Flashcards for English - Summer Reads

Question 2

12th Night: examples of things not what they appear to be (answers vary, just for consideration)

Answer 2

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)

Question 3

According to the Brothrhood, effective speeches must follow what?

Answer 3

the science of history, proper rhetoric, focus on the collective rather than the indivdual, etc.

Question 4

After arriving in New York, where does the Narrator get a job?

Answer 4

Liberty Paints

Question 5

After leaving the hospital, the Narrator is under whose care?

Answer 5

Mary Rambo’s

Question 6

All major characters in 12th Night are introducted by what Act/Scene?

Answer 6

Act 1, Scene 3

Question 7

Any irony between Norton and Trueblood?

Answer 7

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.

Question 8

Aristotle’s Six Play Elements

Answer 8

plot, character, thought, diction, song, spectacle

Question 9

At the end of Invisible Man, which character could the Narrator have become?

Answer 9

The vet from the bus

Question 10

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….”

Answer 10

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

Question 11

Does the Narrator react or act?

Answer 11

React, primarily

Question 12

Example of verbal irony in 12th Night? (answers vary, just for consideration)

Answer 12

“your constellation is right apt for this affair” –> Orsino to Cesario: Viola IS apt for the love affair about to occur

Question 13

Examples of blindness in Invisible Man?

Answer 13

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

Question 14

Examples of dramatic irony in 12th Night? (answers vary, just for consideration)

Answer 14

Viola/Cesario’s identity; Sir Toby and Sir Andrew’s friendship, etc.

Question 15

Examples of letters in 12th Night? (answers vary, just for consideration)

Answer 15

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.

Question 16

Examples of the signifiance of paper in Invisible Man?

Answer 16

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)

Question 17

Explain the significance of the Corinthian messenger.

Answer 17

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)

Question 18

From whom does Viola learn of Orsino’s love for Olivia?

Answer 18

the sea captain after she first washes up on shore in Illyria

Question 19

How does Antonio feel towards Sebastian?

Answer 19

He loves him!

Question 20

How does the Sphinx’s riddle foreshadow Oedipus’s fate?

Answer 20

three legs at night: old man walks with a cane, hints at blindness

Question 21

How many lightbulbs are in the Narrator’s basement?

Answer 21

1,369

Question 22

In Twelfth Night, the Duke often finds solace in what?

Answer 22

music (and whining…)

Question 23

Is it likely that Orsino truly loves either Olivia or Viola?

Answer 23

Probably not: he switches affections way too easily

Question 24

List a few betrayals in Invisible Man.

Answer 24

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)

Question 25

List five points from Raskolnikov’s essay, “On Crime.”

Answer 25

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”

Question 26

List some elements of tragedy.

Answer 26

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

Question 27

List some functions of the Chorus in Oedipus Rex.

Answer 27

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)

Question 28

List some Invisible Man motifs.

Answer 28

music, childhood, grandfather's words, light, blindness, invisiblity etc.

Question 29

List some Invisible Man symbols.

Answer 29

sambo doll, coin bank, Liberty Paints, leg chain, briefcase, etc.

Question 30

List some Invisible Man themes.

Answer 30

racism as an obstacle to individual identity, limitations of ideology, danger of fighting stereotype with stereotype, blindness/ignorance/invisibility, light/wisdom/enlightenment/truth

Question 31

Name the city where Oedipus grew up

Answer 31

Corinth

Question 32

Name the name who raised Oedipus

Answer 32

Polybus

Question 33

Name the woman who raised Oedipus

Answer 33

Merope

Question 34

Oedipus accuses Tiresias and this man of conspiracy. Who?

Answer 34

Creon

Question 35

Some critics say that the Narrator's journey is a continuation of whose?

Answer 35

Jim's, from Huckleberry Finn

Question 36

Some examples of name irony in Inivisble Man?

Answer 36

Bledsoe (bleed: leech, scummy); Emerson (self-reliance); Tobitt (two-bit), Homer A. Barbee (blind, mythical tales), Mary Rambo (Mary), Trueblood (incest) etc.

Question 37

The Brotherhood represents what political ideology?

Answer 37

Communism

Question 38

The character's namelessness is a representation of what literary movement?

