Dramatic atmosphere
- The night-time woods provide a strange and confusing environment for the four lovers and for the craftsmen, while being somewhere that the ethereal fairies can seem perfectly at home—a place of hidden events, strange happenings and mysterious (transformed) creatures. With the woods, Shakespeare creates an ideal setting for the strangeness and unreality that takes place in the play.
- The chaos of the night also helps to teach the lovers to value the order of the day.
- The ordered world is one in which all human faculties are in harmony, in which man and woman, nobility and craftsmen, form parts of one well-balanced world.
- Evil things lurk in the woods. The fairies mutter incantations to ward off witchcraft as Titania prepares to sleep for the night. Puck describes the ghosts and spirits that wander in the night. Oberon declares that ‘we are spirits of another sort’.
- Hermia and Helena fear the wild beasts that roam the woods.
- The woods as a place of fearful changes, of distorted vision, of illusion and even of dreams that threaten.
- Threat, fear and death are a necessary part of the allegory of the lovers lost in the wood of chaos and confusion, and of the conflict between the forces of light and those of darkness.
Purpose
- For many scenes, the darkness brought about by night is an essential ingredient. Night is when humans usually sleep and when magical beings are thought to be about. Humans generally do not see very well in the dark, and that physical inability to see clearly is a parallel to the inability to understand when we are confused.
- While the fairy creatures feel comfortable and at home in the dark, the human characters do not; instead they become lost and confused.
- As Puck and Oberon manipulate events in the woods, the humans lose their true identities, attitudes and affections from scene to scene. The climax of complexity between stage illusion and reality comes in Act V.
- Shakespeare uses the contrast between daylight and darkness, and the importance of being able to see clearly and to believe what we see, to reflect the states of knowledge and ignorance through which the characters pass. For much of the play, the characters do not know or understand much of what is going on—they are ‘in the dark’.
- The characters’ misadventures take place in the woods at night; their reconciliation appears before the orderly court in the rational light of day.
- Thesesus and Hippolyta’s arrival in the wood at daybreak with a hunting party, apart from its dramatic convenience, is almost entirely symbolic. The order and harmony of the Athenian court now drive away the fears and errors of the forest ‘night-rule’, fled before the sweet thunder of the hunting dogs.
- With daylight comes the revelation of a kind of truth, an ability to see and an inclination to believe and put their trust in what they see. No longer are bushes seen as bears (quote).
- The night-time woods provide a strange and confusing environment for the four lovers and for the craftsmen, while being somewhere that the ethereal fairies can seem perfectly at home—a place of hidden events, strange happenings and mysterious (transformed) creatures. With the woods, Shakespeare creates an ideal setting for the strangeness and unreality that takes place in the play.
- The chaos of the night also helps to teach the lovers to value the order of the day.
- The ordered world is one in which all human faculties are in harmony, in which man and woman, nobility and craftsmen, form parts of one well-balanced world.
- Evil things lurk in the woods. The fairies mutter incantations to ward off witchcraft as Titania prepares to sleep for the night. Puck describes the ghosts and spirits that wander in the night. Oberon declares that ‘we are spirits of another sort’.
- Hermia and Helena fear the wild beasts that roam the woods.
- The woods as a place of fearful changes, of distorted vision, of illusion and even of dreams that threaten.
- Threat, fear and death are a necessary part of the allegory of the lovers lost in the wood of chaos and confusion, and of the conflict between the forces of light and those of darkness.
Purpose
- For many scenes, the darkness brought about by night is an essential ingredient. Night is when humans usually sleep and when magical beings are thought to be about. Humans generally do not see very well in the dark, and that physical inability to see clearly is a parallel to the inability to understand when we are confused.
- While the fairy creatures feel comfortable and at home in the dark, the human characters do not; instead they become lost and confused.
- As Puck and Oberon manipulate events in the woods, the humans lose their true identities, attitudes and affections from scene to scene. The climax of complexity between stage illusion and reality comes in Act V.
- Shakespeare uses the contrast between daylight and darkness, and the importance of being able to see clearly and to believe what we see, to reflect the states of knowledge and ignorance through which the characters pass. For much of the play, the characters do not know or understand much of what is going on—they are ‘in the dark’.
- The characters’ misadventures take place in the woods at night; their reconciliation appears before the orderly court in the rational light of day.
- Thesesus and Hippolyta’s arrival in the wood at daybreak with a hunting party, apart from its dramatic convenience, is almost entirely symbolic. The order and harmony of the Athenian court now drive away the fears and errors of the forest ‘night-rule’, fled before the sweet thunder of the hunting dogs.
- With daylight comes the revelation of a kind of truth, an ability to see and an inclination to believe and put their trust in what they see. No longer are bushes seen as bears (quote).
"... the city represents the real world of pragmatism, and the forest a dream world of escapism and transformation. What we see of Athens, the city, in the first scene is a pretty uncommunicative marriage, in which Theseus won Hippolyta with his sword, followed by the insistence on an extremely harsh law which prevents Hermia from following her heart and marrying Lysander, instead threatening her with death.
Then, once the play moves into the woods, we meet the fairies. Apart from adding a whole magical dimension to the play, the fairies also provide the possible link to the maelstrom of emotional chaos that is about to take place in the Athenian forest, foreshadowed by the argument between Oberon and Titania. The forest transforms people: it transforms, through the "love-in-idleness" juice, Lysander's affections for Hermia into love for Helena, and then Demetrius' love for Hermia into love for Helena as well. Moreover, Bottom is transformed into a half-donkey.
Translation and transformation are everywhere. When the mortals return to the city, they take back some of the goodwill and happiness they learnt in the forest. Theseus exempts Hermia from the law he insisted on in the first scene, the mechanicals perform their play, and the lovers get happily married..."
(b) ‘When they next wake, all this derision / Shall seem a dream and fruitless vision’. Shakespeare seems more interested in the grey spaces between reality and dream than in their separate domains. Show how the boundary between reality and illusion is made indistinguishable in the play.
Imagination and illusion
- Every play depends upon creating an illusion with the help of the imagination of the audience. A well-worked illusion can seem real.
- In this play, there is confusion among the characters as to what is real and what is not.
- Every play depends upon creating an illusion with the help of the imagination of the audience. A well-worked illusion can seem real.
- In this play, there is confusion among the characters as to what is real and what is not.
Sleep or dream-like state
- Characters spend their time in a dream-like state where reason is clouded and they are no longer sure of themselves or of the reality they think they see.
- It is also interesting to note how often characters fall asleep in the play.
- When we sleep we are liable to experience dreams that seem so real that we often find ourselves waking up confused, disoriented or frightened.
- Similarly, Shakespeare uses sleep as a convenient way to enable Oberon to cast his spells and either to create or to sort out problems.
- Yet, when the characters awaken, their ideas of what is real are changed and they have a collective sense of confusion that we as individuals may experience through having a dream.
- The confusion is heightened because the reality that they are experiencing has also changed- they fall in and out of love.
- Characters spend their time in a dream-like state where reason is clouded and they are no longer sure of themselves or of the reality they think they see.
- It is also interesting to note how often characters fall asleep in the play.
- When we sleep we are liable to experience dreams that seem so real that we often find ourselves waking up confused, disoriented or frightened.
- Similarly, Shakespeare uses sleep as a convenient way to enable Oberon to cast his spells and either to create or to sort out problems.
- Yet, when the characters awaken, their ideas of what is real are changed and they have a collective sense of confusion that we as individuals may experience through having a dream.
- The confusion is heightened because the reality that they are experiencing has also changed- they fall in and out of love.
Manipulation of reality
- Oberon creates the illusion of love, and the belief that Lysander and Demetrius have in that illusory love causes chaos
- Puck disguises his voice etc to create the illusion that the craftsmen are being chased by wild creatures or that Lysander and Demetrius are chasing each other when in actuality they are only following Puck’s voice.
- The Elizabethan audience would be able to laugh at the illusion of the craftsmen’s attempts to re-structure the audience’s imagination in their staging of the play ‘Pyramus and Thisbe’.
- However, even we the modern audience are involved in the illusion that is theatre. While we watch the characters being tricked, we easily lose sight of the fact that those characters we see only live because we let them live in our imagination.
Range of illusions presented to us in the play
- Lysander, then Demetrius, is under the illusion that he loves Helena
- Titania’s love for Bottom is an illusion
- The lovers’ reactions to the night’s happenings are described (5,1, 186-199)
- Bottom’s reactions (4,1,186-199); the words ‘vision’, ‘dream’, ‘wonders’ and ‘images/imagination’ are recurrent here and at (5,1,1-127)
- Oberon creates the illusion of love, and the belief that Lysander and Demetrius have in that illusory love causes chaos
- Puck disguises his voice etc to create the illusion that the craftsmen are being chased by wild creatures or that Lysander and Demetrius are chasing each other when in actuality they are only following Puck’s voice.
- The Elizabethan audience would be able to laugh at the illusion of the craftsmen’s attempts to re-structure the audience’s imagination in their staging of the play ‘Pyramus and Thisbe’.
- However, even we the modern audience are involved in the illusion that is theatre. While we watch the characters being tricked, we easily lose sight of the fact that those characters we see only live because we let them live in our imagination.
Range of illusions presented to us in the play
- Lysander, then Demetrius, is under the illusion that he loves Helena
- Titania’s love for Bottom is an illusion
- The lovers’ reactions to the night’s happenings are described (5,1, 186-199)
- Bottom’s reactions (4,1,186-199); the words ‘vision’, ‘dream’, ‘wonders’ and ‘images/imagination’ are recurrent here and at (5,1,1-127)
(c) Read the following excerpt carefully and then answer the questions that follow it.
Enter Puck
OBERON:
OBERON:
[Advancing] Welcome, good Robin.
See'st thou this sweet sight?
Her dotage now I do begin to pity:
For, meeting her of late behind the wood,
Seeking sweet favours from this hateful fool,
I did upbraid her and fall out with her;
For she his hairy temples then had rounded
With a coronet of fresh and fragrant flowers;
And that same dew, which sometime on the buds
Was wont to swell like round and orient pearls,
Stood now within the pretty flowerets' eyes
Like tears that did their own disgrace bewail.
When I had at my pleasure taunted her
And she in mild terms begg'd my patience,
I then did ask of her her changeling child;
Which straight she gave me, and her fairy sent
To bear him to my bower in fairy land.
And now I have the boy, I will undo
This hateful imperfection of her eyes:
And, gentle Puck, take this transformed scalp
From off the head of this Athenian swain;
That, he awaking when the other do,
May all to Athens back again repair
And think no more of this night's accidents
But as the fierce vexation of a dream.
