Monday, February 11, 2013
Ana
Sucaldito
Mrs.
Wilson
AP
Multicultural Literature B
15
January 2013
Multiple Choice Questions for “The Poem as Mask”
Orpheus
When I wrote of
the women in their dances and
wildness, it was a mask ,
on
their mountain , gold-hunting, singing , in orgy
it
was a mask ; when I wrote of the god,
fragmented,
exiled from himself , his life, the love gone
down with song,
it
was myself , split open, unable to speak, in exile from
myself.
There
is no mountain, there is no god, there is memory
of
my torn life, myself split open in sleep, the rescued
child
beside
me among the doctors, and a word
of
rescue from the great eyes.
No
more masks! No more mythologies!
Now,
for the first time, the god lifts his hand,
the
fragments join in me with their own
music .
1. The
mask in “The Poem as Mask” is an example of the literary device:
A. Caesura
B. Allusion
C. Hyperbaton
D. Motif
E. Litote
2. The
purpose of the imagery in Line 1-8 is to:
A. Contrast
the speaker’s dreams with his reality
B. Establish
the setting
C. Describe
the subject of what [Rukeyser] wrote” (1)
D. Develop
character
E. Name
the setting
A.
Orpheus
B.
The
women
C.
The
song
D.
The
fragments
E.
Herself
4.
Using
Line 15-16, the reader can infer removing the masks:
A.
Resurrects
the “fragmented” (7) god
B.
Further
destroys the speaker
C.
Heals
the speaker
D.
Causes
the women on the mountain to sing
E.
Results
in no change
5.
Line
14, “No more masks! No more mythologies” does all of the following:
I.
Answers a question
II. Uses anaphora
for emphasis
III. Varies the
syntax to indicate a turning point
A.
II
only
B.
I
and II
C.
II
and III
D.
I
and III
E.
I,
II and III
Explanations to “The
Poem as Mask” Questions
1.
Correct Answer:
D
Why: Caesura, a
pause, and hyperbaton, an inversion of word order, are both syntactical
devices, so a noun like a mask, doesn’t apply. This eliminates A and C. Motif
is a recurring theme of symbolic significance. Litote is a type of
understatement, which never shows up in the poem, much less as the mask, ruling
out E. Although the poem alludes to a myth and a poem, the mask isn’t included
as an allusion. The mask holds symbolic significance and repeatedly shows up,
making it a motif. So, answer D is right.
2.
Correct Answer:
A
Why: Although
the imagery does help to establish the character and setting (Choice B), it is
not its main purpose. The subject and setting of Orpheus is only touched upon by the imagery (Choice C and E) while
the imagery doesn’t touch on the development of character (Choice D). Mainly, the imagery functions to describe
Rukeyser’s ideal, the women “gold-hunting, singing . . .” (Line 3), so the
answer is A.
3.
Correct Answer:
E
Why: The speaker
clearly states that the god “was myself” (Line 7), making the correct answer E.
Though Orpheus is the god in the technical sense, it doesn’t apply to the
particular line stated in the question (Choice A). The references to the women
already concluded in the previous lines (Choice B), while the mentions of the
song and the fragments come later in the piece, eliminating Choices C and D.
4.
Correct Answer:
C
Why: Choice B is
wrong because the poem ends with the “fragments join[ing] in [her]” (Line 16),
conveying a sense of totality rather than destruction. Their unification also
rejects E is an option. The women are never mentioned after Line 2, eliminating
D. Although the god does return in this stanza, there is no textual evidence to
support that he has been resurrected, eliminating A and making C the correct
answer. The unification of the fragments and their ability to sing conveys that
the speaker has become whole and has been healed.
5.
Correct Answer:
C
Why: There are
no questions anywhere in the poem, eliminating Option I. The repetition of “No
more” at the beginning of each sentence underscores the speaker’s conviction,
making Option II viable while the short sentences after the long run-ons draws attention
to the speaker’s new conviction, making Option III
correct as well. So, the right answer is C.
