English II Study Guide for Final ExamThis study guide consists of an overview and questions of the

following: Oedipus

All quiet on the Western Front

Night Things Fall apart

Sentence structure MLA format

SAT Word List Four types of Criticisms

OedipusSummaryOedipus the King unfolds as a murder mystery, a political thriller, and a psychological whodunit. Throughout this mythic story of patricide and incest, Sophocles emphasizes the irony of a man determined to track down, expose, and punish an assassin, who turns out to be himself.

As the play opens, the citizens of Thebes beg their king, Oedipus, to lift the plague that threatens to destroy the city. Oedipus has already sent his brother-in-law, Creon, to the oracle to learn what to do.

On his return, Creon announces that the oracle instructs them to find the murderer of Laius, the king who ruled Thebes before Oedipus. The discovery and punishment of the murderer will end the plague. At once, Oedipus sets about to solve the murder.

Summoned by the king, the blind prophet Tiresias at first refuses to speak, but finally accuses Oedipus himself of killing Laius. Oedipus mocks and rejects the prophet angrily, ordering him to leave, but not before Tiresias hints darkly of an

incestuous marriage and a future of blindness, infamy, and wandering.

Oedipus attempts to gain advice from Jocasta, the queen; she encourages him to ignore prophecies, explaining that a prophet once told her that Laius, her husband, would die at the hands of their son. According to Jocasta, the prophecy did not come true because the baby died, abandoned, and Laius himself was killed by a band of robbers at a crossroads.

Oedipus becomes distressed by Jocasta's remarks because just before he came to Thebes he killed a man who resembled Laius at a crossroads. To learn the truth, Oedipus sends for the only living witness to the murder, a shepherd.

Another worry haunts Oedipus. As a young man, he learned from an oracle that he was fated to kill his father and marry his mother. Fear of the prophecy drove him from his home in Corinth and brought him ultimately to Thebes. Again, Jocasta advises him not to worry about prophecies.

Oedipus finds out from a messenger that Polybus, king of Corinth,

English II Study Guide for Final ExamOedipus' father, has died of old age. Jocasta rejoices — surely this is proof that the prophecy Oedipus heard is worthless. Still, Oedipus worries about fulfilling the prophecy with his mother, Merope, a concern Jocasta dismisses.

Overhearing, the messenger offers what he believes will be cheering news. Polybus and Merope are not Oedipus' real parents. In fact, the messenger himself gave Oedipus to the royal couple when a shepherd offered him an abandoned baby from the house of Laius.

Oedipus becomes determined to track down the shepherd and learn the truth of his birth. Suddenly terrified, Jocasta begs him to stop, and then runs off to the palace, wild with grief.

Confident that the worst he can hear is a tale of his lowly birth, Oedipus

eagerly awaits the shepherd. At first the shepherd refuses to speak, but under threat of death he tells what he knows — Oedipus is actually the son of Laius and Jocasta.

And so, despite his precautions, the prophecy that Oedipus dreaded has actually come true. Realizing that he has killed his father and married his mother, Oedipus is agonized by his fate.

Rushing into the palace, Oedipus finds that the queen has killed herself. Tortured, frenzied, Oedipus takes the pins from her gown and rakes out his eyes, so that he can no longer look upon the misery he has caused. Now blinded and disgraced, Oedipus begs Creon to kill him, but as the play concludes, he quietly submits to Creon's leadership, and humbly awaits the oracle that will determine whether he will stay in Thebes or be cast out forever.

Characters and Places:Abae a place north of Thebes, where an oracle of Apollo presided.Acheron a river in Hades, often identified as the river across which Charon ferries the dead.Aegeus a king of Athens who drowns himself when he thinks his son Theseus is dead.Aetolia region of ancient Greece, on the Gulf of Corinth.Aphrodite the goddess of love and beauty.Apollo the god of music, poetry, prophecy, and medicine in Greek and Roman mythology. Here, Apollo is most important as the source of the prophecies of the oracle.Arcadia ancient, relatively isolated pastoral region in the central Peloponnesus.Arcturus a giant orange star in the constellation Bootes, the brightest star in the northern celestial sphere. Here, for the ancient Greeks, its appearance marked the beginning of the winter season.Ares the god of war, the son of Zeus and Hera.

English II Study Guide for Final ExamArgos ancient city-state in the northeast Peloponnesus from the seventh century B.C. until the rise of Sparta. Here, used to represent the forces led by Polynices to take back Thebes.Artemis the goddess of the moon, wild animals, and hunting in Greek mythology. She is the twin sister of Apollo.Athena the goddess of wisdom, skills, and warfare.augury a divination from omens. Here it refers to the ritual sacrifice of an animal and the examination of its organs for an indication of the future.Bacchus another name for Dionysus, the god of wine and revelry.Cadmus a Phoenician prince and founder of Thebes; he kills a dragon and sows its teeth, from which many armed men rise, fighting each other, until only five are left to help him build the city.Castalia spring on Mount Parnassus, Greece; in ancient times it was sacred to the Muses and was considered a source of poetic inspiration to all who bathed in it.Cephisus a river of Attica.Cerberus the three-headed dog guarding the gate of Hades.Cithaeron the mountain range between Thebes and Corinth. Here, the place where Oedipus was abandoned.Colonus a village to the north of Athens. Here, the setting for the tragedy.Corinth ancient city of Greece located in the north east Peloponnesus, in the islands off central Greece. A city noted for its luxury, here, it is the home of Oedipus after his adoption.Danae the mother of Perseus by Zeus, who visits her in the form of a shower of gold.Daulia area north of the road from Thebes to Delphi.Delos small island in the Aegean, legendary birthplace of Artemis and Apollo.Delphi a town in ancient Phocis, on the slopes of Mount Parnassus; seat of the famous ancient oracle of Apollo.Dionysus the god of wine and revelry.Dirce a river of Thebes.dirge a funeral hymn.Dorian a native of Doris, a member of one of the four main peoples of ancient Greece. Here, the term describes Oedipus' adoptive mother.dragon's teeth a reference to the legend that the original Thebans sprung up as armed men from dragon's teeth sown by their first king, Cadmus.Eleusis town in Greece, northwest of Athens; site of an ancient Greek city (also called Eleusis), seat of the Eleusian Mysteries.Eumenides, the Kindly Ones other names for the Furies.Furies the three terrible female spirits with snaky hair who punish the doers of unavenged crimes.Great Goddesses here, a term to refer to Demeter, the goddess of agriculture, and her daughter Persephone, the goddess of the underworld and the spring. They are the deities of the Eleusian Mysteries, which granted initiates the hope of life after death.

English II Study Guide for Final Examhearsay something one has heard, but does not know to be true.Hecate a goddess of the moon, earth, and underground realm of the dead, later regarded as the goddess of sorcery and witchcraft.Hermes the god who is herald and messenger of the other gods.infamy disgrace, dishonor.Ismenus a river of Thebes.Labdacus, Polydorus, and Agenor the ancestors of Laius, the former king of Thebes, and of Oedipus, his son.Laius king of Thebes before his son, Oedipus. Killed by Oedipus before the action of the tragedy Oedipus the King.Laius king of Thebes before his son, Oedipus. Killed by Oedipus before the action of the tragedy Oedipus the King.libation the ritual of pouring out wine or oil upon the ground as a sacrifice to a god. Here it refers to the sacrifice that must be made to please the Furies, to whom the grove is sacred.Lycurgus real or legendary Spartan lawgiver of about the ninth century B.C. Here, the persecutor of the women who worshipped Dionysus.Megareus son of Creon and Eurydice. He was killed defending Thebes during the attack of the Seven.Mount of Ares a hill in Athens, the site of the first court of law.Muses the nine goddesses who preside over literature and the arts and sciences: Calliope, Clio, Euterpe, Melpomene, Terpsichore, Erato, Polyhymnia, Urania, and Thalia.Mysteries the Eleusian Mysteries, the secret religious rites celebrated at the ancient Greek city of Eleusis in honor of Demeter and Persephone.Niobe a queen of Thebes, daughter of Tantalus, who, weeping for her slain children, is turned into a stone from which tears continue to flow.Nysa a mountain on Euboa, an island that lies off the Attic and Boeotian coastlines.Olympia a plain in ancient Elis, in the western Peloponnesus; also the location of a temple to Apollo and an oracle.Olympus the home of the gods.oracle among the ancient Greeks and Romans, the place where or the medium by which deities were consulted. Also, the revelation or response of a medium or priest.Pan the god of fields, forests, wild animals, and shepherds.Parnassus mountain in central Greece, sacred to Apollo.Pelops' broad Dorian island here, a reference to the Peloponnesus, a peninsula forming the southern part of the mainland in Greece.Perithous the hero who went with Theseus into the lower world to bring back Persephone.Persephone the daughter of Zeus and Demeter, abducted by Hades to be his wife in the lower world. The Queen of Hades.Phocis ancient region in central Greece. Here, the place where Oedipus killed Laius.Pluto the god ruling over the lower world.

English II Study Guide for Final ExamPolybus king of Corinth, Oedipus' adoptive father.Poseidon god of the sea and of horses.Prometheus a Titan who steals fires from heaven for the benefit of mankind; in punishment, Zeus chains him to a rock where a vulture (or eagle) comes each day to eat his liver, which grows back each night.Sardis capital of ancient Lydia. Here, a place known for precious metals.Semele the daughter of Cadmus and the mother of Dionysus.Sphinx a winged monster with a lion's body and the head and breasts of a woman. Here, the monster who plagued Thebes by devouring anyone who could not answer her riddle.Terrible Goddesses another name for the Furies.Thebes chief city of ancient Boeotia, in eastern central Greece.Theseus the principal hero of Attica, son of Aegeus and king of Athens, famed especially for his killing of the Minotaur. Here, Oedipus' chief ally.Thrace wild region to the north of Thebes.unctuous characterized by a smug, smooth pretense of spiritual feeling, fervor or earnestness, as in seeking to persuade; too suave or oily in speech or manner.Zeus the chief deity of Greek mythology, son of Chronus and Rhea and husband of Hera.

Some helpful questions:

1:  Oedipus is the king of which city?

a. Athens

b. Thrace

c. Thebes

2:  What does the oracle say must be done in order to save the city from the plague?

