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Assignment # 11

Question: How does Gulliver come to understand that beauty is a relative concept?

Answer: In Brobdingnag, Gulliver shifts from being the largest man on the island of Lilliput to being the smallest man in a land of giants. The Lilliputians glorify Gulliver for his power, reflecting how size equals power in the world of the novel. Gulliver reveals how the Lilliputians find his appearance odd, and repellant sometimes cause he was so big, and recalls how one of the Lilliputians describes his uneven pores – in Brobdingnag, Gulliver is now small and expresses his disgust of the giants skin imperfections. Gulliver ultimately speculates that beauty appears to be a matter of making personal imperfections small enough to escape the eye of the beholder, therefore beauty is a relative concept. (Not absolute) since it depends on perception.

Question: What do the Yahoos represent? How are they similar to humans?

Answer: They reflect inner human corruption. Swift exaggerates the characteristics of the Yahoo to make his point in their symbolical meaning of man: In the fairy tale the Yahoos are a savage pack of human like savages, Swift implies that humans can be more savage than we believe ourselves to be and shows that there is little difference between humans and brutal “animals“. The description of the Yahoos behaviors and bodies are similar to that of humans. Humans have hair in all the same places that they do. Yahoos would poison their body by sucking a root to get high, similar to alcohol.

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Assignment # 10

Question: What concept does Voltaire question throughout Candide?

Answer: Voltaire questions wether the philosophy of optimism is a legitimate perspective to take in a world that has so much tragedy happening. He satirizes optimism through the character Pangloss - The philosophy of optimism holds that we live in th e best of all possible worlds and things happen for the best; every obstacle is part of something greater that is good. Voltaire didn’t believe this philosophy, he questions how one can believe that everything happens for a greater good reason when there is struggle, death, pain etc.. Candide has gained knowledge from his tutor and philosopher , Pangloss. Candide goes on a quest to find the “best of all possible worlds” Pangloss taught him existed. He doesn’t find anything wondrous but more suffering & corruption.. after some time, Candide gives up on Pangloss philosophy and believes optimism is not a logical philosophy.

Question: What other themes take place in Candide?

Answer: Voltaire satirically indicts war and religion. Voltaire portrays religious men as hypocrites who don't live up to the religion they say they believe. Additionally he believes the church is on of the most corrupt institutions in the world. Voltaire critically examines people and structures throughout Candide.  Voltaire uses all this satire to put forth a message that humanity is a dystopia.

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Assignment # 9

Question: What are some of the major and minor themes in The Duchess of Malfi? How are these themes expressed?

Answer: The major themes influencing The Duchess of Malfi are morality and ethics. Throughout the play we experience minor themes of politics, corruption, love and male authority, guilt, death, religion and sin. Cardinal and Ferdinand surround themselves with spies, and other types of corruptly involved people. Love and male authority is influenced by the era, traditionally society would expect women to be subjected to the wills of men. Male authority is intensely exerted on the Duchess by both the Cardinal and Duke Ferdinand, allegedly in an attempt to conserve and protect her honor, the real reason however is to steal her fortune. Despite the circumstances, Duchess remains assertive, and defies male authority. The Duchess of Malfi is a tragedy, and in most tragedies the deaths of many characters is very common. The plot of the story involves a lot of the religious concept of sin, and many characters acknowledge this danger, despite some religious influence, it isnt presented as preventing bad behavior. The ending tells us corruption leads to tragedy, and can lead to damnation.

Question: Why did the Duchess, and Antonio stand no chance against Cardinal and Ferdinand? Why are the brothers so ready to control and sabotage the Duchess life?

Answer: Because The Duchess was at an unethical disadvantage being a woman in this era, and Antonio was neither rich or born in a high family, they became easy targets to shut down for Ferdinand and Cardinal. Their intentions were set on inheriting her land and wealth, therefore the Duchess became a victim to male authority. Being a woman, she would mostly likely not be accepted socially if her marriage out of love, and in secret were to be openly known- Antonio lacked political leverage, and could not protect his family to the brothers standards.

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Assignment # 8

Question: How is the Fool in King Lear important as a whole?

