Flashcards for English - Summer Reads
12th Night: examples of things not what they appear to be (answers vary, just for consideration)
Sir Toby’s friendship with Sir Andrew (using him for his 3,000 ducats per year, wants him to marry Olivia), Feste the Clown (fool, but wisest character in Illyria), Viola (duh)
According to the Brothrhood, effective speeches must follow what?
the science of history, proper rhetoric, focus on the collective rather than the indivdual, etc.
After arriving in New York, where does the Narrator get a job?
Liberty Paints
After leaving the hospital, the Narrator is under whose care?
Mary Rambo’s
All major characters in 12th Night are introducted by what Act/Scene?
Act 1, Scene 3
Any irony between Norton and Trueblood?
According to critics, Norton may respond to strangely to Trueblood’s story because he himself had some inappropriate relations with his own daughter: see the locket that he carries with him, the way he describes her to Narrator, etc.
Aristotle’s Six Play Elements
plot, character, thought, diction, song, spectacle
At the end of Invisible Man, which character could the Narrator have become?
The vet from the bus
Between which two characters does this exchange occur? SPEAKER 1: “My son, it is clear that you don’t know what you’re doing.”
SPEAKER 2: “What do you mean old man? In God’s name explain yourself.”
SPEAKER 1: You don’t know what you’re doing….”
Between the Messenger (1) and Oedipus (2), as the messenger is explaining that running away from Polybus and Merope was stupid because they’re not his real parents
Does the Narrator react or act?
React, primarily
Example of verbal irony in 12th Night? (answers vary, just for consideration)
“your constellation is right apt for this affair” –> Orsino to Cesario: Viola IS apt for the love affair about to occur
Examples of blindness in Invisible Man?
Jack (missing an eye, and refuses to see the Narrator as anything but a pawn in the Brotherhood’s game); Barbee (completely blind, doesn’t really know who he’s adressing; MYTH, like the poet Homer: represents folly of blind faith
Examples of dramatic irony in 12th Night? (answers vary, just for consideration)
Viola/Cesario’s identity; Sir Toby and Sir Andrew’s friendship, etc.
Examples of letters in 12th Night? (answers vary, just for consideration)
Maria’s letter to Malvolio (starts the whole second plot, tension b/w tragedy/comedy); Sir Andrew’s letter to Cesario (idiotic, pointless, reveals Toby’s real attitude towards Andrew), etc.
Examples of the signifiance of paper in Invisible Man?
Bledsoe’s letters (betrayal); Jack’s anonymous leter (betrayal, true nature of the Brotherhood); new name paper (malleability of identity, baptism-esque); diploma (ripped up: denouncing his Bledsoe education)
Explain the significance of the Corinthian messenger.
took Oedipus from Laius’s shepherd and gave him to Polybus and Merope: brings the tragedy’s reversal and recognition;; another example of how Oedipus is his own downfall; situational irony: even a simple Corinthian messenger knows the truth, while the King of Thebes himself is ignorant and blind (hamartia)
From whom does Viola learn of Orsino’s love for Olivia?
the sea captain after she first washes up on shore in Illyria
How does Antonio feel towards Sebastian?
He loves him!
How does the Sphinx’s riddle foreshadow Oedipus’s fate?
three legs at night: old man walks with a cane, hints at blindness
How many lightbulbs are in the Narrator’s basement?
1,369
In Twelfth Night, the Duke often finds solace in what?
music (and whining…)
Is it likely that Orsino truly loves either Olivia or Viola?
Probably not: he switches affections way too easily
List a few betrayals in Invisible Man.
Bledoe (his letter of condemnation instead of recommendation); Jack (sent the anonymous letter trying to udnermine the Narrator); Wrestrum (seems like a kind brother, but turns on the Narrator after the magazine interview and claims the Narrator’s only after power/recognition for himself)
List five points from Raskolnikov’s essay, “On Crime.”