English II Study Guide for Final Exam

d. Jocasta must marry her brother.

3:  Who is revealed to be Oedipus’ mother?

a. Ismene

b. Merope

c. Jocasta

d. Antigone

4:  Who is Oedipus’ father?

a. Laius

b. Polybus

c. Apollo

5:  What does Oedipus do when he finds out the truth about his birth?

a. He kills his father.

b. He blinds himself.

c. He kills his wife.

d. He sets fire to his palace.

English II Study Guide for Final Exam6:  When Oedipus and Antigone arrive at Colonus, who is the King of Athens who grants Oedipus citizenship?

a. Polynices

b. Polybus

c. Theseus

d. Creon

7:  Why does Creon come to Colonus and take Oedipus’ daughters hostage?

a. He is trying to secure Antigone’s hand in marriage.

b. He is trying to force Oedipus to return to Thebes.

c. He has been ordered by the prophet to do so.

d. He is punishing them for revealing the oracle to their father.

8:  What prophecy does Oedipus tell to Polynices?

a. that he will become king

b. that Polynices will marry his mother

c. that Polynices and Eteocles will kill each other

d. that Creon will kill Polynices and Eteocles

9:  Who witnesses Oedipus’ death?

a. Creon

English II Study Guide for Final Examb. Theseus

c. Ismene

d. Antigone

10:  Whom does Creon decree shall not be buried but left to rot?

a. Polynices

b. Eteocles

c. Haemon

d. Theseus

11:  What is Antigone’s main argument for attempting to violate Creon’s decree?

a. that the dead man is actually Creon’s son

b. that Creon doesn’t know the truth surrounding the death

c. that leaving the body to rot will start a war

d. that the decree goes against the laws of the gods

12:  Who tries to convince Creon not to execute Antigone and her sister?

a. Haemon

b. Eurydice

English II Study Guide for Final Examc. Theseus

d. Agamemnon

13:  Who is dead at the end of Antigone?

a. Haemon, Antigone, and Eurydice

b. Haemon, Antigone, and Creon

c. Haemon, Tiresias, and Creon

d. Haemon, Eurydice, and Creon

14:  Who says the following: “Blind who now has eyes, beggar who now is rich, he will grope his way toward a foreign soil, a stick tapping before him step by step.”

a. Tiresias

b. Oedipus

c. Creon

d. Antigone

15:  Who says the following: “What should a man fear? It’s all chance, chance rules our lives. Not a man on earth can see a day ahead, groping through the dark. Better to live at random, best we can.”

a. Tiresias

b. Jocasta

c. Antigone

English II Study Guide for Final Exam

d. Oedipus

ANSWERS TO THE ABOVE QUESTIONS:

1. C2. A3. C4. A5. B

6. C7. B8. C9. B10.A

11.D12.A13.A14.A15.B

All Quiet on the Western Front

KEY LITERARY ELEMENTS

SETTING

All Quiet On The Western Front is set during World War I, behind the German frontlines where Paul Baumer is assigned. The setting weaves back and forth between the warfront and the camp where Baumer stays. Once during the novel, Baumer goes home on leave, but the setting quickly reverts to the warfront. The only other setting in the novel is in the hospital.

LIST OF CHARACTERS

Major Characters

Paul Baumer

The narrator of the novel. He is a young German infantry soldier who volunteered for military duty during World War I. During the book, he feels secure with his soldier friends, including Muller, Kropp, Kemmerich, and Kat. As he loses them one by one, he grows more depressed and disillusioned with the war. He is the last of the friends to survive, but then he is also killed one month before the armistice.

Kantorek

English II Study Guide for Final ExamA teacher at the school that Baumer attended. He is a propagandist who glorifies war and the German cause. Since he is trusted by his students, he is directly responsible for Baumer and his friends enlisting in the infantry. Later his students resent his lies and blame him for the death of Behm, the first of the classmates to be killed in the war.

Stanislaus Katczinsky

A shrewd forty-year-old soldier who becomes Baumer's best friend. He is a friendly, good-natured, and resourceful man who always manages to find extra food and supplies and easy jobs for Baumer's group of friends. His death is a tremendous blow to Baumer.

Muller

A soldier who had been one of Baumer's classmates. Having been a good student, he misses school and often carries his books with him. Always logical and practical, he asks for Kemmerich's pair of leather boots when his leg is amputated.

Albert Kropp

Another of Baumer's classmates who joins the infantry. As a thinker and a planner, he believes that the generals from both sides of the war should be put into an arena together to fight it out amongst themselves. Kropp is the only classmate to survive the war. When his leg is amputated, he is discharged and sent home.

Tjaden

A thin wiry man who has a voracious appetite. He was a locksmith before joining the army.

Franz Kemmerich

A childhood friend of Baumer who also joins the infantry because of Kantorek. When he dies after his leg is amputated, his prized leather boots are passed around to and worn by his friends.

Minor Characters

Josef Behm

English II Study Guide for Final ExamThe first of Baumer's classmates to enlist in the army. He is also the first to be killed in the war.

Leer

Another of Baumer's classmates who joins the infantry because of Kantorek. Somewhat a rebel, he grows a beard and has relationships with women.

Corporal Himmelstoss

A drillmaster and a bully. He was a postman before joining the army.

Gerald Duval

The French soldier who lands in Baumer's shell hole. Baumer, filled with panic, stabs him and then, in remorse, bandages his wounds. After killing him, Baumer realizes that the enemy is just another frightened soldier, just like he is.

Haie Westhus

One of the soldiers in Baumer's infantry unit. After the war is over, he wants to stay in the peacetime army, preferring military to civilian life digging peat.

Detering

The soldier in Baumer's unit who is always dreaming of his farm and his family. In the spring, when he sees a blossoming cherry tree, he deserts the infantry to return home and plant his crops; he is quickly arrested and given a court martial.

Lieutenant Bertnick

The Company Commander who is respected by Baumer and his friends.

Ginger

The company cook who closely guards the food from the hungry soldiers.

CONFLICT

Protagonist

The protagonist of the novel is Paul Baumer, a young man who is barely twenty years old. He has enlisted in the infantry and serves on the German Front. Both strong in character and compassionate, he hates war and feels

English II Study Guide for Final Examthat it is an utter waste, leaving behind emptiness and desolation. He also feels that it is the ordinary man who is most hurt by war.

Antagonist

Baumer's antagonist is the entire situation of the war. Although he has chosen to join the war effort because he has heard it glorified, he quickly realizes that it causes devastation and destruction with thousands of people losing their lives.

Climax

Baumer jumps into a shell hole when he finds himself alone. Another French soldier, Gerald Duval, jumps in the hole with him; Baumer panics at the sight of the enemy and stabs him. In remorse over his action, he bandages Duval's wound, but Duval dies. Suddenly Baumer realizes the complete tragedy of war, for the enemy is not just a faceless person, but is composed of scared young men just like himself.

Outcome

The plot ends in tragedy with the death of many innocent people. The true tragedy is that Baumer dies one month before Armistice, just before 'all is quiet on the front'.

SHORT PLOT SUMMARY (Synopsis)

All Quiet on the Western Front is about the German warfront during World War I. The traumatic tale of battle is narrated by Paul Baumer, a young soldier in the German infantry. He and his school friends have been urged to enlist in the fighting by Kantorek, their teacher, who glorified entering the war effort and saving the fatherland.

The story is set on the front lines where Baumer and his friends are fighting for survival. When the book opens, one of their mates, Josef Behm, has already been killed. Another of the group, Kemmerich, has had his leg amputated. He never fully recovers from the amputation and soon dies. His leather boots, which were envied by all, pass on to Muller.

As a result of the tragedies and deaths that they see all around them, Baumer and his friends are completely disillusioned by the war, even though they had all eagerly enlisted. Now they believe that war is a big waste and question whether there is a just cause for the fighting. They have also realized that it is the ordinary people, the little guys not the generals or captains, who actually fight the war and suffers the devastation. They fear

English II Study Guide for Final Examfor their own lives. One night during basic training, they took out their frustrations by beating up Corporal Himmelstoss, their drillmaster and a true bully.

Of all his soldier friends, Kat is the most resourceful. He is always trying to locate food, find easy jobs, and gather supplies for the group. Baumer thinks of him as his best friend; but even this closeness does not lessen the horror of the war. Baumer's troop is often bombarded, and Baumer constantly sees death and destruction all around him. He feels relieved in the fall when he and his friends are allowed to leave the front and take a rest in the rear. Baumer is even granted a leave to go home.

When Baumer goes home, he realizes he is a changed man. He feels totally lost when he puts on civilian clothes; he finds he has no interest in the things that previously entertained him. He cannot even relate to his family and resents that everybody in his small hometown acts as if the war were a game or a wonderful thing. He wishes that they understood the true horrors of fighting.

Baumer meets some girls from the enemy camp. He is shocked to realize that they are ordinary young people, with whom he can have a lot of fun. It is the first step in his realization that the enemy is no different than himself. Then one day, when he is alone in a shell hole trying to protect himself, he is joined by Gerald Duval, an enemy soldier. Baumer panics at his presence and stabs him. Regretting his own brutality, he tries to bandage and comfort the young French soldier. As Baumer looks at him, he realizes the wounded enemy is not a nameless face, but an ordinary, scared young person, just like he is. When Duval Dies, Baumer is saddened.

For a period of time, Baumer's troop has the assignment of guarding a supply depot. He and his friends help themselves to the food and supplies. Then Kropp and Baumer are wounded while evacuating a village. They are sent to the same hospital, where Baumer is horrified at the conditions. Baumer fully recovers from his wounds, but Kropp must have his leg amputated.

By the end of the book all of Baumer's soldier friends have died one after the other. Kat is the last one to be lost. When he is hit and killed by a sniper, it comes as a big blow to Baumer. Then one day in the fall of 1918, near the end of the war, Baumer himself dies on the Western Front.

THEMES

Major Theme

English II Study Guide for Final ExamThe major theme is the horror and waste of war. Throughout the novel, the death and destruction caused by battle is clearly depicted. Coupled with the physical ruin is the destruction of the spirit of the soldiers; totally drained of emotions, they become self-centered and thoughtless, almost animal-like. Baumer and his friends are no different; they quickly grow disillusioned with the brutality of fighting and sick over the losses they must endure.