But first I will release the fairy queen.
Be as thou wast wont to be;
See as thou wast wont to see:
Dian's bud o'er Cupid's flower
Hath such force and blessed power.
Now, my Titania; wake you, my sweet queen.
See'st thou this sweet sight?
Her dotage now I do begin to pity:
For, meeting her of late behind the wood,
Seeking sweet favours from this hateful fool,
I did upbraid her and fall out with her;
For she his hairy temples then had rounded
With a coronet of fresh and fragrant flowers;
And that same dew, which sometime on the buds
Was wont to swell like round and orient pearls,
Stood now within the pretty flowerets' eyes
Like tears that did their own disgrace bewail.
When I had at my pleasure taunted her
And she in mild terms begg'd my patience,
I then did ask of her her changeling child;
Which straight she gave me, and her fairy sent
To bear him to my bower in fairy land.
And now I have the boy, I will undo
This hateful imperfection of her eyes:
And, gentle Puck, take this transformed scalp
From off the head of this Athenian swain;
That, he awaking when the other do,
May all to Athens back again repair
And think no more of this night's accidents
But as the fierce vexation of a dream.
But first I will release the fairy queen.
Be as thou wast wont to be;
See as thou wast wont to see:
Dian's bud o'er Cupid's flower
Hath such force and blessed power.
Now, my Titania; wake you, my sweet queen.
(i) What does this passage reveal about the personality and qualities of Oberon? Are you more disdainful or admiring of Oberon’s character up to this point in the play?
(Personal response) As a general guide, most responded that Oberon is foremostly spiteful and manipulative in his dealings with Titiania, tricking her into giving him the changeling, making it clear that he will accept nothing less than the boy. Titania refuses to let him have the boy and therefore, Oberon decides to humiliate her when he applies the magic potion to Titania's eyelids and casts the spell so that when she awakes, she will fall in love with the most hideous creature she first sees. His treatment of Titania shows to the audience how he is willing to humiliate his queen to achieve what he wants, thus potraying himself to be unscrupulous, sly/sneaky/lacking in chivalry and does not possess a sense of fair play. In contrast, many also bring up the point that Oberon eventually releases Titania from the spell, thus showing that he is able to forgive and forget and is therefore worthy of our admiration and that we must judge him more kindly.
A basic argument must be discernible in your response. If you admire Oberon for his single act of releasing Titania from the love spell or if you find him worthy of contempt for even using the love spell in the first place, you must provide evidence to substantiate your claim and then elaborate with examples etc. The best answers manage to do this well, in terms of showing what they admire or dislike about Oberon and substantiating with evidence from the text as well as including a personal opinion about Oberon's actions.
(ii) With close reference to events throughout the play, discuss whether Oberon or Theseus better represents the portrait of an ideal ruler.
To what extent is each character presented as a good ruler?
- Consider what might be regarded as desirable qualities in a ruler?
- Does either character demonstrate these qualities?
- The role of each character within the context of the play.His behavior in contrast to the behavior of the other characters.
- Consider what might be regarded as desirable qualities in a ruler?
- Does either character demonstrate these qualities?
- The role of each character within the context of the play.His behavior in contrast to the behavior of the other characters.
Introduction
- Clearly outline how you are going to deal with the question. Include a brief idea of what you define to be a ‘good ruler’. This is important as the qualities of a 'good ruler' can be very subjective. As it stands, some essays mention qualities such as 'resourcefulness' and 'the ability to think out of the box' while others emphatically insist that a good ruler is one who 'follows the rules' and 'does not consider himself above the law'.
- Clearly outline how you are going to deal with the question. Include a brief idea of what you define to be a ‘good ruler’. This is important as the qualities of a 'good ruler' can be very subjective. As it stands, some essays mention qualities such as 'resourcefulness' and 'the ability to think out of the box' while others emphatically insist that a good ruler is one who 'follows the rules' and 'does not consider himself above the law'.
- A clear definition of a 'good ruler' will give your essay focus and direct your thoughts and arguments better.
1st impressions of each character
- He opens the play; giving him a dominant position from the start.His love for Hippolyta gives him humanity (Theseus)
- He opens the play; giving him a dominant position from the start.His love for Hippolyta gives him humanity (Theseus)
vs
- ‘jealous Oberon’ according to Puck (2,1,24)
- His anger and brashness revealed ‘Ill met by moonlight, proud Titania!’ (2,1, 60)
- Commanding obedience, even from Titania; ‘Am I not thy lord?’ (2,1,64)
- His anger and brashness revealed ‘Ill met by moonlight, proud Titania!’ (2,1, 60)
- Commanding obedience, even from Titania; ‘Am I not thy lord?’ (2,1,64)
How do you feel about each character as a leader? (Suggestions)
Theseus as Duke of Athens
- His support for Egeus shows his deference to Athenian law.
- Law shown as being of primary importance in his decision-making.
- Appears to be harsh (but is he really?)
- Offer of an alternative penalty to death suggests that he can be fair-minded.
- Approach to problem – calm, rational, judicious.
- Language is measure and thoughtful.
- Offers Hermia time to decide- reasonable.
- At the end of the play, he overrules Egeus and allows the four lovers to marry for love
- He comes across as approachable- even Bottom feels that he may talk to Theseus directly.
- As a patron of the arts, encouraging his subjects to perform their play
- Has a sense of humor, making witty remarks during the play.
- Appreciates honest effort of the craftsmen and does not belittle their play.
- His support for Egeus shows his deference to Athenian law.
- Law shown as being of primary importance in his decision-making.
- Appears to be harsh (but is he really?)
- Offer of an alternative penalty to death suggests that he can be fair-minded.
- Approach to problem – calm, rational, judicious.
- Language is measure and thoughtful.
- Offers Hermia time to decide- reasonable.
- At the end of the play, he overrules Egeus and allows the four lovers to marry for love
- He comes across as approachable- even Bottom feels that he may talk to Theseus directly.
- As a patron of the arts, encouraging his subjects to perform their play
- Has a sense of humor, making witty remarks during the play.
- Appreciates honest effort of the craftsmen and does not belittle their play.
Oberon as King of the fairies
- Consider his attitude towards Titania's refusal to give him the changeling and what he does
as a result of her 'disobedience'. Are his actions justified, considering that he is a ruler
amongst the fairies? Why or why not?
- Consider his attitude towards the young lovers and the mechanicals- is there any evidence
in his dealings with them that reveal him to be a magnanimous ruler?
- How would you reconcile his attempts to help the four young lovers with his standing as
the King of Fairies? Are his actions to be expected of a ruler? Why or why not?
- Think about his relationship with Puck (Does Puck obey him readily? Is Oberon forgiving
of Puck's mistakes etc.) and decide what his interactions with Puck reveal about his
character and personality as a ruler.
Conclusion
- Draw together everything you have mentioned in the main body of the essay, but do not
- Draw together everything you have mentioned in the main body of the essay, but do not
simply rewrite everything you have written.
- Show whether Theseus or Oberon matches up better to the qualities you mentioned in
- Show whether Theseus or Oberon matches up better to the qualities you mentioned in
your introduction.
Just FYI
BAND DESCRIPTORS FOR SET TEXT QUESTIONS
21 – 25 (Distinction Grade)
21 – 25 (Distinction Grade)
• Discriminating selection of textual detail with close attention to the terms of the question. Top answers take advantage of the opportunities offered by the question.
• Conscientious answers that demonstrate good understanding of the text and question. Better answers reveal some insights into the text’s main concerns and the effects achieved by the author.
• Response demonstrates a consistent viewpoint with appropriate substantiation.
• Clear, organised and coherent work.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
JUNE HOLIDAYS 2009
Hi everyone!
Thank you too for being patient with my absence on the blog, although there are many things to be uploaded and things for you guys to do even as Mr. Ahmad takes over MSND lessons in Term 2.
Things have been very hectic at home, with my 3 week old daughter constantly demanding to be fed and my 2 year old daughter constantly demanding that I play with her :)
In any case, will try to find time to upload:
1. The MYE suggested answer scheme as soon as I can
2. Critical essays that I would like for you to read
as well as
3. The work that I would like for you to attempt even as you guys enjoy the respite from lessons and school during the June hols :)
Post again soon! :)
Ms. Nsa
Just a short post to say thank you for all the lovely messages I received after I gave birth.
I'm extremely touched by all your warm wishes. Thanks again!
Thank you too for being patient with my absence on the blog, although there are many things to be uploaded and things for you guys to do even as Mr. Ahmad takes over MSND lessons in Term 2.
Things have been very hectic at home, with my 3 week old daughter constantly demanding to be fed and my 2 year old daughter constantly demanding that I play with her :)
In any case, will try to find time to upload:
1. The MYE suggested answer scheme as soon as I can
2. Critical essays that I would like for you to read
as well as
3. The work that I would like for you to attempt even as you guys enjoy the respite from lessons and school during the June hols :)
Post again soon! :)
Ms. Nsa
Friday, May 15, 2009
MISSING CA1 COMPONENTS
Hi all
This post is meant as a reminder to all parties who owe me pieces of work for CA1. I need 2 different sets of marks to key into Cockpit for CA1 but unfortunately some people have not handed in a single piece of work.
The guilty parties have forced my hand as I believe that I have been very lenient as far as late submissions are concerned. Thus, I am now issuing this
This post is meant as a reminder to all parties who owe me pieces of work for CA1. I need 2 different sets of marks to key into Cockpit for CA1 but unfortunately some people have not handed in a single piece of work.
The guilty parties have forced my hand as I believe that I have been very lenient as far as late submissions are concerned. Thus, I am now issuing this
ULTIMATUM:
Hand in the missing pieces by
12 midnight TOMORROW
(Sunday, 17 May)
or I WILL key in ZERO marks for your CA1 components and your SA1 marks will suffer terribly as a result.
Please be reminded that after this Sunday's deadline, I will no longer entertain any other submission.
I must state for the record that I am thoroughly disappointed with those who have nonchalantly ignored my sms reminders and also particularly annoyed that I have to spend my pre-natal leave chasing after you for your work.