1) Analysis of criminal psychology before and after crime
2) Theory of the ubermensch: the superman, who is above the common man and has a right to commit crimes
3) Perpetration of crime is usually/always accompanied by illness
4) Men are divided into ordinary and extraordinary
5) Extraordinary men have the right to step over certain obstacles in order to fulfil an idea that benefits humanity as a whole
6) Extraordinary people can transgress old laws to make news ones
7) “All great men or even men a little out of the common… must from their very nature be criminals”
List some elements of tragedy.
character of high estate (long way to fall); tragic flaw; essentially good; inspires pity and fear in audience (part of catharsis: cleansing/purging of the soul), peripeteia (reversal of situation); recognition; some semblance of salvation, hamartia
List some functions of the Chorus in Oedipus Rex.
begins the Greek tragedy with its first entrance, marks of various episodes with choric odes, concludes the Greek tragedy with an exit song, comments on actions and events, questions characters, MODERATOR, represents the view of the common spectator: THE CROWD MENTALITY (http://engliterarium.blogspot.com/2007/12/oedipus-rex-role-of-chorus.html)
List some Invisible Man motifs.
music, childhood, grandfather’s words, light, blindness, invisiblity etc.
List some Invisible Man symbols.
sambo doll, coin bank, Liberty Paints, leg chain, briefcase, etc.
List some Invisible Man themes.
racism as an obstacle to individual identity, limitations of ideology, danger of fighting stereotype with stereotype, blindness/ignorance/invisibility, light/wisdom/enlightenment/truth
Name the city where Oedipus grew up
Corinth
Name the name who raised Oedipus
Polybus
Name the woman who raised Oedipus
Merope
Oedipus accuses Tiresias and this man of conspiracy. Who?
Creon
Some critics say that the Narrator’s journey is a continuation of whose?
Jim’s, from Huckleberry Finn
Some examples of name irony in Inivisble Man?
Bledsoe (bleed: leech, scummy); Emerson (self-reliance); Tobitt (two-bit), Homer A. Barbee (blind, mythical tales), Mary Rambo (Mary), Trueblood (incest) etc.
The Brotherhood represents what political ideology?
Communism
The character’s namelessness is a representation of what literary movement?
Realism
The Greek god who seems to be most responsible for the actions during the opening of the play is?
Apollo
Twelfth Night ends with what scene?
Feste’s song about “the rain it raineth every day”
We learn that Oedipus freed this city from an evil. What was that evil?
Sphinx
What are Oedipus’s main problems?
Hubris, temper, hamartia
What are prose and poetry used for in 12th Night?
Prose: countryside speeches, common man; Poetry: courtly speeches, etc.
What beginning scene illustrates intense humiliation of the Narrator and other young men?
Battle Royal
What can be seen as ironic/unusual about 12th Night’s ending speeches?
they’re not made by the main characters
What color is Brother Jack’s hair? How does this tie into symbolism?
Red: Communism
What could be the reason for Clifton’s intentional police conflict and consequent death?
He realizes that he’s stuck in the game, which is fixed: can’t play the game anymore
What do the white men give the Narrator after his first speech at their meeting?
a briefcase and a college scholarship
What does Malvolio’s name mean?
bad wish
What does Orsino threaten to do to Cesario/Viola when he finds out her true identity? How does she respond?
He threatens to kill her out of spite: she says that she’d die for him a thousand times over.
What does Sir Toby want throughout the play?
He wants Sir Andrew to marry Olivia so he can use their money
What does the Narrator give Mary when he leaves her house?
a $100 bill
What does the Narrator’s nameless suggest?
His lack of identity and general identity confusion; malleability of his character
What family figure is the Narrator in search of?
father figure: tries out Bledsoe, Emerson, Jack etc.