Sunday, February 10, 2013
Ana Sucaldito
Mrs. Wilson
AP Multicultural Literature B
15 January 2013
Multiple Choice Questions for The
Phantom of the Opera
As for Erik, he went to Asia Minor and thence to Constantinople, where he entered the Sultan's employment. In explanation of the services which he was able to render a monarch haunted by perpetual terrors, I need only say that it was Erik who constructed all the famous trap-doors and secret chambers and mysterious strong-boxes which were found at Yildiz-Kiosk after the last Turkish revolution. He also invented those automata, dressed like the Sultan and resembling the Sultan in all respects,[13] which made people believe that the Commander of the Faithful was awake at one place, when, in reality, he was asleep elsewhere.
See the interview of the special correspondent of the MATIN, with Mohammed-Ali Bey, on the day after the entry of the Salonika troops into Constantinople.
Of course, he had to leave the Sultan's service for the same reasons that made him fly from Persia: he knew too much. Then, tired of his adventurous, formidable and monstrous life, he longed to be some one "like everybody else." And he became a contractor, like any ordinary contractor, building ordinary houses with ordinary bricks. He tendered for part of the foundations in the Opera. His estimate was accepted. When he found himself in the cellars of the enormous playhouse, his artistic, fantastic, wizard nature resumed the upper hand. Besides, was he not as ugly as ever? He dreamed of creating for his own use a dwelling unknown to the rest of the earth, where he could hide from men's eyes for all time.
The reader knows and guesses the rest. It is all in keeping with this incredible and yet veracious story. Poor, unhappy Erik! Shall we pity him? Shall we curse him? He asked only to be "some one," like everybody else. But he was too ugly! And he had to hide his genius OR USE IT TO PLAY TRICKS WITH, when, with an ordinary face, he would have been one of the most distinguished of mankind! He had a heart that could have held the empire of the world; and, in the end, he had to content himself with a cellar. Ah, yes, we must needs pity the Opera ghost.
I have prayed over his mortal remains, that God might show him mercy notwithstanding his crimes. Yes, I am sure, quite sure that I prayed beside his body, the other day, when they took it from the spot where they were burying the phonographic records. It was his skeleton. I did not recognize it by the ugliness of the head, for all men are ugly when they have been dead as long as that, but by the plain gold ring which he wore and which Christine Daae had certainly slipped on his finger, when she came to bury him in accordance with her promise.
The skeleton was lying near the little well, in the place where the Angel of Music first held Christine Daae fainting in his trembling arms, on the night when he carried her down to the cellars of the opera-house.
And, now, what do they mean to do with that skeleton? Surely they will not bury it in the common grave!...I say that the place of the skeleton of the Opera ghost is in the archives of the National Academy of Music. It is no ordinary skeleton.
1. In
The Phantom of the Opera, the reader can infer that the author:
A. Does
not believe in the Phantom
B.
Admires Erik
C.
Sympathizes with
Erik
D.
Is horrified by
Erik
E.
Personally knows
Erik
2.
The mention of
the “plain gold ring”
I.
Serves as proof
to identify the Phantom
II.
Reveals that the
skeleton was married
III. Represents the strength of Erik’s and Christine’s
tumultuous relationship
A.
I only
B.
I and II
C.
I and III
D.
II and III
E.
I, II and III
3.
The main function
of the repetition in Lines 28-30 (“and he became . . . ordinary bricks”) is to:
A.
Create a rhythm
B.
Emphasize a
desire
C.
Contrast with
Erik’s “adventurous . . . life” (Line 16)
D.
Create suspense
E.
Transition into
the next thought
4.
The pronoun “he”
in Line 4 refers to:
A.
The speaker
B.
The Sultan
C.
The reader
D.
Erik
E.
Yildiz-Kiosk
5.
The passage
contains all the following characteristics except:
A.
First person
narration
B.
Repetition
D.
Rhetorical
questions
E.
Polysyndeton
Answers to Phantom of
the Opera Questions
1.
Correct Answer: C
Why: A doesn’t work because the speaker constantly references
Erik by name, discusses his past and the speaker’s opinion of him. There is no
textual evidence to support either B or E. The speaker is far from horrified—he
shares humane details about Erik, emphasizing his wish for normalcy. So the
correct answer is C as the speaker clearly
states that “we must needs pity
the Opera ghost” (Leroux 263), showing that he sympathizes with Erik’s predicament.