Minor Theme

The minor theme is the importance of comradeship during a war. The only thing that keeps Baumer sane during the fighting is the friendships that he has with some of his fellow soldiers. Kat is particularly important to him, and when he is killed, it is a great blow to Baumer.

MOOD

The mood of the entire novel is grim; at times there is an almost savage depiction of the conditions at the battlefront. For the most part, the atmosphere reeks of death and mayhem, interspersed with moments of total bleakness and emptiness. Occasionally, bits of laughter or human warmth break through to momentarily disperse the destruction.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION - BIOGRAPHY

ERICH REMARQUE

Erich Maria Remarque was born on June 22, 1898, in Osnabruck, Westphalia, Germany. His father, a bookbinder, was German, and his mother was French. Remarque attended public school in Osnabruck and was a good student. He entered the University of Munster but could not complete his studies; he had to leave when he was drafted into the Germany army at the young age of eighteen.

Remarque was wounded five times while he fought on the Western Front. When he was finally discharged from military duty, he worked at a variety of jobs. For a while he was a teacher and then a salesman; disillusioned with both endeavors, he became a travelling gypsy for a period of time. Finally deciding to settle down, he began his writing career. He first wrote advertising copy and articles for an automobile magazine. He then tried his hand at a novel, producing All Quiet on the Western Front out of his war experience. After being refused by one published, it finally appeared in 1928 and became an immediate popular success; it was eventually made into a motion picture and translated into twenty-five languages. It was also criticized, especially in Germany, for not painting a realistic enough picture of war.

English II Study Guide for Final Exam

After the success of All Quiet on the Western Front, Remarque devoted himself to writing other novels, many of which were based on a war theme. The Road Back(1931) and Three Comrades (1937) tell of the confusion of post-war Germany and the hardships of veterans. Arch of Triumph (1946) is about a German doctor who fled to Paris to escape the Nazis. Spark of Life (1952) is about the suffering in a Nazi concentration camp. His other novels include Flotsam (1941), A Time of Love and a Time to Die (1954), The Black Obelisk (1957), Heaven Has No Favorites (1961), and Night in Lisbon (1964). None of the later novels became as popular as All Quiet on the Western Front.

Because of Nazi rule in Germany, Remarque moved to Switzerland, where he stayed from 1931 to 1939. From there, he often wrote critical articles about the Nazis. As a result, his books were publicly burned in Germany, and his citizenship was revoked in 1938. In 1939, Remarque moved to America and became a citizen in 1947. The author died in 1970.

HISTORICAL INFORMATION

The novel is set on the Western Front in 1917 and 1918, during the last two years of fighting in World War I. The Central Powers, including Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and the Ottoman Empire, had met with many early victories in the war; but by 1917, they had been stopped by the Allied Forces, including France, Great Britain, Belgium, Greece, China, Italy, Japan, Portugal, Russia, and Serbia. Fighting still continued on the Western Front, near the border of France, but the tide was turning. The Germans were being routed despite their earlier victories. With the United States entering the war in April of 1917, the Allied troops and supplies had been reinforced. Things looked bleak for the Central Powers, especially for Germany, where fighting was taking place.

All through the war, the Western Front was a major battle line, riddled with trenches and tunnels. The fighting there was always fierce, with much hand-to-hand combat and frequent air strikes. Then in early 1918, after a year of being stalled, the Germans vowed to push forward and take Paris. They began their march in the spring, reaching the Marne River in France by May. The Allied Forces, with much help from the United States, staged an offensive against the Germans and kept them from crossing the Marne into Paris. The Allied offensive never slackened, and the Germans were forced to retreat further and further from France. By the fall, the Central Powers were beginning to break up. In September, Bulgaria signed an armistice, followed by the Ottoman Empire in October. At the same time, the Austro- Hungarian Empire was crumbling rapidly, with the Czechs, Slovaks, Poles, and Hungarians declaring their independence; on November 3, Austria-Hungary

English II Study Guide for Final Examsigned an armistice. Germany then stood alone. Finally, on November 11, 1918, Germany signed the armistice, and World War I was over. These events of World War I form the background for the entire novel, which ends only one month before the final armistice is signed by Germany.

QUESTIONS

1. Explain how the plot of the book is developed and resolved, using specific details.

2. Describe Paul Baumer as a person. Compare and contrast him to Katczinsky, Muller, and Kropp.

3. Who is Kantorek and what is his importance to the book?

4. What was German warfare like in World War I, as presented in the book? Give specific details.

5. What is the main theme of the book and how is it developed?

6. Explain the use of contrast in the novel, giving specific examples.

7. How does Baumer learn that the enemy is not just faceless, nameless people? Be specific in your response.

8. What are Remarque's opinions of the military leaders and medical community in the novel? How is this brought out in the book?

9. Explore Baumer's relationship with his friends and contrast this with his relationship with his family.

10. Explain the meaning of the title, All Quiet on the Western Front.

11. What important images and symbols are used in the book?

12. What ironies are found in the book?

13. Do you feel the book is realistic? Why or why not?

English II Study Guide for Final ExamNight

KEY LITERARY ELEMENTS

SETTINGS

Note: The sections in the original text are not numbered. The numbers have been added for convenience in discussing the book.

Night is set during the Second World War. The first section of the novel begins in Sighet, a small town in Transylvania (Romania) and ends in a train which stops in Kaschau (Czechoslovakia).

The second section of the book continues in the train as the deportees head towards Auschwitz, the Death Camp.

In the third section, the setting shifts to Birkenau, which is the selection and disposal center for the prisoners. Elie and his father survive the selection process and enter Auschwitz, where they are both repeatedly tortured.

In the fourth section, they are marched to Buna, where the author stays for the longest period in the span of the book.

Section five is also set in Buna.

In section six, the prisoners are marched through snow to Gleiwitz, for the Germans do not want them to be liberated by the approaching Russian Army.

In the seventh section, the surviving prisoners are loaded in roofless cattle wagons and sent on a freezing ten-day journey to Buchenwald in Germany.

In the eighth section, Elie is seen nursing his sick father, who eventually dies at Buchenwald.

In the ninth and final section of the book, the Allied army arrives and frees the prisoners. After his release, Elie grows very ill and must be hospitalized. The book ends with his looking at himself in the mirror and thinking that he looks like a corpse.

LIST OF CHARACTERS

Major Characters

Eliezer Wiesel (Elie)

English II Study Guide for Final ExamThe narrator, protagonist, and main character. Since he is a Jewish teenager living in Romania during Hitler's occupation and reign, he is persecuted and imprisoned. The book is really a telling of his experiences during the war.

Shlomo Wiesel (also translated as Chlomo)

Elie's father. He is a considerate and religious man and shopkeeper who is respected by the villagers. He is arrested along with his son and imprisoned in a concentration camp, where he dies.

Minor Characters

Moshe the Beadle

A poor and lonely religious man. He tells terrifying tales about the condition of the Jews in concentration camps, which Elie and the villagers find hard to believe.

Mrs. Wiesel

Elie's mother. She is a loving person who cares for her family and who works to infuse courage in others.

Hilda Wiesel

Elie's oldest sister, who works in the family grocery store. She is arrested and deported to a concentration camp. Like her brother, she manages to survive the experience.

Beatrice Wiesel (Bea)

Elie's older sister, who is the second child in the family. She also manages to survive.

Tzipora

Elie's younger sister, who does not survive the concentration camp. She gives an impression of both innocence and stoicism.

Batya Reich

A relative who stays with the Wiesels in the Sighet ghetto.

Stein of Antwerp

English II Study Guide for Final ExamA relative who meets Elie and his father at Auschwitz. He is worried about his wife and his sons. Elie cheers him by telling him the lie that his mother has been receiving letters from Steins' wife.

Berkovitz

A villager who reports on the terror inflicted on Hungarian Jews.

Madame Kahn

Wiesel's neighbor. She provides temporary accommodation to a German officer.

The Hungarian Police Officer

A kind officer who assures Elie's father that he will inform him if there is danger. He keeps his promise.

Stern

A police officer in Sighet. He calls Chlomo Wiesel to attend a council meeting.

Maria

The considerate maidservant of the Wiesels, who offers them shelter and safety. Unfortunately Mr. Wiesel does not accept her offer.

Madame Schachter

A fifty year old deportee who has hallucinations of "fire and furnace" while traveling on the train.

Madame Schachter's son

A ten-year old boy who seems quite courageous for his age.

Bela Katz

The son of a tradesman in Sighet. He is made to work in the crematory.

Yechiel

The brother of a Rabbi from Sighet. He weeps for Elie and his father when they arrive at Birkenau.

Akiba Drumer

English II Study Guide for Final ExamA singer with a deep voice; he dies in the concentration camp.

Juliek

A Polish musician who plays the violin in Buna. He gives his final performance when the prisoners arrive at Gleiwitz and dies the next day.

Louis

A Dutch violinist who regrets that Jews are not allowed to play Beethoven's music.

Hans

A Berlin musician who tries to relax Elie, who is suffering from tension due to his assignment in the electrical warehouse.

Franek

A former student from Warsaw. He demands the gold from Elie's tooth and tries to bully him. Since Elie does not give him the gold tooth, he tortures his father.

Yossi and Tibi

Czech brothers whose parents are killed. They work in the electrical warehouse with Elie and become his friends.

Alphonse

A kind German Jew who gives extra soup to the young and the weak.

The French Jewess

A woman who pretends to be an Aryan to keep herself safe. She works in the electrical warehouse and befriends Elie.

The Young Thief from Warsaw

A strong young man who blesses liberty and curses the Germans before he is hung.

Dutch Ogerkapo

A kind supervisor who is tortured for blowing up Buna's power station. In spite of the torture, he does not name his co-conspirators.

English II Study Guide for Final ExamPipel

A thirteen-year-old boy who looks angelic. He is an assistant to the Dutch Ogerkapo. When he is hanged, it takes him more than thirty minutes to die because he weighs so little.