What happens when the Narrator leaves Mary’s house? A: he would never return there, B: Mary’s house burns down, C: he moves in with Jack, D: he moves into his hole in the ground
A: he never returns tehre
What incident brings the Invisible Man his first recognition as a speaker in NYC?
the dispossession of the old couple
What is 12th Night?
kind of like opposite day: reversal of class roles to let off steam; January 6th; inversion of authority
What is the best selling color at Liberty Paints?
Optic White
What is the Cthonian?
a hotel
What is the significance of Rinehart?
Rind/heart: external/internal; malleable identities, tacky, disposable, fake, façade, can exist in any kind of world
What jazz recording is the Narrator listening to in the beginning?
What Did I Do to Be So Black and Blue: Louis Armstrong
What makes the fight between Cesario and Andrew funny?
They obviously don’t want to fight each other
What scene makes for a nostalgic moment as well as an “intense feeling of freedom?”
the yam scene
What’s ironic about Toby/Maria/Andrew’s ire towards Malvolio?
Technically, it’s Malvolio’s job to keep the house in order: he’s right to scold them for being disorderly
What’s the significance of the black drops in the white paint?
The black makes the white better.
When does the Narrator first meet Brother Jack?
Brother Jack is chasing him across snowy roof tops after the Harlem dispossession
When does Viola realize that Olivia has fallen in love with her?
when Olivia sends Malvolio after Cesario with Olivia’s ring
Where does the Narrator take Norton when he faints?
Golden Day
Where is Ras the Exhorter from?
the West Indies
Where is the Narrator’s main district assignment, before he gets transferred?
Harlem
Which is NOT correct about Clifton? A: handsome black man; B: respected by Harlem youth; C: gunned down by police; D: becomes a disciple of Ras; E: these are all correct
D: Clifton is never a disciple of Ras
Who does the Narrator steal power from?
Monopolated Light and Power
Who incites the final riot in Harlem in Invisible Man?
Ras the Exhorter
Who is most repsonsible for Malvolio’s imprisonment?
Maria
Who is Oedipus’s mother?
Jocasta
Who is Sir Topas?
Feste, disguised as a curate: goes to visit Malvolio and tricks him into thinking he’s mad and that the dark cell is actually full of light; example of the fine line between tragedy and comedy); in the end, does get Malvolio pen, paper, and ink: redeems himself
Who is the “only sane person in Illyria?”
Feste
Who is Tiresias?
blind prophet, Apollo’s seer; tries to shiled Oedipus from his fate by concealing the prophecy, but Oedipus forces it out of him; irony: he can see much more than Oedipus even though he’s the blind one; foreshadows Oedipus’s eventually blindness; essentially tells Oedipus that “only the gods can hurt me/do your worst/etc”
Who said: “My children, I am filled with pity. I knew what you were longing for when you came here. I know only too well that you are all sick- but sick though you may all be, there is not one of you as sick as I.”
Oedipus: ironic because he IS sicker than they are
Who said: “A prophet? In that case, rid your mind of your fear, and listen to me. I can teach you something. There is no human being born that is endowed with prophetic power. I can prove it to you- and in a few words.”
Jocasta, to Oedipus: this becomes ironic later, since the prophecy actually was true and she has no idea what she’s talking about: She spites the gods, and they get their revenge on her anyway.
Who said: “Fellow citizens… I am here in an angry mood. I hear
that (the king) brings terrible charges against me.”
Creon, after Oedipus accuses him of conspiracy and treason
Who said: “Have you no sense, God help you, raising your voices in strife like this? Have you no sense of shame?”
Jocasta, to Oedipus and Creon as they’re arguing: IRONY because she’s chastising them like children./… aaaaaand Oedipus is her child.
Who said: "If I am a true prophet And see clear in my mind, Tomorrow at the full moon Oedipus will honor Mount Cithaeron As his nurse and mother."
Chorus, foreshadowing/predicting that Oedipus is about to find out his true identity
Who said: “Let me touch them with these hands, as I weep for my sorrows. Please, my lord! Grant my prayers, generous man!”