The following students are responsible for their own CA1 component marks which currently stand at ZERO:
4BN
1. Ang Shi Chun Jennifer
2. Eng Sing Joo Laura
3. Kelly Chong Wen Ting (1 set of marks from Essay 1)
4. Chua Eng Loo Marc (1 set of marks from Essay 1)
4GR
1. Clara Poon Jiaqi (1 set of marks from Essay 1)
2. Ko Yi Fan (1 set of marks from Essay 1)
3. Maryann Chua Pei Wen (1 set of marks from Essay 1)
4. Seng Xin Yi Samantha (1 set of marks from Essay 1)
5. Sherri Lee Singh
6. Sim Si Yi Jacqueline (1 set of marks from Essay 1, Essay 4 to be re-done)
7. Su Yanyun
8. Tan Honghui Ann (1 set of marks from Essay 3)
9. Tay Xue Yi (1 set of marks from Essay 1)
10. Teo Qiu Han Chrystal (1 set of marks from Essay 1)
11. Toh Ann Gie (I only have one set of marks from Essay 1)
12. Wee Kim Mui Alicia (1 set of marks from Essay 1)
13. Yang Zhenting Kristal (1 set of marks from Essay 1)
14. Cheng Jun Ryan
15. Colin Kong Xiang Xi
16. Tan Jie Sheng Marcus
17. Teo Qi Xian
18. Yap Jia Hao Charles
4MD
1. Ang Kai Zhen Teresa (1 set of marks from Essay 1)
2. Chew Jialing Karyn
3. Fiona Teh Yong Wei (1 set of marks from Essay 1)
4. Tan Si Ying Dawn
5. Wong Yu Wen Christina (1 set of marks from Essay 1)
6. Wu Yi (1 set of marks from Essay 1)
7. Yang Rong (1 set of marks from Essay 1)
4RP
1. Allan Lim Tung Loong (1 set of marks from Essay 1)
2. Chua Boon Hee (1 set of marks from Essay 1)
3. Lian Jia Jing (1 set of marks from Essay 1)
For the lost and confused, ONLY the following are the essay questions that can be used to compute the CA1 components.
Any other pieces of work that you have done is solely for practice and will not be used for computation of CA1 marks (Thanks Charles, for clarifying!)
I will only need 2 components for MSND.
If you have handed in one, you owe me another.
For those whose names appear in RED, you urgently owe me two pieces, for now.
Essay 1: “The course of true love never did run smooth”. Show how this is true for all the lovers in the play.
Essay 2: Select either Hermia or Helena and show how far you feel sympathy for her regarding the problems she faces during the entire course of the play.
Essay 3: "A play that is all about fairies". Refer closely to the text to indicate how far it is true that the play is 'all about fairies' and what you have learnt from the play about human nature.
Essay 4: "Shakespeare wants us to smile kindly at the craftsmen, and not scorn them." Do you agree?
COMPLETE YOUR WORK AND HAND IT IN
Thursday, May 7, 2009
ESSAY WRITING TIPS
STATEMENT --> EVEIDENCE/EXAMPLES --> ELABORATION
The most common way of responding to literature is through an essay in which you may be asked to 'Discuss...','Compare...','Give a personal response...' etc.
Essays like this are called literary criticism, and you need to be able to analyse the text and justify and personalize your response. There are certain basic techniques for writing in this way.
Techniques of Literary Criticism
(i) Answer the question with a statement
(ii) Support your answer with evidence.
(iii) Elaborate or explicate your statement
(i). Answer the question
Imagine you were asked one of these typical questions:
• Comment on the role of X in helping the audience understand the play.
• Compare and contrast the characters X and Y.
In order to answer the question successfully you need to be absolutely clear about what you are being asked to do. The question will definitely not ask you to retell the storyline. This is the biggest mistake students make - retelling the storyline rather than answering the question.
- Start by underlining or writing out key words from the questions, and then make notes; plan your essay. In your notes you should be writing down the key points you will make in your essay.
- Write in substantial paragraphs, usually two, three or four to a side of A4. •
- Use an introduction if you need to define the title, or explain your approach to the questions. Otherwise, dive straight into your first point.
- Use cohesive devises to add variety and clarity to your writing: however, although, therefore, then, at first, later...and so on.
- Show that you are answering the question by echoing its phrasing at the start of a new paragraph. (Linking back to the demands of the question)
- Avoid sounding like you are having a chat with your best friend
(ii) Support your answer with evidence
- Select and mention the most relevant evidence to subtantiate your point first. Leave the less substantial evidence or example to the end of your paragraph / argument.
- Evidence chosen must show clearly how it supports the stand that you are trying to make.
- Evidence must support your statement and answer the requirements of the question.
(iii) Elaborate or explicate your statement
- One of the most important techniques when writing literature essays is to use quotations to support your ideas. There are two ways of using quotations:
- Place long quotations (more than one sentence) in a separate paragraph
- Embed short quotations into your own sentences.
Finally there is no substitute for detailed knowledge and understanding of the text. Students who demonstrate they are extremely familiar with the characters, action and background of a text generally score better in the exams.
Take time to reread each book, play or poem studied.
CRITICAL ESSAY: THREE WORLDS IN AMSND
Introduction
A Midsummer night’s Dream is a romantic comedy play. This play was written in the 1590s by William Shakespeare. The play consists of two pairs of lovers who run away into the wood on a midsummer’s night. While sleeping in the wood the king of the fairies, Oberon tells his servant Puck to drop flower drops onto the eyes of Lysander and Demetrius. This causes confusion because both men fall in love with Helena. Also in the wood a group of workers are rehearsing a play for the wedding of Duke Theseus. Because Oberon’s wife won’t give him an Indian boy, he turns Bottom’s head into an ass’s head and makes his wife fall in love with him for revenge and amusement. In the end all the problems are worked out. The lovers are reunited and the mechanicals perform their play at the wedding ceremony. In this play Shakespeare creates three distinct worlds on the stage: the world of the court, the world of the mechanicals and the world of the fairies. He creates these worlds through his choice of language, settings and the characters themselves.
The World of the Court
In the world of the court we are introduced to some of the main characters and themes of love and enchantment. The people in this scene are upper class. The very first scene of the play is set in the palace of Duke Theseus, The Duke of Athens. Preparations are going underway for the Duke’s wedding. He is going to marry Hyppolita in four days. He can’t wait to marry her as the text shows: “Methinks how slow this old moon wanes.” (L3). The mood soon changes when Egeus arrives, bringing with him his daughter Hermia and her two suitors, Lysander and Demetrius. Egeus wants Hermia to marry Demetrius. If she disobeys him then he will have her killed. Hermia does not want to marry Demetrius as she is in love with Lysander. Theseus tries to persuade Hermia to marry Demetrius: “Demetrius is a worthy gentleman.” (L52). He also gives a third option to become a nun. They argue and she sticks up for herself. In the days when this play was written, it was against the law for daughters to disobey their farther, so Hermia keeps on refusing to marry Demetrius. Every one leaves except Lysander and Hermia. They plan to run away across the forest the following night to one of Lysander’s aunts. Helena enters the scene. Helena loves Demetrius but Demetrius does not love Helena. Hermia and Lysander confide their plan to Helena. In this scene Shakespeare presents the world of the court to the audience. He does this in a variety of ways. The main characters of Act 1 Scene 1 are wealthy as we get the impression of importance, power, and sophisticated when we read Act 1 Scene 1. Several points show us this. The names of the characters are all formal, elegant and serious. Theseus is a duke who is marrying a queen, which means that they must be aristocratic. Theseus gives orders and commands: “Go, Philostrate” (L12) He is also obeyed. The attendants call Theseus “My noble lord” (L24) and “My gracious duke” (L26). Another way Shakespeare presents the world of the court is in the language he gives his characters. They all speak Standard English. We know that these characters are upper class because Shakespeare always wrote their scripts in blank verse which is decasyllabic which means that each line has 10 syllables. This text is also written in an Iambic pentameters format which means the rhythm is unstressed followed by stressed syllables. Lines 1 - 10 are written in blank verse and Iambic pentameters format: Now, fair Hyppolita, our nuptial hour Draws on apace: four happy days bring in the end words of each line in this verse rhyme with the end word of the following line, which in this case is “mind” and “blind”. This is called rhyming couplets and suggests that the characters have been well educated. The language is formal and stately. Another way that tells us that the characters have been well educated is the way Lysander refers to Greek mythology: “I swear to thee by cupid’s strongest bow” (L169). Lysander uses the language of Elizabethan love poetry when he says to Hermia: How now, my love? Why is your cheek so pale? How chance the roses there do fade so fast? in Shakespeare’s time poets often compared their lover’s faces to roses and cherries.
The World of the Mechanicals
In Act 1 Scene 2 we are introduced to the world of the Mechanicals. This scene is set in Peter Quince’s abode (house) in Athens. A group of men have got together. They are all working class. They are going over which parts they are going to play in a performance “Pyramus and Thisby.” This play is going to be performed at the Duke’s wedding. A character called Nick Bottom wants to play all the characters parts because he thinks he is better than everyone else. The scene ends where they decide to meet in the wood the following night, where they will secretly rehearse. In this scene Shakespeare presents the world of the mechanicals to the audience. He does this in a variety of ways. All of the characters in this scene are working class. Therefore all of the characters have jobs. Their names are comical and also associated with their jobs. Peter Quince is a carpenter. “Quince” is similar to “quine” which is a wooden wedge. Nick Bottom is a weaver. Weavers unwind thread from a “bottom.” Francis Flute is a bellows mender. A “flute” is a pipe on a bellows powered organ. Tom Snout is a tinker. “Snout” is similar to “spout” – a part of a kettle. Snug is a Joiner. Joints are usually referred to as “snuggerly tight.” Robin Starvling is a tailor and they are traditionally undernourished. Peter Quince is in charge of the performance probably because he is more sensible and a little more educated than the other workers. Bottom is going to play Pyramus in the play. Flute is playing Thisby. Snout plays Pyramus’ farther. Snug plays the lions part and isn’t very bright: “for I am slow of study.” (L60). Starvling plays Thisby’s mother. In Shakespeare’s time women’s parts where played by men as women where not allowed to act. Some of the comical aspects of the play come from this scene, especially Bottom, who is arrogant, disruptive and child like. He has self importance; He is easily flattered and gullible when he is told that he has to play that part because it is important and no one else can do it. Despite his immature behaviour he has enthusiasm for acting, advising and encouraging. The craftsmen are naive because they are convinced that that the audience will not be able to tell the difference between a real lion and Snug in a costume. The craftsmen reveal vulgarity. They talk about French crowns which refer to gold coins but also refer to baldness caused by so called French disease “syphilis” which would be considered rude in the day the play was written. This can be found in line 85: “Some of your French crowns have no hair at all.” The language of scene 2 is al lot different from scene 1. They do not speak in blank verse; instead they speak in prose, which has no rhythm and Shakespeare always writes lower class characters in prose. The characters try to use educated language but they get it wrong and it sounds silly. This is called a malapropism, like in line 95: “We will meet and there we may rehearse most obscenely” instead of saying “obscurely.” Another example of a malapropism is on lines 71-72: But I will aggravate my voice so, that I will roar as gently as any sucking dove. instead of saying “aggravate” they should of said “moderate.” Characters also use colloquial expressions like “Nay” in line 40. A colloquial expression is a slang word. If I was presenting this scene on stage I would set it outside in a market place of the town. The back drops and flaps would have images of ancient Greek buildings which would help to set the scene of that day. I would also have some stalls set out on stage where actors can buy or sell pottery or food. I would have the characters wearing old clothing, not very colourful and unwashed. This gives the impression of working class. They could also wear cheap jewellery and beads. The male characters would have long hair to suggest that they can’t afford a hair cut. I would have a background noise of people chatting because it will not be quiet in the centre of a town. The scene will be bright because it is set outside.