Answer 38

Realism

Question 39

The Greek god who seems to be most responsible for the actions during the opening of the play is?

Answer 39

Apollo

Question 40

Twelfth Night ends with what scene?

Answer 40

Feste's song about "the rain it raineth every day"

Question 41

We learn that Oedipus freed this city from an evil. What was that evil?

Answer 41

Sphinx

Question 42

What are Oedipus's main problems?

Answer 42

Hubris, temper, hamartia

Question 43

What are prose and poetry used for in 12th Night?

Answer 43

Prose: countryside speeches, common man; Poetry: courtly speeches, etc.

Question 44

What beginning scene illustrates intense humiliation of the Narrator and other young men?

Answer 44

Battle Royal

Question 45

What can be seen as ironic/unusual about 12th Night's ending speeches?

Answer 45

they're not made by the main characters

Question 46

What color is Brother Jack's hair? How does this tie into symbolism?

Answer 46

Red: Communism

Question 47

What could be the reason for Clifton's intentional police conflict and consequent death?

Answer 47

He realizes that he's stuck in the game, which is fixed: can't play the game anymore

Question 48

What do the white men give the Narrator after his first speech at their meeting?

Answer 48

a briefcase and a college scholarship

Question 49

What does Malvolio's name mean?

Answer 49

bad wish

Question 50

What does Orsino threaten to do to Cesario/Viola when he finds out her true identity? How does she respond?

Answer 50

He threatens to kill her out of spite: she says that she'd die for him a thousand times over.

Question 51

What does Sir Toby want throughout the play?

Answer 51

He wants Sir Andrew to marry Olivia so he can use their money

Question 52

What does the Narrator give Mary when he leaves her house?

Answer 52

a $100 bill

Question 53

What does the Narrator's nameless suggest?

Answer 53

His lack of identity and general identity confusion; malleability of his character

Question 54

What family figure is the Narrator in search of?

Answer 54

father figure: tries out Bledsoe, Emerson, Jack etc.

Question 55

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

Answer 55

A: he never returns tehre

Question 56

What incident brings the Invisible Man his first recognition as a speaker in NYC?

Answer 56

the dispossession of the old couple

Question 57

What is 12th Night?

Answer 57

kind of like opposite day: reversal of class roles to let off steam; January 6th; inversion of authority

Question 58

What is the best selling color at Liberty Paints?

Answer 58

Optic White

Question 59

What is the Cthonian?

Answer 59

a hotel

Question 60

What is the significance of Rinehart?

Answer 60

Rind/heart: external/internal; malleable identities, tacky, disposable, fake, façade, can exist in any kind of world

Question 61

What jazz recording is the Narrator listening to in the beginning?

Answer 61

What Did I Do to Be So Black and Blue: Louis Armstrong

Question 62

What makes the fight between Cesario and Andrew funny?

Answer 62

They obviously don't want to fight each other

Question 63

What scene makes for a nostalgic moment as well as an "intense feeling of freedom?"

Answer 63

the yam scene

Question 64

What's ironic about Toby/Maria/Andrew's ire towards Malvolio?

Answer 64

Technically, it's Malvolio's job to keep the house in order: he's right to scold them for being disorderly

Question 65

What's the significance of the black drops in the white paint?

Answer 65

The black makes the white better.

Question 66

When does the Narrator first meet Brother Jack?

Answer 66

Brother Jack is chasing him across snowy roof tops after the Harlem dispossession

Question 67

When does Viola realize that Olivia has fallen in love with her?

Answer 67

when Olivia sends Malvolio after Cesario with Olivia's ring

Question 68

Where does the Narrator take Norton when he faints?

Answer 68

Golden Day

Question 69

Where is Ras the Exhorter from?

Answer 69

the West Indies

Question 70

Where is the Narrator's main district assignment, before he gets transferred?

Answer 70

Harlem

Question 71

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

Answer 71

D: Clifton is never a disciple of Ras

Question 72

Who does the Narrator steal power from?

Answer 72

Monopolated Light and Power

Question 73

Who incites the final riot in Harlem in Invisible Man?

Answer 73

Ras the Exhorter

Question 74

Who is most repsonsible for Malvolio's imprisonment?