Elie's Blockaelteste

An experienced man who guides the prisoners on how to pass through the selection process.

The Polish Rabbi

A Rabbi from a small town in Poland; he is a sincere student of the Talmud.

The hospitalized Hungarian Jew

A patient with severe dysentery. He lies in a bed near Elie. He is sure that he will not pass the selection test and believes that all Jews will be killed before the end of the war.

The Jewish doctor

A kind doctor who operates on Elie's infected foot.

Zalman

A worker in the electrical warehouse who dies during the journey from Buna.

Rabbi Eliahou

An aged Rabbi. He desperately searches for his son, whom he cannot find during the journey from Buna.

Eliahou's Son

A selfish and traitorous young man who leaves his father behind to save himself.

Meir Katz

A strong gardener from Sighet. He helps to free Elie from an attacker in the train to Gleiwitz.

English II Study Guide for Final ExamIdek

A violent Kapo in the Buna warehouse. He lashes Elie cruelly during one of his violent fits, because Elie has seen him lying on the mattress with a woman.

The Dentist from Czechoslovakia

A corrupt man who enriches himself by collecting gold teeth. He tries unsuccessfully to persuade Elie to give him his gold tooth.

The Dentist from Warsaw

A polish dentist who pulls out Elie's gold tooth, using a rusty spoon, instead of an extractor.

CONFLICT

Since Night is the autobiographical account of Elie Wiesel during World War II, it does not follow the traditional pattern of fictional plot development. The book can, however, be viewed as having a protagonist and antagonist.

Protagonist

The narrator, main character, and protagonist of the book is Eliezer Wiesel (Elie). In the beginning, he is a young Jewish teenager living in Romania during Hitler's reign. A religious and studious young man, he possesses a strong sense of tradition and faith. Once he and his father are arrested by the Nazis and deported, his life becomes a struggle to survive. He is horribly tortured to the point that he loses faith in God.

Antagonists

The antagonists in the book are Hitler and his anti- Semitic Nazi regime, who persecute and kill Jews. Included amongst the antagonists are the Hungarian Policemen, the Gestapo, and the Nazi guards and doctors. Through much of the book, these characters torture Elie, until he is emotionally and physically shattered.

Climax

The climax occurs approximately halfway through the book, in the fifth section, when Elie loses his faith in God, which has been so important to him throughout life. He is so horrified over the torture that he has witnessed and endured, he questions if God exists and refuses to pray to Him on Rosh

English II Study Guide for Final ExamHashanah. It is obvious that the antagonist has gotten the best of Elie Wiesel.

Outcome

The book ends as a tragedy. Besides being horribly tortured himself, Elie also endures horrendous emotional torture. He loses his faith in God; he also loses his father, mother, and younger sister. Even though he survives the concentration camp and is rescued by Allied forces, Elie is very sick, both physically and emotionally. His sufferings have turned his soul into a living corpse, shadowed forever by the long, black night of evil he has endured.

SHORT PLOT SUMMARY (Synopsis)

The story begins in 1941, when Elie was twelve years old and living in Sighet with his family. In spite of his youth, the Jewish Elie was eager to study the Talmud and Cabbala. His father, however, thinks Elie is too young for such advanced subjects and refuses to find him a teacher. As a result, Elie turns to Moshe the Beadle for guidance.

One day Moshe is arrested by the Nazis. When he returns, he tells the villagers about how he has miraculously escaped from his torturers. He also tells them shocking stories about the atrocities committed against the Jews by Hitler's regime. When Elie and the other villagers do not believe his stories, thinking he has gone mad, Moshe weeps and tells his story again.

As time passes, the Nazis treat the Jews worse and worse. First they shift the Jewish people to live in ghettos; then they arrest them and transport them to Birkenau, the reception center that leads to Auschwitz. Elie, his parents, and his sisters are arrested by the Nazis and sent by cattle car to Birkenau. During the journey, Elie, his family, and the other Jews suffer from the inhuman conditions they must endure; they are also driven to distraction by the hysterical screams of Madame Schachter, who has hallucinations of fire and furnace.

When Elie and his family arrive at the concentration camp, they see flames rising out of an oven, which is actually a crematorium for the prisoners. They are repulsed by the stench of burning flesh. Then Elie and his father are separated from his mother and sisters. In the men's camp, Elie fights to protect his father and is repeatedly tortured himself. Gradually he begins to lose faith in God because of the atrocities he must witness and endure. On the eve of Rosh Hashanah, a Jewish Holy Day, Elie refuses to pray.

In the camp, a regular process of selection takes place to separate the physically fit prisoners from the unfit or sick ones. The abler men are given a

English II Study Guide for Final Examchance to work and live, while the weaker ones are sent to the furnaces to be killed. Both Elie and his father survive the selection process; but they know there is no guarantee that they will survive the work and brutality. They often watch other prisoners as they are hanged for some little offense. The Nazis even hang an innocent thirteen-year-old boy with an angelic face.

In January 1945, Russian liberation forces draw near Buna, the camp where Elie and his father are staying. As a result, the Nazis evacuate the camp and force the prisoners to run through the snow toward Gleiwitz; they do not provide them any food or water during the trip. Elie and his father are amongst the prisoners forced to make the journey; it is a particularly difficult trip for Elie, for he has recently had an operation on his right foot, due to an infection. Elie struggles to keep up the pace, for the prisoners who fall behind are shot by the Nazis; many others fall down and are trampled to death by other prisoners.

Finally, the prisoners are loaded into roofless cattle-cars and taken to Buchenwald in central Germany. Many people die during the journey because of exposure and starvation, but Elie and his father manage to survive. At Buchenwald, however, Elie's father grows very ill, suffering from dysentery and malnutrition. He is also cruelly beaten on his skull. Elie tries his best to nurse his sick father back to health, getting very little sleep himself.

One night Elie unwillingly falls asleep due to his total exhaustion. When he wakes up, he finds that his father is not in his bed. He suspects that he has been taken to the crematorium, while he was still breathing, for the Nazis would judge the sick, old man as worthless. Elie is left with a life long repentance that he did not look after his sick father until the last moment.

At the end of the book, the Allied forces arrive at the concentration camp and liberate the prisoners. Even though he is freed, Elie is physically and emotionally devastated from his year of imprisonment. Three days after his release, he becomes seriously ill and must be hospitalized. When he has recovered enough to get out of bed, Elie looks in the mirror and thinks that he looks like a corpse. He knows he will always be haunted by the horror he has endured; the memory will forever be like a dark and scary night to him.

STUDY QUESTIONS

1. Describe Elie Wiesel as a young boy in Sighet. How does he change by the end of the novel?

2. Explain the relationship between Elie and his father, giving specific examples from the book.

English II Study Guide for Final Exam3. When does the climax occur and why is it the climax?

4. There are many vivid descriptions of how the Jews are tortured by the Nazis. Give the two examples that struck you as most vivid.

5. Elie makes several journeys in the book. Explain where and how is travelling and then compare and contrast each journey. Explain which one you feel was the worst and why.

6. Why do the prisoners themselves become animalistic and how do they show it?

7. What happens to Elie's father from the time he arrives at

Buchenwald until the end of the book?

8. Elie weeps (cries) several times in the book; explain when and why. Explain one time he does not weep when it would be expected.

9. What does Elie see when he looks in the mirror at the end of the book? Why is this significant?

10. Explain two of the Themes in the novel and how they are developed.

11. Explain the meaning of the title of the book.

12. Why is the book a complete tragedy?

Things fall Apart

KEY LITERARY ELEMENTS

SETTING

The novel is set during the late 1800s/early 1900s in a small village called Umuofia situated in the southeastern part of Nigeria. The time period is important, as it was a period in colonial history when the British were

English II Study Guide for Final Examexpanding their influence in Africa, economically, culturally, and politically. Umuofia is an Igbo village with very well defined traditions. It is a village that is respected by those around it as being powerful and rich. Each person has a hut or obi that is located in the center of a compound. Each of the wives has a separate obi with a shed for goats and an attached chicken coop. The main occupation of the men is sowing and growing yams since yams are considered the most important crop. The women grew less significant crops like coco-yams, beans and cassava.

When Okonkwo is banished from his village, he takes his family to his mother’s native village called Mbanta, where he is given two or three plots of land to farm, and a plot of ground on which to build his compound. The next seven years of Okonkwo’s life are spent in the village of Mbanta. He then returns to Umuofia where the rest of the novel takes place.

CHARACTER LIST

Major Characters

Okonkwo

The hardy and ambitious leader of the Igbo community. He is a farmer as well as a wrestler, who has earned fame and brought honor to his village by overthrowing Amalinze in a wrestling contest. Still only in his thirties, he has three wives and several children who all live in their own homes in his village compound. Okonkwo has resolved to erase the stigma left on him by his father’s laziness and is very successful growing yams. He has very strong economic and political ties to the village and is treated with admiration and respect. Okonkwo is a man of action.

Obierika

Okonkwo’s close friend, he helps him with the crops during his period of exile, and keeps him informed of the radical changes taking place in the village. He is a thoughtful man, who questions the traditions of society. He is also Maduka and Ekuke’s father.

Ekwefi

Okonkwo’s second wife, she is the mother of Ezinma, her only living child, whom she will do anything for even if that means defying tradition.

Ezinma

English II Study Guide for Final ExamEkwefi and Okonkwo’s daughter, she is born after many miscarriages and is loved and pampered by her mother. She has a special relationship with Chielo, the woman who acts as the voice of Agbala, the Oracle. Okonkwo is fond of her and often wishes that ‘she were a boy.’

Nwoye

Okonkwo’s son from his first wife. He is a sensitive young man who, much to his father’s dismay, joins the Christian missionaries.

Ikemefuna

A boy who is bought as hostage from Mbaino, and who lives with Okonkwo for three years. He is a clever and resourceful young man yet comes to an unfortunate end.

Chielo

The priestess of Agbala, the Oracle of the Hills and Caves, who carries Ezinma on her back to the caves, saying that Agbala wants to see her.

Uchendu

Okonkwo’s maternal uncle with whom he spends seven years of his exile, along with his family.

Mr. Brown

The Christian missionary who first introduces the tenets of Christianity to the people to take them away from their superstitious and age-old customs. He is a kind and understanding man who is accommodating towards the Igbo.