The world of the Fairies
The setting of this scene is in the woods outside of Athens. Here we encounter the character of Puck, a mischievous spirit who has the power to cast spells and to fly at lightening speed, also known as Robin Goodfellow. Puck speaks with one of the enchanted forest's fairies before their king, Oberon and their queen, Titania arrive in the middle of an argument about an Indian boy which Titania has taken but Oberon wants. She refuses to give the boy to her husband, and when she departs with her train of woodland fairies, Oberon devises a scheme to punish her through a joke. He instructs Puck to obtain a magic flower extract, which he will then apply to Titania's eyes as she sleeps. This particular ointment has the power to make Titania (or anyone else) fall in love with the first warm-bloodied creature they see upon awakening. While Puck goes on this task, Demetrius enters, followed by the lovesick Helena. After watching Demetrius cruelly reject Helena, Oberon tells the returned Puck to use some of the same love potion on Demetrious and to arrange for Helena to be the first thing he sees and falls madly in love with. In this scene Shakespeare presents the world of the fairies to the audience. He does this in several ways. We know that some of the characters in this scene are fairies because of the way Puck talks to one of the enchanted fairies. They greet each other with, “How now, spirit!” They also discuss things like, “Make the flowers sparkle.” And “Creep into acorn cups.” Puck is also known to be mischievous, evidence of this is that he frightens people in the village and he makes humans lose their way when walking through the wood. Another way Shakespeare presents the world of the fairies is in the language he gives his characters. Fairies make use of rhyme when chanting spells and charms. Short-lined passages are rhymed creating a song like quality, like in lines 2 - 5: Over hill, over dale, Through bush, through briar, Over park, over pale, Through flood through fire. like in Act 1 Scene 1, some of the text is written in blank verse and in an iambic pentameters style: These are forgeries of jealousy; And never, since the middle summer’s spring, The poetic language is out of place in the mouths of humans. Titania creates a vivid impression of the countryside. She personifies the wind, rivers, seasons and moon which suggest her supernatural intimacy with the forces of nature.
A Midsummer night’s Dream is a romantic comedy play. This play was written in the 1590s by William Shakespeare. The play consists of two pairs of lovers who run away into the wood on a midsummer’s night. While sleeping in the wood the king of the fairies, Oberon tells his servant Puck to drop flower drops onto the eyes of Lysander and Demetrius. This causes confusion because both men fall in love with Helena. Also in the wood a group of workers are rehearsing a play for the wedding of Duke Theseus. Because Oberon’s wife won’t give him an Indian boy, he turns Bottom’s head into an ass’s head and makes his wife fall in love with him for revenge and amusement. In the end all the problems are worked out. The lovers are reunited and the mechanicals perform their play at the wedding ceremony. In this play Shakespeare creates three distinct worlds on the stage: the world of the court, the world of the mechanicals and the world of the fairies. He creates these worlds through his choice of language, settings and the characters themselves.
The World of the Court
In the world of the court we are introduced to some of the main characters and themes of love and enchantment. The people in this scene are upper class. The very first scene of the play is set in the palace of Duke Theseus, The Duke of Athens. Preparations are going underway for the Duke’s wedding. He is going to marry Hyppolita in four days. He can’t wait to marry her as the text shows: “Methinks how slow this old moon wanes.” (L3). The mood soon changes when Egeus arrives, bringing with him his daughter Hermia and her two suitors, Lysander and Demetrius. Egeus wants Hermia to marry Demetrius. If she disobeys him then he will have her killed. Hermia does not want to marry Demetrius as she is in love with Lysander. Theseus tries to persuade Hermia to marry Demetrius: “Demetrius is a worthy gentleman.” (L52). He also gives a third option to become a nun. They argue and she sticks up for herself. In the days when this play was written, it was against the law for daughters to disobey their farther, so Hermia keeps on refusing to marry Demetrius. Every one leaves except Lysander and Hermia. They plan to run away across the forest the following night to one of Lysander’s aunts. Helena enters the scene. Helena loves Demetrius but Demetrius does not love Helena. Hermia and Lysander confide their plan to Helena. In this scene Shakespeare presents the world of the court to the audience. He does this in a variety of ways. The main characters of Act 1 Scene 1 are wealthy as we get the impression of importance, power, and sophisticated when we read Act 1 Scene 1. Several points show us this. The names of the characters are all formal, elegant and serious. Theseus is a duke who is marrying a queen, which means that they must be aristocratic. Theseus gives orders and commands: “Go, Philostrate” (L12) He is also obeyed. The attendants call Theseus “My noble lord” (L24) and “My gracious duke” (L26). Another way Shakespeare presents the world of the court is in the language he gives his characters. They all speak Standard English. We know that these characters are upper class because Shakespeare always wrote their scripts in blank verse which is decasyllabic which means that each line has 10 syllables. This text is also written in an Iambic pentameters format which means the rhythm is unstressed followed by stressed syllables. Lines 1 - 10 are written in blank verse and Iambic pentameters format: Now, fair Hyppolita, our nuptial hour Draws on apace: four happy days bring in the end words of each line in this verse rhyme with the end word of the following line, which in this case is “mind” and “blind”. This is called rhyming couplets and suggests that the characters have been well educated. The language is formal and stately. Another way that tells us that the characters have been well educated is the way Lysander refers to Greek mythology: “I swear to thee by cupid’s strongest bow” (L169). Lysander uses the language of Elizabethan love poetry when he says to Hermia: How now, my love? Why is your cheek so pale? How chance the roses there do fade so fast? in Shakespeare’s time poets often compared their lover’s faces to roses and cherries.
The World of the Mechanicals
In Act 1 Scene 2 we are introduced to the world of the Mechanicals. This scene is set in Peter Quince’s abode (house) in Athens. A group of men have got together. They are all working class. They are going over which parts they are going to play in a performance “Pyramus and Thisby.” This play is going to be performed at the Duke’s wedding. A character called Nick Bottom wants to play all the characters parts because he thinks he is better than everyone else. The scene ends where they decide to meet in the wood the following night, where they will secretly rehearse. In this scene Shakespeare presents the world of the mechanicals to the audience. He does this in a variety of ways. All of the characters in this scene are working class. Therefore all of the characters have jobs. Their names are comical and also associated with their jobs. Peter Quince is a carpenter. “Quince” is similar to “quine” which is a wooden wedge. Nick Bottom is a weaver. Weavers unwind thread from a “bottom.” Francis Flute is a bellows mender. A “flute” is a pipe on a bellows powered organ. Tom Snout is a tinker. “Snout” is similar to “spout” – a part of a kettle. Snug is a Joiner. Joints are usually referred to as “snuggerly tight.” Robin Starvling is a tailor and they are traditionally undernourished. Peter Quince is in charge of the performance probably because he is more sensible and a little more educated than the other workers. Bottom is going to play Pyramus in the play. Flute is playing Thisby. Snout plays Pyramus’ farther. Snug plays the lions part and isn’t very bright: “for I am slow of study.” (L60). Starvling plays Thisby’s mother. In Shakespeare’s time women’s parts where played by men as women where not allowed to act. Some of the comical aspects of the play come from this scene, especially Bottom, who is arrogant, disruptive and child like. He has self importance; He is easily flattered and gullible when he is told that he has to play that part because it is important and no one else can do it. Despite his immature behaviour he has enthusiasm for acting, advising and encouraging. The craftsmen are naive because they are convinced that that the audience will not be able to tell the difference between a real lion and Snug in a costume. The craftsmen reveal vulgarity. They talk about French crowns which refer to gold coins but also refer to baldness caused by so called French disease “syphilis” which would be considered rude in the day the play was written. This can be found in line 85: “Some of your French crowns have no hair at all.” The language of scene 2 is al lot different from scene 1. They do not speak in blank verse; instead they speak in prose, which has no rhythm and Shakespeare always writes lower class characters in prose. The characters try to use educated language but they get it wrong and it sounds silly. This is called a malapropism, like in line 95: “We will meet and there we may rehearse most obscenely” instead of saying “obscurely.” Another example of a malapropism is on lines 71-72: But I will aggravate my voice so, that I will roar as gently as any sucking dove. instead of saying “aggravate” they should of said “moderate.” Characters also use colloquial expressions like “Nay” in line 40. A colloquial expression is a slang word. If I was presenting this scene on stage I would set it outside in a market place of the town. The back drops and flaps would have images of ancient Greek buildings which would help to set the scene of that day. I would also have some stalls set out on stage where actors can buy or sell pottery or food. I would have the characters wearing old clothing, not very colourful and unwashed. This gives the impression of working class. They could also wear cheap jewellery and beads. The male characters would have long hair to suggest that they can’t afford a hair cut. I would have a background noise of people chatting because it will not be quiet in the centre of a town. The scene will be bright because it is set outside.