Answer 74

Maria

Question 75

Who is Oedipus's mother?

Answer 75

Jocasta

Question 76

Who is Sir Topas?

Answer 76

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

Question 77

Who is the "only sane person in Illyria?"

Answer 77

Feste

Question 78

Who is Tiresias?

Answer 78

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"

Question 79

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."

Answer 79

Oedipus: ironic because he IS sicker than they are

Question 80

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."

Answer 80

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.

Question 81

Who said: "Fellow citizens... I am here in an angry mood. I hear that (the king) brings terrible charges against me."

Answer 81

Creon, after Oedipus accuses him of conspiracy and treason

Question 82

Who said: "Have you no sense, God help you, raising your voices in strife like this? Have you no sense of shame?"

Answer 82

Jocasta, to Oedipus and Creon as they're arguing: IRONY because she's chastising them like children./… aaaaaand Oedipus is her child.

Question 83

``` 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." ```

Answer 83

Chorus, foreshadowing/predicting that Oedipus is about to find out his true identity

Question 84

Who said: "Let me touch them with these hands, as I weep for my sorrows. Please, my lord! Grant my prayers, generous man!"

Answer 84

Oedipus to Creon (who's in charge now), asking to touch his daughters since he just blinded himself and can't see them

Question 85

Who said: "Listen, if you think stubbornness deprived of intelligence is a worth-while possession, you are out of your mind."

Answer 85

Creon, to Oedipus

Question 86

Who said: "Listen, if you think you can injure a close relative and then no pay for it, you are out of your mind."

Answer 86

Oedipus, to Creon

Question 87

Who said: "Wisdom is a dreadful thing when it brings no profit to its possessor. I knew all this well and forgot"

Answer 87

Tiresias, cautioning Oedipus to not investigate his past, since it'll only hurt him

Question 88

Who said: Ay, madam, well; for I was bred and born | Not three hours' travel from this very place."

Answer 88

The sea captain in 12th Night, to Viola

Question 89

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.

Answer 89

Sir Toby Belch, to Maria

Question 90

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.

Answer 90

Cesario, to Olivia, when she's delviering the Duke's message

Question 91

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.

Answer 91

Maria, describing her plan to trick Malvolio

Question 92

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.

Answer 92

Malvolio, talking to himself trying to figure out the letter from "Olivia" that Maria and co. planted in his path

Question 93

Who said: One face, one voice, one habit, and two persons, | A natural perspective, that is and is not!

Answer 93

Duke Orsino, when he finally sees Viola and Sebastian at the same time and is confused by their twinliness.

Question 94

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.

Answer 94

Duke Orsino, to Viola disguised as Cesario

Question 95

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.

Answer 95

Feste, at the very end: it's his weird sad song

Question 96

Who says "I'll be revenged on the whole pack of you?"

Answer 96

Malvolio

Question 97

Who says, "If music be the food of love, play on, Give me excess of it…?"

Answer 97

Orsino

Question 98

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.

Answer 98

Feste to Olivia, mocking her mourning and remarking on how appearance doesn't reveal identity

Question 99

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.

Answer 99

Viola diguised as Cesario, to Orsino: DRAMATIC IRONY! She's not describing her sister, she's describing herself!

Question 100

Who tells Oedipus that the son of Laius was destined to kill him?

Answer 100

Jocasta

Question 101

Whom did Oedipus kill where three roads meet?

Answer 101

Laius

Question 102

Why do we pity Oedipus?

Answer 102

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

Question 103

Why does Olivia initially reject Orsino's advances?

Answer 103

she's mourning her brother's death (her father also died recently)

Question 104

Why is Antonio arrested?

Answer 104

he's considered a pirate by Orsino's court

Question 105

Why is the Corinthian messenger significant?

Answer 105

He's the one who reveals that Polybus and Merope are not Oedipus's true parents, and that Oedipus is Laius's son

Question 106

Why symbol do both Tarp and Bledsoe have? How do they differ?

Answer 106

Leg chain: Tarp: used/broken, represents true identity VS. Bled: new, mean to continue to shackle the black identity

Question 107

With what physical ailment is Tiresias afflicted?

Answer 107

blindness