Plot Summaries

Question 1

John Keats

Isabella or The Pot of Basil

Answer 1

The setting for the story is Florence. Isabella, a girl of high social standing, falls in love with an employee of her family, young Lorenzo. Isabella’s proud brothers, concerned only with profit and their family’s honour, wish for her to marry a rich noble. Noticing their sister’s affection for Lorenzo, the brothers plot to get rid of him, finally deciding upon murder as their best option. The brothers then lure Lorenzo into a forest under the pretext of a hunt and promptly murder him, burying his body amongst the trees. The brothers inform Isabella that Lorenzo had to leave suddenly on business and she is saddened by his abrupt departure. Isabella pines after Lorenzo continuously but one night he appears to her as a ghost and informs her of the truth about his murder. Lorenzo’s ghost guides Isabella to the spot where he is buried and she digs him up. She then decapitates the corpse and takes away Lorenzo’s head, burying it in a pot, which she also plants with basil.

Isabella’s tears, enabling the basil to grow and flourish, whilst her grief for Lorenzo, makes her sick, water the pot continually. The brothers become suspicious of Isabella’s unnatural devotion to the pot and subsequently steal it. They examine its contents and discover Lorenzo’s putrefying head. Terrified, consumed by their sense of guilt, they flee from Florence in haste. Now left alone without her lover and her pit of basil, Isabella dies.

Question 2

John Keats

The Eve Of St. Agnes

Answer 2

Porphyro, a young nobleman, creeps into the castle of his enemies to catch a glimpse of his love, the beautiful Madeline. Madeline happens to be performing a magical ritual that very night, calling on St. Agnes to send her a dream of her future husband. Porphyro decides he’ll do her one better and creeps into her bedroom to make her dream a reality.
- Power of sexual passion and the dangerous allure of fantasy.

Question 3

John Keats

La Belle Dame Sans Merci

Answer 3

A medieval knight recounts a fanciful romp in the countryside with a fairy woman—La Belle Dame sans Merci, which means “The Beautiful Lady Without Mercy” in French—that ends in cold horror.
- Death and horror, Keats wrote the poem months after his brother Tom died of tuberculosis.
- Personal Experiences

Question 4

John Keats

Lamia

Answer 4

Set in the world of ancient Greco-Roman myth, the poem tells the story of the serpent-spirit Lamia, who talks the god Hermes into transforming her into a beautiful woman so she can pursue her beloved, a handsome young man named Lycius. The couple is blissfully happy for a time—but their joy can’t last. Icy reason, in the form of the philosopher Apollonius, at last punctures their shared dream. Often remembered as a Romantic screed against “cold philosophy,” this poem is in fact a nuanced and ambivalent portrait of the beauties and dangers of the imagination—especially the imaginative visions of lovers.

Question 5

Arthur Miller

Death of a Salesman

Answer 5

Willy Loman, a traveling salesman who is struggling to accept the reality of his life. He is haunted by memories of his past successes and failures, particularly his belief in the American Dream and the idea that success is measured by material wealth. Willy’s two sons, Biff and Happy, also grapple with their own disillusionment, feeling the weight of their father’s expectations and their own inability to meet them. As Willy’s mental state deteriorates, he begins to hallucinate and live in a world where past and present intertwine, blurring the lines between reality and fantasy.

The play climaxes with Willy’s suicide, which he believes will provide financial security for his family through his life insurance policy. However, his death ultimately leaves his family shattered and facing the harsh truth of their lives. Through Willy’s tragic demise, Miller explores themes of the American Dream, the consequences of unrealistic expectations, and the impact of societal pressure on individual identity and happiness.
- DOASM = a powerful critique of the pursuit of material success and the toll it can take on individuals and families.

Question 6

Shakespeare

Othello

Question 7

Margret Atwood

Handmaid’s Tale

Question 8

Khaled Hosseini

The Kite Runner

Question 9

William Blake

Songs of Innocence and Experience