The world of the Fairies
The setting of this scene is in the woods outside of Athens. Here we encounter the character of Puck, a mischievous spirit who has the power to cast spells and to fly at lightening speed, also known as Robin Goodfellow. Puck speaks with one of the enchanted forest's fairies before their king, Oberon and their queen, Titania arrive in the middle of an argument about an Indian boy which Titania has taken but Oberon wants. She refuses to give the boy to her husband, and when she departs with her train of woodland fairies, Oberon devises a scheme to punish her through a joke. He instructs Puck to obtain a magic flower extract, which he will then apply to Titania's eyes as she sleeps. This particular ointment has the power to make Titania (or anyone else) fall in love with the first warm-bloodied creature they see upon awakening. While Puck goes on this task, Demetrius enters, followed by the lovesick Helena. After watching Demetrius cruelly reject Helena, Oberon tells the returned Puck to use some of the same love potion on Demetrious and to arrange for Helena to be the first thing he sees and falls madly in love with. In this scene Shakespeare presents the world of the fairies to the audience. He does this in several ways. We know that some of the characters in this scene are fairies because of the way Puck talks to one of the enchanted fairies. They greet each other with, “How now, spirit!” They also discuss things like, “Make the flowers sparkle.” And “Creep into acorn cups.” Puck is also known to be mischievous, evidence of this is that he frightens people in the village and he makes humans lose their way when walking through the wood. Another way Shakespeare presents the world of the fairies is in the language he gives his characters. Fairies make use of rhyme when chanting spells and charms. Short-lined passages are rhymed creating a song like quality, like in lines 2 - 5: Over hill, over dale, Through bush, through briar, Over park, over pale, Through flood through fire. like in Act 1 Scene 1, some of the text is written in blank verse and in an iambic pentameters style: These are forgeries of jealousy; And never, since the middle summer’s spring, The poetic language is out of place in the mouths of humans. Titania creates a vivid impression of the countryside. She personifies the wind, rivers, seasons and moon which suggest her supernatural intimacy with the forces of nature.
CRITICAL ESSAY: ELIZABETHAN ENGLAND'S FAIRIES
Hi all, here is a critical essay that may enlighten some of you as to how Shakespeare's fairies came about...
One of the most noticeable and entertaining elements of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream is the presence of the fairies. Titania, Oberon, Puck, and the attendant fairies all affect the human beings in the woods, and provide glimpses into the fairy realm. Although Shakespeare applies several important aspects of the Elizabethan belief in fairies to A Midsummer Night's Dream, Shakespeare alters the conception of fairies not only within the context of the play, but for all time.
Fairies in Elizabethan England were of the same basic size and shape as humans. People were often mistaken for fairies because the size of a fairy was thought to be that of a short human, so there would be no noticeable difference in physical size. Since Elizabethan fairies looked like humans, they, of course, did not have wings. Elizabethan folk also thought that fairies were beautiful and of dark complexion, which reflected their association with wickedness. They often dressed in green due to their association with nature. Shakespeare, who was of course familiar with these ideas of fairies, presents the fairies of A Midsummer Night's Dream as beautiful and associated with nature, but this is where the physical similarities to Elizabethan folk beliefs ends. In the play, Shakespeare describes his fairies as tiny creatures with wings, and this is the first time in literature that fairies are described in this manner. It is not the last, as the poets and playwrights of his time adopted Shakespeare's diminutive description of fairies.
Shakespeare also alters the Elizabethan conception of the identity and behavior of fairies. One of the most striking aspects of Elizabethan fairy behavior was that fairies were linked closely with the home and the farm. Elizabethan fairies loved cleanliness enough to reward humans for keeping their homes clear of dirt and clutter, and they often punished messy people. They also needed humans for beef, bread, drink, and bath water, which people, fearful of fairy wrath, willingly supplied. What fairies wanted most, however, was milk and cream. Because of this, fairies were often associated with the dairy industry, and were frequently possessed herds of cattle because of their fondness for dairy.
Fairy reward and retribution was often swift and significant because of their wickedness. The Elizabethans thought that fairies either were fallen angels, the souls of dead humans, or beings without souls that existed between Heaven and Hell. Because of this supernatural status, fairies had magical powers that they put to use for their own benefit. When humans followed fairy dictates, fairies were known to cure diseases, bring an abundance of food (including fairy bread, which was considered to be nearly divine), clean houses, protect, bring fortune, and tell the future. However, the foolish mortals who did not appease the fairies could suffer a variety of punishments. The most popular fairy punishment was pinching, which often left victims with blue bruises all over their bodies. Fairies were also known to create changelings (babies who were born one gender and changed to the other), to abduct both children and adults, blight crops, destroy livestock, and bring disease. The "commoners" of the Elizabethan period were afraid of fairies and tried to appease them. This representation of fairies as malicious beings is quite different from A Midsummer Night's Dream, where fairies are harmless sprites who may play tricks on humans, but eventually help them without being bribed to do so. Titania cares for the Indian boy out of love for her late votress, and Oberon orders Puck to resolve the Athenians' love situation without any kind of reward. Both rulers even bless the bridal beds at the end of the play. This beneficence is a far cry from the fear-inspiring fairies to which Shakespeare's Elizabethan audiences were accustomed.
One aspect of fairies that Shakespeare left intact was their enjoyments. Shakespeare's fairies in A Midsummer Night's Dream enjoy dancing and music, which was the favorite pastime of the fairies of Elizabethan folklore. Fairies were thought to dance in fairy circles, which humans were forbidden to see. Any person spying on fairy circles would be punished by pinching.
Shakespeare's correlation of fairies to night is also consistent with the folklore of his time.
Although the fairy "hours" were midnight and fairies were occasionally known to work magic in the day, the main time for fairies was night. Fairies were also active in the summer, and not known to appear after All Hallows' Eve (Halloween). Shakespeare is consistent with this idea of "fairy time" in the play.
Shakespeare departs again from the Elizabethan conception of fairies, however, when it comes to the characterizations of his fairies. While the idea of Oberon as the fairy king was familiar to the Elizabethans, the name of Titania for the fairy queen was not. Titania's name was probably taken from Ovid's Metamorphosis, which describes the fairy queen in a similar vein to the moon goddess Diana. Despite this difference, Titania's train is consistent with the folklore—her time is from midnight to sunrise, she and her fairies sing and dance, she has jewels, and she has possession of a changeling. Shakespeare does add flowers to Titania's image, which had not been previously associated with fairies.
Oberon's character in the play appears to be consistent with the folklore in the beginning, but changes significantly by the end of the play. When Oberon and Titania meet, Oberon's anger over Titania's refusal to give him the Indian boy has caused Oberon to take his frustrations out on the weather and on the humans around him. He also wants to use the love juice in order to make Helena run away from Demetrius. This lack of regard for mortals is exactly what the Elizabethans would have expected from the fairy king. By the end of the play, however, Oberon orders Puck to cure Lysander while leaving Demetrius under the love spell. Oberon has changed from the stereotypical fairy into a benevolent one for no reason other than to avoid any further conflict.
Another difference in the depiction of fairy characters is Robin Goodfellow, or Puck. Robin Goodfellow was a familiar figure to the Elizabethans. His laugh, sense of humor, and reputation as a prankster made him a popular folk character. He was not, however, a fairy, because his tricks were never fatal. Only practical jokes and humorous accidents were attributed to him. Robin Goodfellow was also a spirit of the home, and was often depicted with a candle and a broom because he loved to clean houses as a reward for bread and cream. (This is the reason why he is shown with a broom at the end of the play). While Shakespeare maintains Robin Goodfellow's mischievous personality, he completely changes some significant facets of his character. As mentioned previously, Robin Goodfellow was not a fairy. Shakespeare not only makes him a fairy in A Midsummer Night's Dream, but he also makes him Oberon's jester and servant. The change of Robin Goodfellow's name to Puck is also significant. A "puck" is a devil, not a joker, which directly contrasts Robin Goodfellow's character not only in Elizabethan folklore but in the play as well. Robin has no interest in the humans in the play other than for sport, and he has no association with the home save for carrying the broom. Although A Midsummer Night's Dream marks Robin Goodfellow's first appearance on the English stage, only his sense of humor and prankish nature remain from the famous figure of Elizabethan folklore.
Shakespeare, then, transforms the whole conception of "fairy" from wicked tricksters to harmless "shadows." Robin highlights this transformation in the epilogue to the play:
If we shadows have offended,Think but this, and all is mended.That you have but slumb'red hereWhile these visions did appear.And this weak and idle theme,No more yielding but a dream (V, i, ll. 412-417).
For the first time, fairies are no longer to be feared but dismissed as nothing more than a dream. Because of the beauty of the fairy imagery and the immense popularity of both Shakespeare and the play, Shakespeare's literary contemporaries perpetuated his descriptions of fairies given in A Midsummer Night's Dream. The fact that we now see fairies as tiny, harmless creatures with wings and magical powers that live in the woods is due to this play. Although Shakespeare gives prominence to the Elizabethan folk belief of fairies by highlighting them in the play, he changes the popular idea of fairies in A Midsummer Night's Dream from wicked spirits to shadows and dreams, a transformation which lasts to this day.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
T2 WEEK4 (2009) INSTRUCTIONS
Please take note:
- 4BN & GR will be carrying out the activity below in GROUPS. Please follow the standard groups that you work in for TKAM (Anacondas, Bumblebee, Cows, Dogs, Elephant, Frog, Goats, Hippos, Iguana)
- 4MD & RP will complete the activity INDIVIDUALLY.
- 4BN & GR will be carrying out the activity below in GROUPS. Please follow the standard groups that you work in for TKAM (Anacondas, Bumblebee, Cows, Dogs, Elephant, Frog, Goats, Hippos, Iguana)
- 4MD & RP will complete the activity INDIVIDUALLY.
(Lesson missed: 15 April 2009)
The questions and allocation of essay topics are as follows:
4BN & GR
(Bumble bee)
Give a detailed account of Theseus’s interview with Egeus, Hermia, Lysander and Demetrius in Act One. What particular aspects of each person’s character are revealed during the scene?
(Cows)
(Cows)
Show how the play examines the nature and consequences of infatuation.
(Dogs)
(Dogs)
Discuss the role of the play-within-a-play in Act V of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Does the Pyramus and Thisbe story have any relevance to the main story, or is it simply a comical interlude? What effect does the craftsmen’s production of their play have on the tone of A Midsummer Night’s Dream as a whole?
(Anacondas)
(Anacondas)
‘Shakespeare’s women serve no real purpose in his plays. More often than not, they are used to ridicule the female species.’ Discuss.
(Iguana)
(Iguana)
Does the play offer a charitable or cynical view of love?
(Elephant)
(Elephant)
Show how the play explores the difference between illusion and reality.
(Frog)
(Frog)
‘The world of the woods may be magical but it is also mysterious and frightening’. Discuss.
(Goat)
Show how the border of reality and illusion is often blurred in the play.
(Hippos)
(Hippos)
In what ways is the world of the woods different from the world of Athens in the play? Discuss the atmosphere and purpose of each setting.
4MD & RP
‘I never heard / So musical a discord,’ In what ways could Hippolyta’s lines be considered an appropriate comment on the play in general?