Reverend James Smith

Mr Brown’s successor, he openly condemns Mr. Brown’s policy of compromise and accommodation and attempts to efface all aspects of Igbo culture.

District Commissioner

The man behind the whole affair, who handcuffs the six leaders of the village and imprisons them. At the end of the novel, he orders his men to take down the dead body of Okonkwo from the tree, and bury it.

Minor Characters

English II Study Guide for Final ExamUnoka

Okonkwo’s father who during his entire lifetime never lifted his hand to till the earth, and had passed his time playing the flute. Okonkwo always remembers his father’s failure and strove to be as different from him as possible.

Maduka

Obierika’s son who participates and wins the wrestling contest.

Ogbuefi Ezendu

The oldest man in Umuofia who forewarns Okonkwo not to get too close to Ikemefuna, since the Oracle had pronounced his death already and then tells him not to participate in his death. He dies a venerated warrior with three titles to his name.

Enoch

The overzealous Christian who tears off the mask of the egwugu, creating strife in the community.

Agbala

The Oracle of the Hills and the Caves, she dispenses advice and overlooks all aspects of life in the village of Umumofia. No one has ever beheld Agbala, except his priestess.

Ojiubo

Okonkwo’s third wife and mother of several of his children.

CONFLICT

Protagonist

The protagonist of the novel is Okonkwo. The novel describes Okonkwo’s rise and fall in a culture that is bound by tradition and superstitious. Okonkwo also has his faults, and it is these faults that lead to his downfall. His impatience and quick temper make him break the rules of the Week of Peace and eventually is ostracized from his village for his rash behavior. His headstrong nature and impulsive attitude consequently bring about his own death at the end of the novel.

English II Study Guide for Final ExamOkonkwo is respected for having reached a position of wealth and status, without any support from family. In fact, most of his ambition and desire stems from the rejection of his father’s lifestyle that is objectionable to him. Okonkwo refuses to bow down to the tenets of the Christian missionaries, even when almost the entire village has. His tenacity and tragic flaws that he cannot see make him a hero despite his unforgiving nature and rigid adherence to tradition. Okonkwo thus instills a feeling of respect and admiration in the hearts of thereaders.

Antagonist

The antagonists are the Christian missionaries who wish to invade the content villages of Africa with their Western concepts and way of thinking and convert the people into Christianity. The customs of African culture are scorned and degraded. Gradually, many people are persuaded into converting themselves into Christianity, with a few exceptions, including Okonkwo. It is the missionaries who are the final cause of the death of Okonkwo. Their behavior toward the leader of the village is disrespectful and it is understandable that Okonkwo had to retaliate in the only form he knows, by resistance to Christianity and loyalty to his culture’s traditions. The reader sees the heartlessness of the district commissioner who is only concerned about the material he has accumulated for the book he wishes to publish

Climax

The climactic point in the novel arises when, Okonkwo, without his realizing it, shoots a young member of hiscommunity and kills him. Though this was an accident, Okonkwo has to abide with the law that deems he should be banished from his village for seven years. This is an unfortunate situation, since until then Okonkwo has been steadily rising in wealth as well as status in his community and very soon would have acquired more titles. The calamity however results in his downfall. He now has to live in exile for seven long years of his life in his mother’s land.

Another parallel climax in the novel is when the missionaries inculcate the lives of the villagers. Until then the people were governed only by the traditional Ibo culture and were custom-bound, but the invasion of the

missionaries changes the lives of the villagers tremendously.

Outcome

The outcome of the novel is Okonkwo’s return to his village after his exile and his self-destruction. He discovers that everything has changed when he is not given the kind of welcome he had expected. Too much has happened since Okwonko’s departure and the villagers have other things to worry about. Okonkwo can no longer dream of becoming head of the village

English II Study Guide for Final Exambecause he has lost too many years in exile, and when he returns, all of the customs, values and beliefs of the village have been destroyed.

With the invasion of the Christians, the villagers find themselves at a loss. With their sweet words and strong beliefs, the missionaries manage to dissuade the villagers from their own religion and customs. The Christians even begin living in the evil forest, in order to prove to the villagers that all their beliefs about its evilness are baseless. Twins and outcasts were allowed to enter into their church.

The missionaries also provide many good services to the villagers. They build a church, a hospital, a school and also a court and trading store for the villagers. Yet ultimately the core of their culture has been subjugated to Western ideology and the traditional economy as well as social well being of the village is gone forever.

SHORT PLOT/CHAPTER SUMMARY (Synopsis)

The novel deals with the rise and fall of Okonkwo , a man from the village of Unuofia. Okonkwo was not born a great man, but he achieved success by his hard work. His father was a lazy man who preferred playing the flute to tending the soil. Okonkwo was opposed to his father’s way of life, and always feared failure. In order to prove his ability, he had overthrown the greatest wrestler in nine villages, set himself up with three wives, two barns filled with yams and a reputation for being a hard worker. The reader learns that he was also one of the egwugwu--the masked spirits of the ancestors. His importance is proved when he is sent as an emissary to Mbaino in order to negotiate for hostages, and he returns successfully with a boy, Ikemefuna and a virgin.

Okonkwo has his faults, one of them being his impatience of less successful men and secondly his pride over his own status. His stern exterior conceals a love for Ikemefuna, who lives with him; an anxiety over his son Nwoye, who seems to take after his father; and an adoration for his daughter Ezinma. His fiery temperament leads to beating his second wife during the Week of Peace. He even shoots at her with his gun, but luckily he misses. This shows his short temper and a tendency to act on impulse, a tendency that backfires on him later on in the novel. The boy, Ikemefuna, is ordered to death by the Oracle of the Hills and Caves. Though Okonkwo is upset, he shows his fearlessness and impartiality by slaying the boy himself. His final fault against his tribe is when he unintentionally shoots a boy and kills him; for this he is banished from the village for seven years and has to live in his mother’s village of Mbanta. This is a great disappointment for him although he is consoled and encouraged by his uncle, Uchendu.

English II Study Guide for Final ExamThe reader now hears of the arrival of the Christian missionaries, who take over the village of Mbanta, as well as Umuofia, set up a church and proceed to convert the tribesmen to Christianity. At first, they face much resistence, but gradually many of the tribesmen including Okonkwo’s own son, Nwoye, are converted and follow the path of Christ. After his period of exile, Okonkwo returns to Umuofia with his family and finds it totally changed. The missionaries have done a lot for the village. Umuofia is prospering economically, but Okonkwo is firm in his refusal to charge his religion.

The missionary Mr. Brown is overzealous in his methods. A Christian named Enoch enters a meeting of the tribe in which the egwugwu is present, and he unmasks one of them. This causes great anger, and the villagers make a decision to destroy the church, which they eventually do. This action incites the wrath of the District Commissioner, who invites Okonkwo along with five other men and overpowers and imprisons them. These elders are humiliated in the prison. On their return, another meeting is held. The commissioner sends some men to stop the proceedings, and Okonkwo, in a fit of fury, beheads one of them. The tribe is disturbed and they let the other men escape. Finding no more support from his tribesmen, Okonkwo hangs himself. His world has fallen apart.

His tribesmen even refuse to cut him down and bury him since taking one’s own life is a violation of the earth goddess, and his men would not bury such a man. His friend Obierika’s words describe the tragedy most powerfully “That man was one of the greatest men in Umuofia. You drove him to kill himself; and now he will be buried like a dog.”

Okonkwo’s suicide is symbolic of the self-destruction of the tribe, for he was a symbol of the power and pride that the tribe had and with its demise, the tribe’s moral center and structure gave way to a more dominant one. With his death, the old way of life is gone forever.

THEMES

Major Themes

The major theme of the novel is that British colonization and the conversion to Christianity of tribal peoples has destroyed an intricate and traditional age-old way of life in Africa. The administrative apparatus that the British imposed on the cultures of Africa were thought to be just as well as civilizing although in reality they had the opposite effect of being cruel and inhumane practices that subjugated large native populations to the British. In conjunction with the colonizing practices, Western missionaries endeavored to move native peoples away from the superstitious practices that they perceived as primitive and inhumane and convert them to Christianity.

English II Study Guide for Final ExamAnother important theme that is explored in this book is the fallibility of a man like Okonkwo, who is ambitious and hardworking who believes strongly in his traditions. He wishes to achieve the highest title in his village but ultimately his rash and impetuous behavior leads to his fall. The reader also sees how Okonkwo refuses to break away from his traditional and religious values, which results in his own death. He refuses to conform to the forces of domination and therefore, one feels respect and admiration for such a strong individual.

Minor Themes

One of the minor Themes that Achebe addresses in this book is the complex and subtle rites and traditions that make up Igbo culture. Achebe wrote Things Fall Apart in response to representations of Africans as primitive or as “noble savages” by European writers. In his novel, Achebe explodes these Western constructions by presenting a society that is as complex and dynamic as any culture in Western society. His characters are also complex beings rather than stereotypes. It is in fact the white colonialists and missionaries who appear to be one-dimensional.

Along with the major theme of the destruction of African culture due to colonization, the readers also see how orthodox traditions and customs rule the people of the society. Absolute loyalty and obedience to the tribal religion is inculcated into the minds of the people from their childhood. Strict adherence to the laws, as well as gender roles create a community that is extremely close knit, but once this bond is broken, tribal ways give way easily and fall apart. This breakdown of society is seen as tragic as people suffer and communities become divisive.

STUDY QUESTIONS

1. Trace the tragic element in Things Fall Apart .

2. Draw a character sketch of the hero and show how he is symbolic of his culture.

3. Examine the role superstition and religion plays in the life described in Things Fall Apart .

4. Outline the tragic errors or faults in Okonkwo that finally lead to his downfall.

5. Describe the gradual entry of the British administration into the tribal society and its final take-over of Umuofia. What aspects of their culture allowed the British to take over?

English II Study Guide for Final Exam6. Examine Nwoye’s role in the novel and his relationship to his father.

7. Analyze the title Things Fall Apart in terms of the destruction of the tribal ways and customs. How do ‘things fall apart’?