Answer: During the Elizabethan era, Fool’s/ Jesters would be licensed “professional clowns”, because of this many Fools were enabled to speak truths without being punished or penalized. Ironically, The Fool is one of the more insightful characters in this play, and he symbolizes truth. He’s a comic relief, and uses his free speech privileges to become the voice of reason and conscience in a sense, by critiquing Lear when he’s doing wrong. The Fool helps the audience understand what’s going on underneath some verses. The Fool questions Lear’s actions and essentially drives Lear’s ego, he acts like an inner-conscience to him; he shows strong loyalty to Lear, and never leaves him, no matter whatever circumstances. The Fools allegiance leads Lear into his transformation.

Question: How do King Lear’s daughters contribute to his downfall?

Answer: The 2 older daughters are integral to the downfall of the King, most of the planned actions of Lear’s daughters, Goneril and Regan are intended to sabotage him. His “ambitious” daughters are revealed as deceitful in the very beginning. And although the daughters aren’t unlike Lear, they end up betraying him and deprive him of the rights and authority he had left. The daughters try to get rid of the Kings knights in an attempt to make him weaker.. and Goneril plans treason on her father, contributing to his fall. Once Lear gave her half his land, her betrayal left Lear forced to wander.

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Assignment # 7

Question 1: What are some love lessons given in Twelfth Night by Shakespeare?

Answer: One of the lessons understood from the Twelfth Night is that love can cause suffering. It “attacks” people, many characters suffer from falling in love. Others suffer from being in unrequited love.From the play, we also learn that a sense of madness appears when people fall in love. Orsino discusses love as an emotion that produces multiple varying images of one’s beloved, which are similar to hallucinations. Olivia feels that her desire for Viola is driving her mad most times. Some of these examples of” madness” are symbolical : characters have an avenue to express how intense their feelings are. the play portrays and shows us characters that appear mad. Maria, Fabian, and Sir Toby play on Malvolio , convincing us he‘s become insane.. The confusion created leads us to conclude , love makes people do crazy things.

Question 2: What love points does Shakespear try to make?

Answer: Shakespeare implies and shows images of love being like a disease, suggesting that it may not be as serious as characters like Olivia and Orsino think. Both of them are self-centered, and both seem more interested in being in love than in any other interest. Love is represented as something sudden and irresistible, that catches and attacks its victim - like a disease, love is hard to cure. Olivia calls love a plague.

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Assignment # 6

Question 1: What is are some of the strong themes in Donne, and Marvell’s poetry? And what subjects does it explore?

Answer: Being labeled as Metaphysical Poetry- Momento Morie, the concept of “Remember death”, and Carpe Diem, being “seize the moment” are the stronger themes in these poems- Remebering you will die eventually and living in the moment is the main concept and belief shared during the era these poems were written (1600’s) Subjects like love, life, and existence with elements like imagery, metaphors, symbolism, and conceit.

Question 2: How do the poems use metaphysical conceit? Do they use a different rhetoric to achieve there message, and what is the more logical message?

Answer: Metaphysical conceit uses element like imagery and other ideas to create an analogy between spiritual objects in our world. Considering their religious background was different, their approach towards their work and mode of convincing was slightly different as well. Donne is manipulative, and argumentative while Marvell captures the spirit of like not just the physical desire. Marvell was also more eloquent in convincing the woman with a optimistic message.

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Assignment # 5

1) Does this play have an ethical message in the end? If so, what is it?

2) What vision of morality and justice does Volpone present?

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Assignment # 4

Q: How did Dr. Faustus “flaw” contribute to his fall?

A: Dr. Faustus was a highly intelligent man, it seems his intelligence contributed to his desire for power; Dr. Faustus has so much hubris, he wants ultimate knowledge and power. Faustus is obsessed with a desire to know more, and to feel fulfilled. He goes to the extent to find unholy methods to grow financially, and mentally. He seems to be blind to the potential outcomes and is full of pride. The process towards gaining this “ultimate power” and magic turns substantially dark. Throughout the literature, the good angels warn Faustus- he is told he has the ability to take control and change things, he can revoke the path leading to his fall, but he is blind. In all, Faustus hubris makes him a tragic flaw character and leads to his fall.

Q: To what degree is Faustus fall, his own fall?

A: Faustus gets what he asks for, absolute power, magic, and as a result he gets exiled to hell, Faustus did it knowingly- he’s fully responsible for the inconsistencies he begins to notice when speaking with his devil servant, Metastopholis. The good angel tells him he has the ability to change things and repent, but by then it is too late, when he begins to realize that he really is not receiving the answers and powers he sold his soul for. You can view the literature in two ways, Christian morality and a tragedy- Tragically, it seems that Faustus has been deceived into evil, with promises of answers yet he receives no full- complete answers.