* Please plan your essay carefully and email the completed essay to me: meela_useen@yahoo.com.sg by Friday 17 April (9 pm)
Friday, March 27, 2009
ANSWERS FOR QUOTES
Hi everyone :)
The following are the answers for the quotes handout that you were supposed to look for within the play.
The following are the answers for the quotes handout that you were supposed to look for within the play.
Thanks to those who attempted the handout in earnest.
Those who are looking for quick answers without attempting the questions, please be more serious with the tasks I set; they may not seem like much but it is quite amazing what the human mind can retain and recall at oppotune moments- you may find the things you do coming back to you in the middle of an exam for example...
Have a restful weekend Sec 4s! :)
SUGGESTED ANSWERS
1. Why has Theseus ordered a revel?
Theseus, Duke of Athens, has ordered a revel to celebrate his marriage to Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons, who he won through battle. The marriage is to take place in four days when there is a new moon. He desires to “… Stir up the Athenian youth to merriments. Awake the pert and nimble spirit of mirth.”
2. What does he promise Hippolyta?
Theseus promises Hippolyta that their marriage will be one of joy, unlike the warring he used to win her, by declaring, “…But I will wed thee in another key….”
3. Why does Egeus bring Hermia, Lysander, and Demetrius to Theseus?
Egeus brings Hermia, Lysander, and Demetrius to Theseus because he (Egeus) wants Hermia to marry Demetrius. Against Egeus’ will, Hermia wants to marry Lysander. Egeus wants Theseus to invoke the law requiring that a daughter marry the husband her father chooses for her or face the consequences: death or banishment to a nunnery. This is illustrated when Egeus says, “…I beg the ancient privilege of Athens….”
4. Why does Theseus tell Hermia to come to terms with her father’s choice of husband for her?
Theseus tells Hermia to come to terms with the husband her father has chosen for her or “…prepare to die for disobedience to your father’s will, … or on Diana’s alter to protest for aye austerity and single life.”
Theseus tells Hermia to come to terms with the husband her father has chosen for her or “…prepare to die for disobedience to your father’s will, … or on Diana’s alter to protest for aye austerity and single life.”
5. What is Hermia’s decision?
Hermia chooses to enter a nunnery rather than marry someone other than Lysander, who she feels is her true love. She protests, “So will I grow, so live, so die, my lord, ere I will yield my virgin patent up….”
6. Why does Theseus lead Egeus and Demetrius away?
Theseus leads Egeus and Demetrius away saying, “…But, Demetrius, come, and come Egeus, you shall go with me,” in order to speak with them privately. This is also a device to allow the actors to leave the stage so that Lysander and Hermia may plot alone.
7. What is Lysander’s plan?
Lysander’s plan is that Hermia and he will flee to his aunt’s house, in a place where, “…the sharp Athenian law cannot pursue…” them and where they may be married.
8. Why does Helena want to be like Hermia?
Helena wants Hermia to, “…teach me how you look and with what art …” because Demetrius loves Hermia and Helena wants his love for her own. She thinks that if only she were like Hermia, she could have his love.
Helena wants Hermia to, “…teach me how you look and with what art …” because Demetrius loves Hermia and Helena wants his love for her own. She thinks that if only she were like Hermia, she could have his love.
9. Why do Hermia and Lysander tell Helena the plan?
Hermia and Lysander tell Helena their plan because Helena complains to Hermia that Demetrius wants only Hermia. They reassure Helena that Hermia will no longer be available to Demetrius and, as Hermia promises, “… he shall no more see my face,” since Hermia and Lysander are going to elope.
10. What does Helena intend to do with this information?
Helena intends to tell Demetrius that Hermia is going to elope with Lysander in the hope that he will pursue them, only to realize it is Helena he really loves at which point Helena will “… have his sight thither and back again.”
11. Why do the craftsmen meet?
10. What does Helena intend to do with this information?
Helena intends to tell Demetrius that Hermia is going to elope with Lysander in the hope that he will pursue them, only to realize it is Helena he really loves at which point Helena will “… have his sight thither and back again.”
11. Why do the craftsmen meet?
The craftsmen meet to assign and discuss the roles they will have, “… to play in our interlude before the Duke and the Duchess on his wedding day at night.” Quince wrote and is directing this play for Theseus’ and Hippolyta’s wedding, which is to be held during the new moon, four days hence.
12. Why is Quince the one assigning the roles?
Quince is the person assigning the roles because he wrote the play with, “…every man’s name which is thought fit …” for certain roles. As the director, it is his job to cast the actors in the parts for which they are most suited—an easy job for him since he is also the dramatist (playwright).
13. What is Bottom’s reaction to his assigned role?
13. What is Bottom’s reaction to his assigned role?
Bottom’s reaction to his assigned role is that he wants to know who Pyramus is and, when told, proclaims he will have everyone crying with his portrayal of this lover who dies. To quote, “I will move storms; I will condole in some measure.”
14. What is Flute’s misgiving about his assignment?
14. What is Flute’s misgiving about his assignment?
Flute’s misgiving about his assignment is that he is growing a beard and women don’t have beards—so how can he play the part of a woman? As he protests, “Nay, faith, let not me play a woman. I have a beard coming.”
15. Why does Bottom want to play Flute’s role?
15. Why does Bottom want to play Flute’s role?
Bottom requests, “…let me play Thisbe, too,” because he wants to wear the mask the character will be wearing and use a small voice, as Flute will have to do to portray a woman.
16. What is Snug’s worry?
16. What is Snug’s worry?
Snug’s worry is that he will not have enough time to memorize his lines since he is, “slow of study” as he phrases it, and the play is to be in only four days.
17. Why does Bottom want to play Snug’s role?
Bottom requests, “Let me play the lion too,” so that he may roar as Snug will have to for this part. Bottom seeks the exciting or “fun” parts for himself, possibly giving us a hint as to his nature.
18. What do Quince and Bottom caution about the role of the Lion?
Quince and Bottom caution the Lion not to frighten the ladies in the audience because, “…that were enough to hang us all.”
19. Why does Quince insist Bottom play Pyramus?
Quince insists Bottom, “…must needs play Pyramus,” because he has both the bearing and the face of this character. Remembering that Quince wrote the play with Bottom in mind for the role of Pyramus will also help explain Quince’s insistence on Bottom playing this particular role.
20. Where are the men to meet next?
The men are next to meet, “At the Duke’s Oak…” which happens to be in the haunted wood, although the craftsmen are not aware that the fairies are now in residence there.
21. How did Puck earn his reputation?
21. How did Puck earn his reputation?
Puck earned his reputation as a hobgoblin by playing pranks, some mean, on both humans and animals as we can see by the fairy’s declaring, “…you are that shrewd and knavish sprite….” The name Puck, which is not Robin Goodfellow’s actual name, means hobgoblin and often is used interchangeably with the hobgoblin’s actual name.
22. Why is Oberon angry with Titania?
22. Why is Oberon angry with Titania?
Oberon is angry with Titania because she refuses to give up the changeling she has brought with her from India. While she has had many affairs, it is her insistence on keeping the boy that enrages her husband. Oberon, himself, declares, “I do but beg a little changeling boy…” and, more directly, “Give me that boy….”
23. What is her argument with him?
Titania is angry with her husband because she does not want to give up the changeling and she feels Nature “From our debate, from our dissension…“ is turning itself upside down. She maintains that if he would simply allow her to keep the boy the arguing would end and Nature would be able to return to normal.
24. What is it Oberon sends Puck to find?
Oberon sends Puck around the world to find a flower called “love-in-idleness” with which to make a love juice. He is going to use this love juice in his plan to punish his wife for keeping the changeling and force her to relinquish the boy to him.
25. How does Oberon intend to punish his wife?
Oberon intends to punish his wife by anointing her eye with the love juice while she sleeps so that she will fall in love with the first creature she sees upon waking. He plans to release her from the spell only when she agrees to give him the changeling.
26. Why does Helena pursue Demetrius?
26. Why does Helena pursue Demetrius?
Helena pursues Demetrius because she loves him and will “…follow thee and make a heaven of hell to die upon the hand I [Helena] love so well.” Demetrius had wooed and won her before Egeus chose him as a son-in-law and before Demetrius fell in love with Hermia. Helena cannot accept that Hermia, who loves and is loved by Lysander, is also loved by Demetrius.
27. Why does Demetrius want Helena to leave him alone?
Demetrius wants Helena to leave him alone because he is in pursuit of someone himself. He is looking for Hermia and Lysander so that, “The one I’ll stay; the other stayeth me,” since he thinks he is in love with Hermia and, more importantly, Egeus has chosen him as Hermia’s husband.
28. How is it that Oberon is able to overhear them?
Oberon is invisible, so Helena and Demetrius speak freely in front of him since they do not know he is there. Oberon states that “I am invisible, and I will overhear their conference.”
29. What does Oberon decide when Puck returns?
When Puck returns, Oberon decides he will help Helena, “a sweet Athenian lady …in love,” by having Puck anoint Demetrius’ eye with the love juice just as he, Oberon, will be doing to his wife, Titania. Oberon hopes that Demetrius will fall in love with Helena as she is with Demetrius, whom Oberon calls “a disdainful youth.”
30. How does Oberon instruct Puck to recognize Demetrius?
Oberon instructs Puck to recognize Demetrius by his “Athenian garments” and gives no further clue as to his identification. This is an excellent example of one of Shakespeare’s devices to complicate the plot laid out in Act I.
31. What is it Oberon hopes Titania sees immediately uponwakening?
31. What is it Oberon hopes Titania sees immediately uponwakening?
Now that Oberon has anointed Titania’s eye with the love juice, she will fall in love with the first creature she sees upon waking from the sleep she had instructed the fairies to sing her into. The still angry Oberon hopes Titania will see some “vile thing” the moment she opens her eyes.
32. Why does Lysander want to rest?
Lysander wants to rest because Hermia is already “faint with wand’ring in the wood” in the attempt to reach his aunt’s house and he, frankly, has forgotten the way and needs to rest himself to remember the way.
33. Why does Hermia ask him to move further away to sleep?
Hermia, who is running away to avoid her father’s choice of husband in order to marry her own—a crime punishable by death or banishment to a nunnery—asks Lysander, “For my sake, my dear, lie further off yet. Do not lie so near,” because it is unseemly for an unmarried couple to sleep together.