2.
Correct Answer: B
Why: The speaker
recognizes the phantom “by the
plain gold ring which he wore and which Christine Daae had certainly slipped on
his finger” (Leroux 264), making Option I correct. Nothing in the text supports
that the idea that Phantom got married; the speaker even references Erik’s
unfulfilled dream of having a wife. The ring was placed on Erik post-mortem,
meaning that Christine came back to Paris in order to keep her promise and bury
him. So the ring signifies the strength of their bond, making Option III right. So, B is the correct answer.
3.
Correct Answer: D
Why: The mention
of building relates the sentence to the next, not the repetition of “ordinary,”
eliminating E. Since the adjective doesn’t particularly draw out the sentence
or build to an upcoming climax, it does not create suspense. Although the
repetition does contrast with Erik’s “adventurous life” (Line 16) and can create
a rhythm, that isn’t the main purpose of the literary device. It mainly
functions to drive home Erik’s wish to be “‘like everybody else’” (Leroux 263),
making answer D the correct answer.
4.
Correct Answer: C
Why: The novel
is written in first person so the “I” mentioned in Line 5 refers to the
speaker, eliminating A. The referenced “he”
helped the monarch, so the “he” can’t be the Sultan. Although there is direct
dialogue with the reader, the reader never enters the story. The Yildiz-Kiosk in the following sentence is a
place, not a person, making the correct answer D.
5.
Correct
Answer: C
Why:
Line 6, “I need only say that it was Erik,” makes it clear that the piece is
told in first person. Repetition can be found in Line 28-30; it was also
referenced in a previous question. Rhetorical questions can be found throughout
as the speaker attempts to sway the audience’s opinion. Lines 7-8 contain polysyndeton, making C, anaphora, the only
unaccounted for literary device.
| “The Poem As Mask”
By Muriel Rukeyser
|
|
Orpheus
When I wrote of the women in their dances and
wildness, it
was a mask,
on their mountain, gold-hunting, singing, in orgy,
it was a mask; when I wrote of the god,
fragmented, exiled from himself, his life, the love gone
down with
song,
it was myself, split open, unable to speak, in exile from
myself.
There is no mountain, there is no god, there is memory
of my torn life, myself split open in sleep, the rescued
child
beside me among the doctors, and a word
of rescue from the great eyes.
No more masks! No more mythologies!
Now, for the first time, the god lifts his hand,
the fragments join in me with their own music.
|
Ana Sucaldito
Mrs. WilsonAP Multicultural Literature B
15 January 2013
True or False
Mankind
strives to be honest, but in the end, everyone wears a mask. In Gaston Leroux’s
The Phantom of the Opera, and Muriel
Rukeyser “The Poem as Mask,” the readiness to tear down the wall between
perception and reality determines the fate of those who remove their mask. The entire poem builds around the symbolism of mask and myths. Even the structure “The Poem as Mask” reflects this sentiment. The poem actually serves a response to a previous work of Rukeyser’s Orpheus: The Poem. Rukeyser wrote this novel, which reinterpreted Orpheus’ tale, in court masque, a form of dramatic monologue. In “The Poem of Mask,” however, she strips away this form and reveals the truth behind the novel using free verse.
Rukeyser reveals that “when she wrote of the women . . . it was a mask” (Rukeyser 1-2). The women in this piece live in the wilderness, uninhibited. Many of Rukeyser’s works deal heavily with feminism so the women’s lifestyle, “on their mountain, gold-hunting, singing” (Rukeyser 3) could be her ideal. Her placement of the women on a mountain could symbolize that Rukeyser sees their lifestyle as momentarily unavailable; a mountain she must climb.