8. Interpret the suicide of Okonkwo. Why did he take his own life after killing the messenger?

9. Examine Okonkwo’s concept of masculinity. What does it entail and why does he think this way?

10. Discuss the differences between the two missionary figures, Mr. Brown and Mr. Smith. What are their attitudes towards the Igbo’s customs and religion? Give examples.

11. What contribution do women make to Igbo culture? Why are these contributions important to the survival of the culture?

12. How is the colonialist system more primitive than the Igbo system which is perceived that way by the District Commissioner?

13. How does Okonkwo contribute to his own demise? How does the colonialist enterprise contribute to his death?

SENTENCE STRUCTURE

There are four types of sentences:

1. Declarative which makes a statement.a. The girl is cold.

2. Imperative which gives a command.a. Help the girl!

3. Interrogative which asks a question.a. Is the girl cold?

4. Exclamatory which provides emphasis or expresses strong emotion.a. The girl is cold! How terrible!

English II Study Guide for Final ExamThere 14 types of sentence patterns:

1. Simple-one independent clausea. The dancer fell down.

2. Compound- contains two independent clauses jointed by a coordinating conjunction or by a semicolon.

a. The dancer fell down, but she did not stop her routine.3. Complex- an independent clause and one or more subordinate clause.

a. Because the dancer fell, she stopped her routine.4. Compound-complex- contains two or more independent clauses and

one or more subordinate clauses.a. The dancer fell while the audience applauded, but she did not

stop her routine.5. Loose or Cumulative- makes complete sense if brought to a close

before the actual ending. The modifying phrase in the sentence could be eliminated while maintaining the meaning of the sentence.

a. We reached Raleigh that afternoon after the horrible tornado and some horrible experiences, relieved but frightened, full of desire to help our friends and neighbors.

6. Periodic- makes sense fully only when the end of the sentence is reached.

a. That afternoon, after a horrible tornado and experiences, we reached Raleigh.

7. Balanced- the phrases or clauses balance each other by virtue of their likeness of structure, meaning or length.

a. “We cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, and we cannot hallow this ground.” Abraham Lincoln.

8. Natural order- subject comes before the predicate.a. Cotton grows in the south.

9. Inverse order (sentence inversion)- predicate comes before the subject. Typically used for emphasis or rhythmic effect.

English II Study Guide for Final Exama. In the south grows cotton.

10. Juxtaposition- poetic and rhetorical device in which normally unassociated ideas, words, or phrases are placed next to each other, often creating an effect of surprise and wit.

a. “The apparition of these faces in the crowd:Petals on wet, black bough.” Ezra Pound

11. Parallel Structure- grammatical or structural similarity between sentences or parts of a sentence. It involves the arrangement of words, phrases, sentences, and paragraphs so the elements of equally developed and similarly phrased.

a. She loves, biking, fishing, and playing soccer.12. Repetition- a device in which words, sounds, phrases, and ideas

are used more than once to enhance the rhthm and to creat emphasis.a. “…government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall

not perish from the earth.” Abraham Lincoln.13. Rhetorical Question- a question that requires no answer. Used to

draw attention to a point and is generally stronger than a direct statement.

a. If Mr. Haskins is always nice, as you have stated, why did he call Ms.Falwell a butt nugget?

14. Rhetorical Fragment- a fragment used deliberately for a persuasive purpose or to create a desired effect.

a. Something to ponder upon.

A Doll’s House

THE PLAY

THE PLOT - SHORT SCENE SUMMARY (Synopsis)

(The following edition was used in the preparation of this guide: Henrik Ibsen, Four Major Plays, Vol. I, trans. by Rolf Fjelde, Signet Classic, 1965.)

English II Study Guide for Final ExamIt's Christmas Eve. Nora Helmer, a beautiful young wife, has been out doing some last-minute shopping. When she returns, her husband Torvald immediately comes to see what his "little squirrel" has bought. They playfully act out their roles-Torvald the big, strong husband, Nora the dependent, adoring wife.

This is a happy Christmas for the Helmers and their children because Torvald has recently been appointed manager of the bank. Soon they'll be well off and won't have to scrimp. However, Torvald will still control the cash in the house, because he feels that his irresponsible Nora lets money run through her fingers, a trait she "inherited" from her father.

An old school friend, Kristine Linde, comes to visit Nora. During the conversation, Kristine reveals that she had married a wealthy man she didn't love in order to support an invalid mother. Her husband's death three years ago left her penniless and she's returned to seek work. Nora promises to speak to Torvald about a jobin his bank.

Having had such a hard time herself, Kristine is scornful of Nora's easy married life until Nora describes a secret she has been concealing for many years. Early in her marriage, when Torvald became seriously ill, she secretly borrowed a large sum tofinance a year-long stay in a warmer climate. Since he did not know the extent of his illness, and since, even if he had known, borrowing money would have been against his principles, she pretended the money was from her late father. Since then she has been struggling to repay the debt by economizing from her personal allowance and by secretly working at home.

The women are interrupted by the arrival of Nils Krogstad, a clerk in Torvald's bank. When Krogstad goes into the study, Dr. Rank, an old family friend, comes out. Knowing of Krogstad's reputation as a forger, Rank tells the women that Krogstad is one of those "moral invalids." Unknown to any of them, Torvald is firing Krogstad. This leaves a vacancy, and, 9when Torvald joins them, he agrees to give Kristine the job. Torvald, Dr. Rank, and Kristine then leave together.

As Nora is playing happily with her three young children, Krogstad reappears. It turns out that he is the one who had lent the money to

English II Study Guide for Final ExamNora. He also knows that Nora not only forged her father's signature as cosigner of the loan but dated it several days after his death. Krogstad leaves after threatening to expose Nora unless he gets his job back.

Nora pleads with Torvald to reinstate Krogstad, but he refuses. She is frantic, imagining that once Krogstad reveals the truth, Torvald will himself assume the blame for the forgery and be ruined.

The next day Dr. Rank, who is suffering from a fatal illness, comes to visit. He speaks openly of his impending death and tells Nora that he loves her. Nora is upset, not because he loves her, but because he has told her so and ruined the innocent appearance of their relationship.

The arrival of Krogstad interrupts their conversation, and Nora slips down to the kitchen to see him. He tells her he has written a letter to her husband, which explains the debt and the forgery. Then as he leaves, he drops it into the locked mailbox. In despair because Torvald has the only key to the box, Nora thinks wildly of suicide.

When Kristine learns about the forgery, she offers to intercede with Krogstad on Nora's behalf, because she and Krogstad had once been in love.

Meanwhile, Nora gets Torvald to promise to spend the rest of the evening helping her practice the tarantella-the dance she's to perform at a masquerade party the next night. Torvald sees a letter in the mailbox, but true to his promise, he ignores it and concentrates only on Nora's dance.

The next night, while the Helmers are at the party, Krogstad and Kristine meet in the Helmers' drawing room. They forgive each other's past mistakes and are reunited. Krogstad offers to ask for his letter back, unread, from Torvald, but, unexpectedly, Kristine stops him. She has had a change of heart and says he should leave the letter-Nora and Torvald must face the truth.

Torvald drags Nora away from the party the minute she finishes the dance. He is filled with desire for her and is glad when Kristine leaves. Shortly after, Dr. Rank stops by to bid a final farewell. Nora realizes he is returning home to die alone.

English II Study Guide for Final ExamOverwhelmed by his feelings for Nora, Torvald says he wishes he could save her from something dreadful. This is her cue. Nora tells him to read his mail. She is certain that now the "miracle" will happen: Torvald will nobly offer to shoulder the guilt himself. He retires to his study with the mail. Rather than see Torvald ruined, Nora throws on her shawl and starts for the hall, determined to carry out her suicide plan.

But instead, her fine illusions about her husband crumble when an outraged Torvald storms out of his study, calling her a criminal and accusing her of poisoning their home and their children. Since his reputation is at stake, he feels completely in Krogstad's power and must submit to the blackmail. Still, he insists that they must maintain the appearance of a happy   family  life.

Then a second letter arrives from Krogstad, dropping the charges and returning Nora's forged note. Torvald is relieved and immediately wants to return Nora to the status of pet and child. But she has seen him as he really is. She realizes that she went straight from her father's house to her husband's and has never become her own person. She has always subordinated her opinions and her identity to those who she assumed were nobler. Now she sees that both Torvald and her father were weak, and have kept her weaker only to have someone to bully.

Nora decides to leave Torvald's house to discover who she is. She says she's not fit to raise her children in the state she's in- she's been teaching them to be mindless dolls, just as she was. When Torvald asks if she'll ever return, she replies that she could only return if the greatest miracle happened and they were truly equals, truly married.

Torvald is left clinging to this hope as his wife departs, slamming the door behind her.

THE CHARACTERS - CHARACTER LIST AND ANALYSIS

• NORA HELMER

Nora is a fascinating character for actresses to play, and for you to watch. She swings between extremes: she is either very happy or suicidally depressed, comfortable or desperate, wise or naive,

English II Study Guide for Final Examhelpless or purposeful. You can understand this range in Nora, because she wavers between the person she pretends to be and the one she may someday become.

At the beginning of the play, Nora is still a child in many ways, listening at doors and guiltily eating forbidden sweets behind her husband's back. She has gone straight from her father's house to her husband's, bringing along her nursemaid to underline the fact that she's never grown up. She's also never developed a sense of self. She's always accepted her father's and her husband's opinions. And she's aware that Torvald would have no use for a wife who was his equal. But like many children, Nora knows how to manipulate Torvald by pouting or by performing for him.

In the end, it is the truth about her marriage that awakens Nora. Although she may suspect that Torvald is a weak, petty man, she clings to the illusion that he's strong, that he'll protect her from the consequences of her act. But at the moment of truth, he abandons her completely. She is shocked into reality and sees what a sham their relationship has been. She becomes aware that her father and her husband have seen her as a doll to be played with, a figure without opinion or will of her own- first a doll-child, then a doll-wife. She also realizes that she is treating her children the same way. Her whole   life  has been based on illusion rather than reality.

The believability of the play hinges on your accepting Nora's sudden self-awareness. Some readers feel that she has been a child so long she couldn't possibly grow up that quickly. Others feel that she is already quite wise without realizing it, and that what happens is credible. There are lines in the play that support both arguments. It's up to you to read the play and then draw your own conclusions.