34. Why does Robin Goodfellow (Puck) anoint Lysander’s eye?
Puck anoints Lysander’s eye because Oberon, being invisible at will, overheard Helena beseech Demetrius to love her and took pity on her. He sent Puck to anoint Demetrius’ eye so that he would love Helena since it is obvious she would be the first one he would see upon awakening because she keeps following him. Oberon, however, described Demetrius as the youth in “Athenian garments,” which is also what Lysander is wearing. Not knowing this is the wrong person, Puck carries out Oberon’s order.
35. What does Robin Goodfellow think Hermia’s reason is for sleeping so far removed from Lysander?
Puck thinks Hermia is Helena and that she’s sleeping so far from Lysander, who he thinks is Demetrius, because she cannot bring herself to sleep any nearer to “this lack-love, this kill-courtesy.”
36. Why does Helena stop chasing Demetrius?
Helena stops chasing Demetrius because he has actually been running away from her and she is “…out of breath in this fond race,” and needs to catch her breath.
37. Why does Demetrius leave Helena alone in the wood?
37. Why does Demetrius leave Helena alone in the wood?
Demetrius leaves Helena alone in the wood “on thy peril,” as he thinks, because she will not agree to stop following him and he simply wants to get away from her.
38. Why does Lysander profess his love for Helena?
38. Why does Lysander profess his love for Helena?
Lysander professes his love for Helena because, after Puck anointed his eye with the love juice thinking he was Demetrius, Helena spies him in the wood and wakes him to ascertain if he is “dead or asleep” since she knew he and Hermia had planned to run away the night before. This makes Helena the first creature he saw when he awoke under the spell of the love juice.
39. What is Helena’s reaction to Lysander’s protestations of love?
Helena’s reaction to Lysander’s pledge of love for her is to demand in anger, “When at your hands did I deserve this scorn?” She thinks he is mocking her since, as far as she knows, he and Hermia are presently in the act of eloping. She feels even worse because it is so obvious that Demetrius loves Hermia, too, even though he had once loved Helena.
40. Why does Hermia awake?
Hermia awakes because she has a nightmare about a serpent upon her breast. She calls for Lysander to help her, then realizes she is alone, with Lysander being, “Gone? No sound, no word?”
41. Why does Quince feel their rehearsal spot is ideal?
41. Why does Quince feel their rehearsal spot is ideal?
Quince feels that the rehearsal spot in the wood is “a marvelous convenient place” for practicing their play because there is a flat area, a green plot, to serve as the stage and shrubs (hawthorne) to represent the tiring house (dressing room).
42. Why does Bottom feel they need two Prologues to the play?
Bottom feels the craftsmen need “a device to make all well” —two Prologues (opening speeches) to the play—to warn the ladies of the audience that there will be a sword scene which is only acting, no one is really going to be hurt, and that the Lion is only an actor, not an actual savage beast who may harm them.
43. How do they solve the problems of representing the moonlight and the Wall in their play?
The craftsmen solve the problems of the moonlight and the wall by checking the almanac and assuring themselves there will, indeed, be moonlight to shine through the window (casement) on stage the night of the play. “Some man or other must present Wall,” is Bottom’s suggestion. This actor is to be loam covered and hold his fingers out between Pyramus and Thisbe, who are supposed to be speaking through a wall.
44. Why is Bottom alone when Puck changes his head to that of an ass?
Bottom is alone when Puck changes his head to that of an ass because Quince has the actors rehearsing with their stage directions, which are entrances and exits from the stage and the movements they are to make on the stage itself. Bottom has just had an exit cue (word in the script upon which a specified actor performs a predetermined action) and left the green plot serving as the rehearsal stage.
45. How is it that Bottom is alone when Titania awakes?
Bottom is alone when Titania awakes because during Bottom’s exit, Puck—already annoyed that these humans are so close to the sleeping Fairy Queen—decided to play one of his wicked pranks. When Bottom re-enters the green plot with an ass’s head instead of his own, his friends run in fright, crying “O monstrous! O strange! We are haunted! Pray, masters, fly, masters! Help!” Although Quince and Snout each return for a moment to attempt to make Bottom understand what has happened, both run away again.
46. Why hasn’t Bottom followed his friends from the wood?
Bottom hasn’t followed his friends from the wood because he doesn’t realize his head has been changed. He thinks their running away and Snout and Quince’s attempts to tell him he has changed are nothing more than a joke on him, “ …an attempt to make an ass of me, to fright me if they could.” He refuses to run after them and be part of the joke.
47. Why does Titania awake?
Titania awakes because Bottom is singing to keep up his courage. He will not admit it to his friends, but he is afraid to be in the wood by himself. He also sings because he wants his friends to hear it, “that they shall hear I am not afraid.”
48. What does Titania offer Bottom?
Titania offers Bottom the fairies to attend him, jewels, songs sung to lull him into sleep on a bed of pressed flowers, and the chance to, “purge thy mortal grossness so that thou shalt like an airy spirit go.”
49. What is his reaction to this offer?
Bottom’s reaction to this offer is to banter with the fairies in a clownish way which seems to signify acceptance.
50. What part are the fairies to play in this?
The four Fairies—Peaseblossom, Cobweb, Mote, and Mustardseed—are to, “Be kind and courteous to this gentleman [Bottom],” to attend to his every need, to fee him delicacies, and in all ways possible to make him more than comfortable and happy.
51. What is it Puck reports to Oberon?
51. What is it Puck reports to Oberon?
Puck reports to Oberon that he came upon the craftsmen “met together to rehearse a play” near the sleeping Titania and changed Bottom’s head for that of an ass, then made certain Bottom was near Titania so that he was the first being she saw when she woke up and would she fall in love with him. Puck also mentions how frightened Bottom’s friends were and that the eye of the youth in “Athenian garments” has also been anointed.
52. Why is Hermia following Demetrius?
Hermia is following Demetrius because she is convinced Demetrius, “…hath slain Lysander in his sleep…” Both men want to marry her. Theseus has ordered her to marry Demetrius, as Egeus desires, or face the nunnery or death. She and Lysander have run away to elope. She cannot think of another reason for Lysander to leave her sleeping, alone and unguarded, in the haunted wood other than that Demetrius must have killed Lysander.
53. What is it Oberon realizes when he sees them together?
When Oberon sees Hermia and Demetrius together, he realizes that while Demetrius is the youth he’d wanted Puck to anoint with the love juice, Hermia is not the maid he’d seen pursuing Demetrius; the maid he wanted to help by having the man she was pursuing fall in love with her. In his dismay, he cries to Puck, “What hast thou done?”
54. How is this mistake to be rectified?
The mistake is to be rectified by having Puck, “about the wood go swifter than the wind, and Helena of Athens look thou find,” bringing her to Oberon, in the haunted wood. Once Helena is found Oberon and Puck will make Demetrius fall asleep and reanoint his eye so that he would fall in love with Helena, instead of Hermia.
55. Why won’t Helena accept Lysander’s advances?
Helena will not accept Lysander’s advances because—as she says —“These vows are Hermia’s.” In addition, Lysander and Hermia just told her the previous night that they were eloping. Helena is in love with Demetrius, no one else. Hermia is both her best and childhood friend, and this
seems like a case of mocking to her. She is hurt, bewildered, and angry about his advances.
56. Why does she doubt the veracity of Demetrius’ protestations of love?
Helena doubts the veracity of Demetrius’ love because he had loved her once before and left. He has been in love with Hermia, as far as she knows, since he came to Athens so that Egeus could have Theseus force Hermia to marry him rather than face a nunnery or death. Helena suspects he is part of this cruel joke to mock her love of him. She is baffled at the two men’s behavior and wonders at them “…but you must join in souls to mock me too?”
57. Why do Hermia and Helena argue?
57. Why do Hermia and Helena argue?
Hermia and Helena argue because Helena is convinced Hermia, her closest and oldest friend, is “…one of this confederacy…” to mock her. They are also arguing because Hermia is convinced Helena is scorning her by refusing Lysander’s love after somehow managing to make him fall in love with her (Helena) and, hence, out of love with herself (Hermia).
58. Why do each of the young people leave?
Each of the young people leaves for a different reason. Helena, physically afraid of the smaller Hermia, comments to Hermia, “My legs are longer though, to run away,” and does so. Hermia, incensed and devastated, pursues Helena. Demetrius and Lysander, losing all hope of convincing Helena which one of them loves her more, go off to find a location for the duel which will supposedly prove to Helena which one loves her more.
59. How does Puck manage to make Lysander and Demetrius sleep?
Puck manages to trick Demetrius and Lysander and make them sleep by tiring them each out. He tricks each of them by pretending to be the other and throwing his voice, as each of them, hither, and yon. They keep running from here to there to find the other and are finally exhausted into sleep as Demetrius explains in saying, “Faintness constraineth me to measure out my length on this cold bed…”
60. Why do Helena and Hermia also fall asleep?
Hermia and Helena fall asleep because they, too, are exhausted. Hermia has been trying to catch Helena as Helena runs away from her. This after a night of nightmares for Hermia and running after Demetrius for Helena. Helena concisely states the situation when she murmurs, “Never so weary, never so in woe…,” before falling asleep
61. What is it Bottom asks Peaseblossom, Mustardseed, and Cobweb to do?
61. What is it Bottom asks Peaseblossom, Mustardseed, and Cobweb to do?
Bottom asks Peaseblossom to scratch his head. He asks Cobweb to bring him the unbroken honey-bag of a red-hipped bumble-bee on top of a thistle (a type of flower). He then asks Mustardseed to help Cobweb scratch since Bottom, still unaware he has an ass’ head, ironically mentions, “And I am such a tender ass, if my hair do but tickle me, I must scratch,” while thinking it’s time to get to a barber’s for a shave.
62. What news does Oberon tell Puck?
Oberon tells Puck the news that Titania, Oberon’s wife and queen of the fairies, has given him the changeling once she fell in love with Bottom (due to the love juice). Now that he has the changeling she had previously refused to relinquish, he orders Puck to remove the spell from Titania’s eye and, “…take this transformed scalp from off the head of this Athenian swain…”
63. Why is Titania in love with her husband again?
Titania is in love with her husband, Oberon—king of the fairies —again because the spell was removed from her once she gave Oberon the changeling from India. “O! How my eyes do loathe his visage now!” she says of Bottom and has a difficult time understanding she had been in love with him while under the love-juice spell.
64. Why are Theseus, Hippolyta, and Egeus in the wood?
Theseus, Hippolyta, and Egeus have come to the wood to hunt as a way of starting the May Day celebration. Theseus also wants Hippolyta to hear “the music of my hounds,” since this was considered a sort of music at the time.