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Edmund Spenser is unimpressed

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Assignment # 3

Q: What symbols or metaphors are represented in The Fairie Queene? A: Political controversy, religion and the meaning behind the characters along with events, are the important purposes in this piece of literature. Spenser approaches the poem with allegorical intent, therefore the entire poem can be perceived as a metaphor. For instance, the fairie land could be depicted as his (spensers) home land, the fairie queen Queen Elizabeth herself, Redcross represents holiness while Una represents Truth. Book 1 of The Fairie Queen has much to do with bad people attempting to separate redcross from the person he is traveling with (una) The wrongdoers in the poem represent the English Reformation.Redcrosse is challenged with the villains of false doing, the beast and her vomit of papers is symbolical for the propaganda the Roman church used against the queen. Religous freedom was imminent in this setting and the people had overcame a religion they felt was false, so there are plenty of references in this poem that are relevant to the era.

Q: How does the era In which The Fairie Queen was written influence the poem? A: The Fairie Queene was written in a time of political controversy and religious struggle toward the end of the 16th century in the Elizabethan era. The poem was written as an allegory of virtues reflecting conditions concerning social and religious topics. Religious freedom with strong religious roots is strongly associated with the poem, mostly because the political situation was reforming from it's prior religion to its official religion. The roman church was seen as a false religion as it had taken over the territory and renamed it there own- propaganda and conflict/ religious wars are the influence mostly.

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Assignment # 2

Question: How is “power” relevant to the tale of Wife of Bath ?

A:  Power is a big topic in this tale as when the knight is ordered to find out what women desire most, he is met with answers that never quite were the same- in the end he finds out Power, the freedom to govern oneself, is the answer. In the 14th century this theme, and BOLD mannerism Alison shows, was uncommon for the average woman to possess. This tale portrays the natural right people should govern over their body; Punishing the knight by not doing anything to prevent the marriage with the hag in the end the writer gives an ironic turn of events to the knight, in relation to the power over ones body- when the knight had no choice but to marry the old woman he had no control over his body, and that plays as a lesson to the knight.

Question: What big themes does the WIfe of Bath tale convey? Why are these themes important?

A: A major theme in this tale is Self Sovereignty. The wife discusses power, and marriage. Alison suggest that women should have control at all times- as opposed to what the common beliefs against women and control where during the 1400′s.. The theme of sovereignty is important when it comes to matters revolving around gender equality, and freedom in general- in the tale Marriage is used when referring and speaking about power behind controlling ones desires.The wife plays with a comedic dialogue, she is the epitome of what freedom is, and without the riches she uses her exubarant demeanor in MAKING power- she understands what rhetoric to use.

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Assignment # 1

1) Question: In the epic poem of Beowulf, what does Grendel and Beowulf symbolize when it comes to society?

Answer: Grendel is an outcast, and it is obvious that Beowulf is the opposite. Grendel is associated with evil and is also identified as a descendant of the enraged Cain the bible speaks about, which is interesting to note if you decide to read this epic with a metaphorical p-o-v. In the poem, Grendel is a “monster,” he disobeys, and owes loyalty to no one, he is not social and doesn't observe societies rules, while Beowulf symbolizes an accepted society- he is a disciplined warrior, and is traditional with loyalty to t he king. Grendel is seen as the destruction of this society from the wilderness with no regard to civil rules. Here we have two societies, or two types of people, the hero and the destroyer.. both with their own perception of “what is right”.

2) Question: What similarities does Cain and Grendel have? Why are they important to recognize when reading the epic? What can the figure of biblical “Cain” symbolize (metaphorically) in Beowulf?

Answer: In the bible, Cain represents disorder, disarray, and evil- as we know, Cain jealously kills his brother and is banished by God. During the period Beowulf was written, society was structured around traditional loyalty to one another- people would treat one another as family since societies were in smaller tribes/towns/etc.. Grendel and Cain have many similarities in the way that they are outcasts and are mandated to lurk and live among the shadows. They are (both ) considered threats to order of the society. Heorot can be metaphorically seen as a place of “peace” people come here to rejoice and celebrate, Grendel feels jealous of this as he is lonely and essentially, feels left out (just like Cain!). Its important to recognize this kind of symbolism in the epic poem, because it is an “outside looking in”situation we can reflect on when we stubble towards negative emotions.

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on 11/16/16