For Rukeyser, casting off the mask allows the dream to become reality. The author strips away another mask as she reveals that “the god, fragmented . . . it was myself” (Rukeyser 4-7). Orpheus’ story served as a mask for her own—the women as her hopes and Orpheus as her reality. Yet, at the poem’s climax, she shouts “No more Masks! No more mythologies!” (Rukeyser 14). This one line stanza signals triumph and a conviction to live in reality. This conviction changes everything. Before, the women singing on a mountain was unattainable. But once Rukeyser resolves to no longer hide, “the fragments join in [her] with their own music” (Rukeyser 16). By accepting them as part of her reality, she heals herself, giving even the fragments their own voice, making the “women . . . singing” (Rukeyser 1-4) a reality.
For Erik from The Phantom of the Opera, wearing a mask is the most natural thing in the world. In fact, he has multiple. Erik disguises his mortality by acting as the Opera Ghost. The Opera Ghost gives him power, power he uses to wield fear and extortion, which gives him nearly full reign of the Opera. His disguise as “[Christine’s] Angel of Music” (Leroux 93) gives him a different power. The power to get close to Christine Daaé. Finally, his physical mask allows him to be ordinary, to reach for a life of “ordinary doors and windows and a wife” (Leroux 228).
The removal of her masks healed Rukeyser, but destroyed Erik: the difference lies in who removes the mask. Rukeyser lets her go—but Erik has his “snatch[ed] off” (Leroux 93). Christine’s horrified reaction breaks the Phantom. She doesn’t accept his reality, so neither can he. Erik loses his humanity as he fights to keep Christine in any way he can; he only regains it when Christine agrees to marry him, giving him “all the happiness the world can offer” (Leroux 253). Only then does he begin to heal again and accept himself.
Masks conceal, but they also protect. They protect the wearer from harsh reality until they are ready to accept it. In Muriel Rukeyser’s “The Poem as Mask,” the speaker removes the mask, accepting her reality, healing herself. But, like in Gaston Leroux’s The Phantom of the Opera, when the mask is removed before the wearer is ready, the wearer can be destroyed by the reality they shunned.
The Tragedy of Macbeth (Act V, Scene 1)
By William Shakespeare
By William Shakespeare
|
LADY
MACBETH
|
Out,
damned spot! out, I say!--One: two: why,
|
|
|
then,
'tis time to do't.--Hell is murky!--Fie, my
|
40
|
|
|
lord,
fie! a soldier, and afeard? What need we
|
||
|
fear
who knows it, when none can call our power to
|
||
|
account?--Yet
who would have thought the old man
|
||
|
to
have had so much blood in him.
|
||
|
Doctor
|
Do
you mark that?
|
|
|
LADY
MACBETH
|
The
thane of Fife had a wife: where is she now?--
|
|
|
What,
will these hands ne'er be clean?--No more o'
|
||
|
that,
my lord, no more o' that: you mar all with
|
||
|
this
starting.
|
50
|
|
|
Doctor
|
Go
to, go to; you have known what you should not.
|
|
|
Gentlewoman
|
She
has spoke what she should not, I am sure of
|
|
|
that:
heaven knows what she has known.
|
||
|
LADY
MACBETH
|
Here's
the smell of the blood still: all the
|
|
|
perfumes
of Arabia will not sweeten this little
|
||
|
hand.
Oh, oh, oh!
|
||
|
Doctor
|
What
a sigh is there! The heart is sorely charged.
|
60
|
|
Gentlewoman
|
I
would not have such a heart in my bosom for the
|
|
|
dignity
of the whole body.
|
||
|
Doctor
|
Well,
well, well,--
|
|
|
Gentlewoman
|
Pray
God it be, sir.
|
|
|
Doctor
|
This
disease is beyond my practise: yet I have known
|
|
|
those
which have walked in their sleep who have died
|
||
|
holily
in their beds.
|
||
|
LADY
MACBETH
|
Wash
your hands, put on your nightgown; look not so
|
|
|
pale.--I
tell you yet again, Banquo's buried; he
|
70
|
|
|
cannot
come out on's grave.
|
||
|
Doctor
|
Even
so?
|
|
|
LADY
MACBETH
|
To
bed, to bed! there's knocking at the gate:
|
|
|
come,
come, come, come, give me your hand. What's
|
||
|
done
cannot be undone.--To bed, to bed, to bed!
|
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