There is a parallel to the story of Nora in the life of one of Ibsen's friends, a woman named Laura Kieler. She, too, secretly borrowed money to finance a trip to a warm climate for a seriously ill husband. When she had difficulty repaying the loan, she forged a note but was discovered and placed in a mental institution. Eventually, she was released and went back to her husband for her children's sake. The story outraged Ibsen, and he fictionalized it in A Doll's House, although rewriting the ending.

English II Study Guide for Final Exam• TORVALD HELMER

Probably all of you know someone like Torvald. He's a straight-laced, proper man, and proud of it. At first, he seems genuinely in love with Nora, even if he does tend to nag and preach a bit. But as the play progresses, you discover more disturbing parts of his character.

Like anyone who doubts his own power, Torvald must frequently prove it. He keeps tight control over who comes to his study and whom he speaks to at work, and over everything affecting Nora. He even has the only key to their mailbox.

During the third act, you see his need for dominance increase. His fantasies always have Nora in a submissive role. He is happiest when treating her as a father would a child. This gives an incestuous tinge to their relationship, which Nora comes to realize and abhor at the end of the play.

On the other hand, Torvald is not a bad man. He is the product of his society, one who seems to fit well in the middle-class mold. It's only when he's tested that his well-ordered house of cards comes crashing down.

Some readers question the believability of Nora's love for Torvald. How could she have been blind to the obvious faults of this dull, petty man for eight years? He must have qualities that make Nora's love credible, but at the same time he must become odious enough at the end for her to break all ties and leave immediately upon discovering his true self. What kind of marriage relationship would put a premium on Torvald's good qualities?

Besides being Nora's weak and unsupportive husband, Torvald represents a "type" of thought and behavior that contrasts with Nora in several effective ways. He represents middle-class society and its rules, while Nora represents the individual. He stands for the world of men and "logical male thinking," while Nora's thinking is more intuitive and sensitive. Can you think of other ways that Torvald and Nora are compared?

In light of these comparisons, how would you interpret Torvald's defeat at the end? Certainly at the play's start, Torvald appears to be in command in contrast to Nora's weakness. But by the end of

English II Study Guide for Final ExamAct Three their roles have been reversed: he is the weak one, begging for another chance, and Nora has found strength. Does the author mean to suggest that the ideas of male supremacy and middle-class respectability were changing?

• DR. RANK

Dr. Rank is an old family friend, whose relationship to the Helmers is deeper than it appears. He always visits with Torvald first, but it is Nora he really comes to see. Both Rank and Nora prefer each other's company to Torvald's.

Although Nora flirts with Rank and fantasizes about a rich gentleman dying and leaving her everything, she never acknowledges her true feelings-the attraction she feels for older, father-figures. Rank at least is honest in declaring his love for Nora.

The doctor serves several important functions in the play. His physical illness, inherited from his loose-living father, parallels the "moral illness" shared by Krogstad and Nora. The hereditary nature of Rank's disease, although it is never identified, suggests the possibility of immorality passing from generation to generation. Rank's concern with appearing normal despite his illness parallels Torvald's concerns with maintaining the appearance of a normal marriage after he discovers Nora's moral "disease."

Dr. Rank helps Nora on her journey to self-discovery. He forces her to face the reality of his death, which prepares her for the death of her marriage. He also forces her to look behind appearances to see the romantic nature of her and Rank's relationship. Nora refuses to deal with both of these issues in the second act, but by the third act she and Rank are through with masquerades and are both openly preparing to die. At the end, Rank realizes and accepts his approaching death, while Nora realizes and accepts the death of her marriage.

• KRISTINE LINDE

Mrs. Linde, Nora's old friend, is the first "voice from the past" who affects the future. On the one hand, she is like Nora because she's gone through what Nora is about to face. Kristine has come out of a marriage that was socially acceptable and emotionally bankrupt. On

English II Study Guide for Final Examthe other hand, she is different from Nora because, having already been disillusioned, she has now gained a firm grasp on reality. She has hope, but it's based on knowing and accepting the truth about herself and about Krogstad. Kristine is the first to see Nora's marriage for the pretense it is. It is Kristine who decides, for better or worse, that Torvald has to know the whole truth about Nora's forgery.

Kristine and Krogstad's compassionate and realistic relationship contrasts with Nora and Torvald's playacting. While the Helmers' socially acceptable relationship crumbles because it's based on deceptions, Nils and Kristine's relationship is renewed and strengthened because it's based on truth.

• NILS KROGSTAD

Nils Krogstad, a clerk in Helmer's bank, is called immoral by several other characters in the play, but is he? We usually think of an immoral person as someone who has no regard for right and wrong.

But Krogstad is concerned with right and wrong. He's also concerned about his reputation and its effect on his children. Although he has been a forger, he wants to reform and tries desperately to keep his job and social standing. Once they're lost, he decides to play the part of the villain in which society has imprisoned him. His attempt to blackmail Nora sets the play's action in motion.

Through his blackmail letter he forces Nora into self- knowledge. He also affects some of the other characters in ways that reveal not only the truth about him, but the truth about them as well. For example, you discover much of Torvald's pettiness from the way he reacts to Krogstad as an inferior. Despite his superficial role as a villain, Krogstad understands himself and the world. Although some find his conversion in Act Three hard to believe, he (together with Kristine) offers that message of hope that gives promise to Nora's future.

OTHER ELEMENTS

SETTING

English II Study Guide for Final ExamA Doll's House takes place in a large Norwegian town. The entire drama unfolds on one set, a "comfortable room" in the Helmers' house that serves both as a drawing room in which to receive guests and as a family room where the children play and where the family sets up its Christmas tree. There is a door to the entryway and another to Torvald's study.

Ibsen describes this setting in minute detail. About midway through his career, he adapted a style of drama that has been called "photographic." Instead of creating various country or city scenes as background for his characters, he "takes a picture" of one room they inhabit. Every piece of furniture, every prop reveals the character of the people who live in this place. For example, in the Helmers' drawing room there is a "small bookcase with richly bound books." What better way to describe Torvald, their owner, than as "richly bound"- someone who looks good from the outside? Also, the Christmas tree serves to represent various stages in Nora Helmer's life. When her life appears happy, the tree is beautifully trimmed. When her happiness is shattered, the tree is stripped and drooping. Ibsen has described the set and its props precisely, so that every production will reproduce this same "photograph" of the Helmers' living   room .

Probably the most significant thing about the setting of this play is that it concerns middle-class characters and values. It takes place in an unnamed city, where banking and law would be considered normal and respectable occupations. Banking is the occupation most closely associated with money, the symbol of middle-class goals, and the crimes of the characters-Nora, her father, and Krogstad-are monetary ones. Notice also how Torvald, a lawyer and bank manager, is preoccupied with Nora's extravagance, or waste of money.

Up until Ibsen's time, serious drama had been almost exclusively concerned with members of the aristocracy or military heroes. Comedy had served to depict the lives of the farmers, workers, and lower class. But A Doll's House is a serious drama about the middle class. Some might even say it is a tragedy of everyday life. In light of today's understanding of marital roles and the larger issue of

English II Study Guide for Final Examwomen's self-awareness, would you call the fate of the Helmers' marriage a tragedy?

THEMES - THEME ANALYSIS

The major themes of A Doll's House recur in many of Ibsen's plays, including Hedda Gabler.

1. THE INDIVIDUAL AND SOCIETY

Ibsen felt strongly that society should reflect people's needs, not work against them. In A Doll's House, society's rules prevent the characters from seeing and expressing their true nature. When Krogstad tells Nora that the law takes no account of good motives, she cries, "Then they must be very bad laws!"

At the end of the play, she realizes she has existed in two households ruled by men and has accepted the church and society without ever questioning these institutions. In the third act, Nora separates herself from the "majority" and the books that support them. "But," she says, "I can't go on believing what the majority says, or what's written in books. I have to think over these things myself and try to understand them." The individual has triumphed over society, but at a heavy price that includes her children. When Nora walks out the door, she becomes a social outcast.

2. DUTY TO ONESELF

Ibsen seems to be saying that your greatest duty is to understand yourself. At the beginning of the play, Nora doesn't realize she has a self. She's playing a role. The purpose of her life is to please Torvald or her father, and to raise her children. But by the end of the play, she discovers that her "most sacred duty" is to herself. She leaves to find out who she is and what she thinks.

3. THE PLACE OF WOMEN

This was a major theme in late nineteenth-century literature and appeared in LeoTolstoy's Anna Karenina, Gustave Flaubert's Madame Bovary, and Thomas Hardy's Tess of the D'Urbervilles, to name only a few.

English II Study Guide for Final ExamIbsen refused to be called a feminist, preferring to be known as a humanist. He had little patience with people, male or female, who didn't stand up for their rights and opinions.

Still, he argued that society's rules came from the traditionally male way of thinking. He saw the woman's world as one of human values, feelings, and personal relationships, while men dealt in the abstract realm of laws, legal rights, and duties. In A Doll's House, Nora can't really see how it is wrong to forge a name in order to save a life, but Torvald would rather die than break the law or borrow money. This difference in thinking is what traps Nora.

However, for Ibsen, the triumph of the individual embraces the right of women to express themselves. In the end, Nora's duty to know herself is more important than her female role.

4. APPEARANCE AND REALITY

At the beginning of the play, family   life  is not what it seems. Nora is Torvald's "little squirrel"; they appear to have a perfect marriage and their home is debt-free. Nora seems content and Torvald is in control. Scandal can't touch them. Everyone concerned wants to keep up appearances. But, little by little, as the play progresses, reality replaces appearances.

Nora is upset when Dr. Rank shatters the appearance that their relationship is innocent. Torvald insists on keeping up the appearance of marriage even after rejecting Nora for her past crime. He is appalled when Krogstad calls him by his first name at the bank-it doesn't appear proper. Dr. Rank wants to appear healthy. Krogstad and Nora want to hide their deeds and are enmeshed in a tissue of lies.

Only when the characters give up their deceptions and cast off their elaborately constructed secrets can they be whole. Ask yourself how all the characters achieve this freedom from appearances by the play's end. Do any of them fail?