Oedipus to Creon (who’s in charge now), asking to touch his daughters since he just blinded himself and can’t see them
Who said: “Listen, if you think stubbornness deprived of intelligence is a worth-while possession, you are out of your mind.”
Creon, to Oedipus
Who said: “Listen, if you think you can injure a close relative and then no pay for it, you are out of your mind.”
Oedipus, to Creon
Who said: “Wisdom is a dreadful thing when it brings no profit to its possessor. I knew all this well and forgot”
Tiresias, cautioning Oedipus to not investigate his past, since it’ll only hurt him
Who said: Ay, madam, well; for I was bred and born
Not three hours’ travel from this very place.”
The sea captain in 12th Night, to Viola
Who said: Confine! I’ll confine myself no finer than I am:
these clothes are good enough to drink in; and so be
these boots too: an they be not, let them hang
themselves in their own straps.
Sir Toby Belch, to Maria
Who said: I can say little more than I have studied, and that
question’s out of my part. Good gentle one, give me
modest assurance if you be the lady of the house,
that I may proceed in my speech.
Cesario, to Olivia, when she’s delviering the Duke’s message
Who said: I will drop in his way some obscure epistles of
love; wherein, by the colour of his beard, the shape
of his leg, the manner of his gait, the expressure
of his eye, forehead, and complexion, he shall find
himself most feelingly personated.
Maria, describing her plan to trick Malvolio
Who said: M, O, A, I; this simulation is not as the former: and
yet, to crush this a little, it would bow to me, for
everyone of these letters are in my name. Soft!
here follows prose.
Malvolio, talking to himself trying to figure out the letter from “Olivia” that Maria and co. planted in his path
Who said: One face, one voice, one habit, and two persons,
A natural perspective, that is and is not!
Duke Orsino, when he finally sees Viola and Sebastian at the same time and is confused by their twinliness.
Who said: That say thou art a man: Diana’s lip
Is not more smooth and rubious; thy small pipe
Is as the maiden’s organ, shrill and sound,
And all is semblative a woman’s part.
Duke Orsino, to Viola disguised as Cesario
Who said: When that I was and a little tiny boy,
With hey, ho, the wind and the rain,
A foolish thing was but a toy,
For the rain it raineth every day.
Feste, at the very end: it’s his weird sad song
Who says “I’ll be revenged on the whole pack of you?”
Malvolio
Who says, “If music be the food of love, play on, Give me excess of it…?”
Orsino
Who says: Misprision in the highest degree! Lady, cucullus non
facit monachum; that’s as much to say as I wear not
motley in my brain. Good madonna, give me leave to
prove you a fool.
Feste to Olivia, mocking her mourning and remarking on how appearance doesn’t reveal identity
Who says: Too well what love women to men may owe:
In faith, they are as true of heart as we.
My father had a daughter loved a man,
As it might be, perhaps, were I a woman,
I should your lordship.
Viola diguised as Cesario, to Orsino: DRAMATIC IRONY! She’s not describing her sister, she’s describing herself!
Who tells Oedipus that the son of Laius was destined to kill him?
Jocasta
Whom did Oedipus kill where three roads meet?
Laius
Why do we pity Oedipus?
He’s essentially good, and this wasn’t really his fault: the curse on his fate was set in motion generations before his birth: he tries to be good, and gets screwed over anyways
Why does Olivia initially reject Orsino’s advances?
she’s mourning her brother’s death (her father also died recently)
Why is Antonio arrested?
he’s considered a pirate by Orsino’s court
Why is the Corinthian messenger significant?
He’s the one who reveals that Polybus and Merope are not Oedipus’s true parents, and that Oedipus is Laius’s son
Why symbol do both Tarp and Bledsoe have? How do they differ?
Leg chain: Tarp: used/broken, represents true identity VS. Bled: new, mean to continue to shackle the black identity
With what physical ailment is Tiresias afflicted?
blindness