65. Why does Theseus think the five sleeping people came to the wood?
Theseus thinks the five sleeping people— Bottom, Lysander, Hermia, Helena, and Demetrius—came to the wood to begin the rites to celebrate May Day. He also reminds Egeus that this is the day Hermia is to “…give answer of her choice”: to marry the man her father chose as her husband, be banished to a nunnery, or be put to death.
66. What does Lysander answer when questioned by Theseus?
When questioned by Theseus, Lysander answers that he really doesn’t know how he came to be in the wood, but he does remember that he and Hermia’s “intent was to be gone from Athens …without the peril of the Athenian law –.”
67. Why is Egeus so angry?
67. Why is Egeus so angry?
Egeus is so angry because Lysander has just admitted he and Hermia are defying the Athenian law which demands that a daughter marry the man her father chooses for her. Elopement with another man is not one of the daughter’s options; therefore, Egeus now declares, “…I beg the law, the law, upon his head.”
68. Why won’t Demetrius marry Hermia as he had promised?
Demetrius will not marry Hermia as he promised because, “the object and the pleasure of mine eye, is only Helena,” due to Oberon and the love juice’s intervention. Oberon told Puck to make certain Helena was the first creature Demetrius saw when he awakened after Puck reanointed his eye with the love juice while Demetrius was sleeping.
69. What is Theseus’ decision?
Theseus’ decision is that the two couples in love—Lysander and Hermia, and Demetrius and Helena—“…shall eternally be knit –,” during his own wedding to Hippolyta. Egeus is not pleased with this decision but, since he came to his duke asking for a judgment, he cannot argue.
70. Why does Bottom want Quince to write a ballad?
Bottom wants Quince to write a ballad about his dream, as he clearly states when he simply says, “I will get Peter Quince to write a ballad of this dream.” What he now thinks was a dream was really his experience while he had an ass’s head. Bottom would like to hear the ballad of this dream/experience presented at the end of the play the craftsmen are performing the night of the wedding ceremonies.
71. How do the actors know Bottom has not yet returned?
71. How do the actors know Bottom has not yet returned?
The actors know Bottom has not yet returned because Robin Starveling went to his house, only to find, “He [Bottom] cannot be heard of.”
72. Why can’t they perform the play?
They can’t perform the play because there is not, “…a man in all Athens able to discharge Pyramus but he [Bottom].”
73. What do his friends say are Bottom’s best qualities?
His friends say Bottom’s best qualities are his wit (sense of humor), which is “the best wit of any handicraftsman in Athens,” and his sweet voice.
74. What mistake does Quince make in referring to Bottom’s voice?
74. What mistake does Quince make in referring to Bottom’s voice?
The mistake Quince makes is in referring to Bottom’s voice as that of a “paramour” rather than “paragon.” The humor in this is that a paramour is a lover, while a paragon is a model of excellence. The bawdy joke is that Quince is calling his friend a lover, rather than a role model.
75. What is Snug’s news?
Snug’s news is that, “…there is two or three lords and ladies more married,” that night.
76. What is especially disappointing about not being able to present the play?
What is especially disappointing about not being able to perform that night is that with the additional couples being married, the craftsmen, “…had all been made men,” from just this one night’s performance. This means they would have made enough money to live comfortable lives.
77. What would Flute have demanded for Bottom?
Flute declares he would have demanded nothing less than six pence – quite a bit of money at that time – for Bottom’s performance or he’d “be hanged.”
78. What is Bottom’s reaction upon finding his friends?
Bottom’s reaction upon finding his friends is to ask the group in general why they are so sad.
79. Why won’t he tell them what has happened to him?
79. Why won’t he tell them what has happened to him?
Bottom will not tell his friends what has happened to him because, since it is so fantastic, it will take a long time to tell and they need the time to prepare for their performance that night because their play has been chosen for the revel. Bottom saves his tale, for he would prefer, “no more words.”
80. What is his advice to his fellow actors?
Bottom’s advice to his fellow actors is as follows: prepare your costumes; review your parts; Thisbe—wear clean clothes; Lion—do not cut your fingernails so that they may somewhat resemble claws; and, “eat no onions nor garlic,” before the performance.
81. Why does Theseus doubt the reality of the story the lovers tell him?
81. Why does Theseus doubt the reality of the story the lovers tell him?
Theseus calls the story the lovers tell him, “More strange than true,” because he thinks, “the lunatic, the lover, and the poet,” are alike in their overblown imaginations. Hippolyta wonders if this is true since all of the four lovers tell the same story.
82. What are the choices for the revel?
The choices for the revel are a battle song sung by, “an Athenian eunuch [a castrated male] to the harp,” an old play Theseus has already seen, another play he deems too serious for a wedding feast, and the craftsmen’s play.
83. Why does Theseus choose the craftsmen’s play?
Theseus chooses the craftsmen’s play for several reasons. The first is he doesn’t care for the other choices for various reasons. The second is he is intrigued by the contradictory wording of the title: “A tedious brief scene of young Pyramus and his love Thisbe, very tragical mirth.” He is also delighted that his craftsmen would honor him by attempting to push their brains to write a play and then their acting skills by presenting it.
84. What is the consensus of opinion about the Prologue?
The consensus of opinion about the Prologue is that it was roughly and poorly delivered, but Lysander takes this as a morality lesson that, “it is not enough to speak, but to speak true,” if one is to bother speaking at all.
85. Why does Theseus command Demetrius to be silent?
Theseus commands Demetrius to be silent because. “Pyramus draws near the wall,” and he, Theseus, wants to hear if he and Thisbe do speak through the Wall (portrayed by Snout).
86. What is Hippolyta’s astute comment about the play?
Hippolyta’s astute comment about the play is, “This is the silliest stuff that ever I heard.”
87. How does Robin Starveling defend the use of the lanthorn (lantern) in representing the moon?
87. How does Robin Starveling defend the use of the lanthorn (lantern) in representing the moon?
Starveling defends the use of the lanthorn in representing the moon by saying, “The lanthorn doth the horned moon present,” three times and offering no other explanation.
88. How does Pyramus die in the play-within-the-play?
88. How does Pyramus die in the play-within-the-play?
Pyramus dies in the play-within-the-play when he kills himself, proclaiming, “Out, sword, and wound the pap of Pyramus.…” He had found Thisbe’s bloodied mantle (cloak) and concluded the Lion killed her, which is not the case at all. Since, according to Pyramus’ thinking, she is dead and he is her love, he sees no reason to continue living.
89. What does Oberon tell the fairies to do before they sing and dance all night?
Oberon tells the fairies that before they sing and dance all night, they are to bless the newly married couples and whatever children these couples may have in the future so that they, the humans, “…ever shall be fortunate.”
90. What two things does Puck ask from the audience before Shakespeare’s play ends?
The two things Puck asks of the audience before Shakespeare’s play ends are that they forgive the characters for any offense given and that they applaud or, “Give me your hands.…”
Monday, March 16, 2009
MARCH HOLIDAY LESSON 17TH MAR
A text-based question
- is half-way between a context question (which requires a simple often
short answer) and an essay (which requires an in depth and elaborate
answer)
- relates directly to the passage given
- requires a thorough and intimate knowledge of the text
- often requires the candidate to examine language, characterisation and theme
- often require a fair bit of detail and answers will usually be ‘mini-essays’
Parts to a text-based question
- One part will relate directly to events mentioned in the passage
- Another part will take the passage as a point from which a deeper discussion of the play as a
- is half-way between a context question (which requires a simple often
short answer) and an essay (which requires an in depth and elaborate
answer)
- relates directly to the passage given
- requires a thorough and intimate knowledge of the text
- often requires the candidate to examine language, characterisation and theme
- often require a fair bit of detail and answers will usually be ‘mini-essays’
Parts to a text-based question
- One part will relate directly to events mentioned in the passage
- Another part will take the passage as a point from which a deeper discussion of the play as a
whole is required.
(Practice)
Read the following passage carefully and then answer the questions that follow:
(Practice)
Read the following passage carefully and then answer the questions that follow:
EGEUS: Full of vexation come I, with complaint
Against my child, my daughter Hermia.
Stand forth, Demetrius. My noble lord,
This man hath my consent to marry her.
Stand forth, Lysander. And, my gracious duke,
This man hath bewitch'd the bosom of my child.
Thou, thou, Lysander, thou hast given her rhymes,
And interchanged love-tokens with my child;
Thou hast by moonlight at her window sung,
With feigning voice, verses of feigning love,
And stolen the impression of her fantasy
With bracelets of thy hair, rings, gawds, conceits,
Knacks, trifles, nosegays, sweetmeats, messengers
Of strong prevailment in unharden'd youth;
With cunning hast thou filch'd my daughter's heart;
Turn'd her obedience, which is due to me,
To stubborn harshness. And, my gracious duke,
Be it so she will not here before your Grace
Consent to marry with Demetrius,
I beg the ancient privilege of Athens:
As she is mine, I may dispose of her;
Which shall be either to this gentleman
Or to her death, according to our law
Immediately provided in that case.
Questions
1) What dramatic function does Egeus serve in this extract and
what impression do you get of his character from it? (12 marks)
2) Write briefly on the characters of Hermia and Lysander as they appear in their answers to
Questions
1) What dramatic function does Egeus serve in this extract and
what impression do you get of his character from it? (12 marks)
2) Write briefly on the characters of Hermia and Lysander as they appear in their answers to
Egeus and Theseus. (8 marks)
Note:
@ You are not allowed to refer to the play.
@ Please submit your answers by the end of this lesson.
@ Scripts will be marked holistically.
@ Suggested answers will be posted up on www.mdsmrnytdrm.blogspot.com by Friday 20th
Note:
@ You are not allowed to refer to the play.
@ Please submit your answers by the end of this lesson.
@ Scripts will be marked holistically.
@ Suggested answers will be posted up on www.mdsmrnytdrm.blogspot.com by Friday 20th
Mar 2009
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
WEEK 10 (ESSAY QUESTION)
Hi all
Thought I should just upload the essay question here and explain the task to avoid confusion :)
"A play that is all about fairies". Refer closely to the text to indicate
(i) How far it is true that the play is 'all about fairies'
and
(ii) What you have learnt from the play about human nature.
Please note that the two questions are sub-questions in that they are related to the topic of fairies and what the interaction with the fairies reveal about the human nature.
Please have your essays ready for submission on Tuesday 17th March when you come for your lesson.
Thanks! :)
P/s: Just updated the date- should be 17th and not 19th as previously mentioned. My mistake, sorry! :s
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