5. THE COLLAPSE OF THE PARENTAL IDEAL

Nora seems to be under the impression that her father was perfect, and she tried to replace him-first with Torvald, then with Rank.

English II Study Guide for Final ExamWhen she realizes her father wasn't looking out for her best interests, it's only a short step to discovering that Torvald isn't either.

A STEP BEYOND

STUDY QUESTIONS / QUIZ / TESTS AND ANSWERS

TEST

_____ 1. Nora's macaroons symbolize

A. Christmas B. a secret defiance of Torvald C. her flirtation with Dr. Rank

_____ 2. In the play we find that Nora

I. doesn't understand the male worlds of money and businessII. has more to do with finance than Torvald knows III. has been able to save a nice nest egg for her family

A. II and III only B. I and II only C. I, II, and III

_____ 3. Ibsen gives us insight into Torvald's character through his

I. delight in travel II. attitude toward money III. use of pet names

A. II only B. I and II only C. II and III only

_____ 4. One of the play's major themes is

A. women are stronger than men B. marriage is basically destructive C. "to thine own self be true"

English II Study Guide for Final Exam_____ 5. Inherited "moral sickness" is attributed to

A. Nora and Krogstad B. Torvald C. venereal disease

_____ 6. Nora's greatest miracle will be that

A. she can find herselfB. Rank won't die C. Torvald takes the blame for her forgery

_____ 7. Nora confides her biggest secret to Kristine because

A. Kristine told Nora her secrets B. Kristine thinks Nora is naive C. Nora needs help

_____ 8. According to A Doll's House

A. men and women think alike B. men and women think differently, but both viewpoints are valid C. women need to learn how to survive in the business world

_____ 9. Nora feels she must die

A. to make clear her own responsibility for the forgery B. because she'll never be free of Torvald C. in order to serve as an object lesson for Torvald

_____ 10. Nora prepares for death by

I. dancing a wild dance II. writing a farewell letter to TorvaldIII. having a banquet

A. I only B. I and III only C. I, II, and III

11. Compare and contrast the rise and fall of the two couples: Nora and Torvald; Kristine and Krogstad.

English II Study Guide for Final Exam12. What illusions shape Nora and Torvald's lives, and what forces Nora to confront reality?

13. In what ways are each of the other characters' situations similar to and different from Nora's?

14. Discuss the role of heredity and hereditary disease in A Doll's House.

15. Why does Nora have to leave at the end of the play? Will she ever return? Defend your position with evidence from the play.

ANSWERS

1. B

2. B

3. C

4. C

5. A

6. C

7. B

8. B

9. A

10. B

11. You might start by showing how things appear at the beginning. Nora and Torvald seem to have a happy marriage and a secure social position. Both Kristine and Krogstad appear to be lonely outcasts who have little to live for.

English II Study Guide for Final ExamThen describe how these appearances start to crumble. Nora's marriage is based on deceptions and manipulation. Kristine, on the other hand, recognizes her own empty marriage and has accepted responsibility for her life. Kristine sees life realistically, while Nora hides from reality. Torvald and Krogstad both seek respectability, but Torvald is a pillar of society, while Krogstad is a forger.

Some of the circumstances that these couples have in common come to the surface. Nora is found to be guilty of the same crime that Krogstad once committed. She is in danger of morally infecting her children the same way that society feels Krogstad is ruining his.

Kristine and Krogstad are eventually able to look at the truth about themselves and each other. They can forgive each other and go about building a new life together. Nora and Torvald are also forced to see the truth about each other. However, while Nora realizes that their relationship and her life have been based on lies, Torvald refuses to admit they are lies. He can't forgive because, unlike Kristine and Krogstad, he still holds society's false values uppermost. While the truth saves Krogstad and Kristine, lies ruin Nora and Torvald.

12. Cite examples to show that Torvald thinks his wife is a doll, a toy, and a temptress with no ideas of her own. He thinks his house is free from debt; he believes he can control his family and his business decisions. He sees Rank only as his friend and ignores the doctor's relationship to Nora.

Nora at the outset believes that her husband is a good man who looks out for her best interests. She thinks she is an adult, a good wife and mother. She also thinks that secrets and manipulations are the normal ways to get what she wants. She treats life as a game that she knows how to play. She thinks that Torvald will be honorable and save her.

But Nora finds increasingly that reality intrudes. Dr. Rank is near death. The hidden loan is coming to the surface. She realizes that forgery even for love is a criminal act.

Krogstad's threat to reveal Nora's past act initiates the series of crises that forces Nora into reality. She is prepared for this by Rank's

English II Study Guide for Final Examconfession of his love. His imminent death will leave Nora and Torvald alone together. When the final crisis comes and they face each other, Nora's last illusion is shattered. She finds out that Torvald is looking out for himself, not her. In fact, no one is looking out for her. This is a role she must take on herself. She must leave her "doll's house" to become a person.

13. There are many parallel situations in the play. They call attention to the different ways each situation might be worked out. You might cite specific examples-for example, Torvald and Nora mirror each other at the beginning of the play because they both favor appearance over reality. This calls attention to the contrast between them at the end when she has the strength to reject appearances.

Kristine's former marriage parallels Nora's. It was an empty sham. Kristine marriedto get money for a good cause the same way that Nora illegally borrowed money for a good cause. However, in contrast to Nora, Kristine knows what she has done and is ready for a new life.

Krogstad and Nora are in similar situations. They are both accused of passing on moral sickness to their children. They are also both considered to have contracted their sickness from a parent. Krogstad, however, is an outcast, while she is respected. He knows he has committed a crime, while Nora sees her act as a gesture of love.

Dr. Rank, Krogstad, and Nora all have an "inherited" sickness that must be faced. Nora and Dr. Rank play at love (like Nora and Torvald). They both face death, and at the end of the play, both are in a sense released to "a greater beyond." Unlike that of Nora or Krogstad, Rank's sickness is not purely moral so he is condemned to certain death. Nora's death, however, is a self- created fantasy based on wishful thinking. Also, unlike Rank, Nora refuses to acknowledge her feelings for him as well as his for her.

Anne-Marie, the nursemaid, parallels Nora because she gave up her child to be raised by someone else. In contrast to Nora, she had to do it for social and economic reasons. Nora proposes to give up her children for moral reasons.

English II Study Guide for Final ExamThere are other examples of parallelism and contrast that you might choose instead.

14. Heredity is first introduced when it is disclosed that Dr. Rank is dying of an unnamed disease he was born with, and for which his father's immoral ways were in some sense responsible. The term heredity as used in the play could also be considered as environmental influence or psychological conditioning. Torvald insists that someone like Krogstad is a criminal because he had a dishonest mother. This implies that Nora's children are in moral danger of "catching" dishonesty from her. Torvald also assures Nora that she inherited her ineptitude with money from her father. The connection between the moral condition of a parent and child is reinforced by Dr. Rank's references to children suffering for the sins of their fathers (or other family members) in Act 2.

Other forces of so-called heredity or parental transmission are at work. Nora learned compliance from her father and has transferred this relationship to Torvald. She is teaching her children to be unthinking and compliant the same way she was taught. To her, this is more dangerous than passing on dishonesty. However, we see the possibility of thwarting "heredity," or past conditioning, in Krogstad's conversion by love and Nora's by intellectual self-realization.

15. It seems that Nora has to leave because the situation in her home will not allow her to discover who she is and how to live truthfully. She and Torvald have never had a serious discussion, and Torvald shows no signs of knowing how to start. His deeply ingrained gender role is dependent on her being passive and innocent (ignorant?). Moreover, he considers her deeply guilty of moral corruption and a danger to his children. He lacks compassion. When the crisis passes, he insists on treating her like a child again.

Nora, on the other hand, has to take time to question the attitudes she's been spoon-fed. Is society right? Is the church right? Is Torvald right? Maybe there's truth on all sides, but she's never thought it out for herself. She feels she must remove herself from this false relationship before she can begin to discover if it can become constructive.

English II Study Guide for Final ExamWill Nora ever return? If you choose to argue that she will, find evidence to support the view that (a) Torvald will change; (b) Nora will find a way to compromise; (c) Nora will not be able to cope on her own without her children; (d) Nora will realize her "folly"; or a similar argument.

If you choose to say she will never return, argue that (a) Torvald will never change; (b) Nora couldn't accept any marriage situation of that era; (c) she couldn't forgive Torvald for his rejection; (d) she never really loved Torvald; (e) she can make it on her own in the world; or another similar position.

Remember to support your view with evidence of Nora's and Torvald's characters drawn from the play.

MLA Format

*on attached PDF

SAT WORD LIST

Benevolent: kind Benign: not harmful Bequeath: to bestow Biased: chose one side over

another Bland: plain and boring Blasphemy: going against the

norm Bolster: support Braggart: someone who

brags Brawn: strong Brevity: short and to the

point Buttress: reinforcement Cacophonous: loud noise Cajole: persuade Candor: frankness Capricious: impulsive Categorical: sort out Casual: relaxed

Censorious: harsh Censure: criticize Certitude: assurance Charlatan: a fraud Choreography: organized

pattern of movement Chronicle: a series Civil: to be polite in a forced

way Clamor: to yell Clemency: to pardon Coercion: to convince Compelling: convincing Compliance: to obey Composure: keep your cool Compress: apply pressure Concede: admit defeat Conciliatory: peace-making Concise: brief to the point Conclusive: final Concur: agree with Condone: look down on Confirm: double check Conflagration: fire

English II Study Guide for Final Exam Conformity: to fit in Defiance: go against Degenerate: downgrade Degrade: take down a level Deliberate: on purpose Delineate: divide into two Denounce: to speak down to Deny: refuse the truth Depict: to picture Deplore: disapprove of Depravity: against social

norms Dutiful: submissive Ebb: period of decline Eccentric: unconventional Eclectic: miscellaneous Eclipse: obscure of one

celestial body Effervescent: bubbly Egotistical: self-centered Elaboration: to detail Elated: overjoyed Eloquent: speaking fluently Eloquence: ability to speak

fluently

Four types of Criticism *suggestest to just use the worksheet given in class