Humanities
Directions: write on a total of 3 questions
How much to write: you must choose 1 from each of the 3 areas of drama, music, and philosophy, so that you write 1 question on drama, 1 on music, and 1 on philosophy. Answer each question as thoroughly as you can; back up your statements with evidential grounds/reasons. Try to write a total of between 1500 and 2000 words, or a minimum of 500 words (up to 700 words) per question so as to develop/expand your answers as much as possible to get the maximum points, which is up to 18 pts (or 6 points per each essay).
Special note: Your answers will be checked by Turnitin. Turnitin is software that checks your work for originality. Take care that your exam is free of any trace of plagiarism: answer each question on your own and do not cut and paste any language from the internet or other sources. Proofread your answers and check for grammar, spelling, punctuation, complete sentences, and the like. Also, be sure to combine your answers into one document. Turnitin will only accept one document per user.
Write the question number before you start to answer it so that I know what question you are trying to answer.
Dramachoose 1
1) Strindberg is known as a father of naturalism. Choose one formal element of Miss Julie (action, character, setting, etc.) and discuss how it might relate to Strindberg’s understanding of the naturalistic theater. Please refer to the notes for Miss Julie for a discussion of naturalism.
2) How does the ghost of Hamlets father in Hamlet function like Apollo and Tiresius in Oedipus the King? Discuss the difficulties involved in the challenge Hamlet faced from the ghost of his father demanding that he avenge him. How were Oedipus and Hamlet different in approach or temperament to the respective problems they faced?
3) Just as a picture is worth a thousand words, modern theatre dramatists like Ibsen and Strindberg use symbols to convey meaning, characterization, and mood. Discuss the function of the very dense and meaningful symbol of 1) the wild duck in The Wild Duck, and 2) the bird and cage in the play Trifles.
4) In Trifles and Miss Julie important characters were never seen onstage. Discuss how they affect the plot even though they are never seen (if you were watching a staged production). How does the audience learn about these characters? How would you describe their presence onstage, despite them never being seen?
Musicchoose 1
1) Beethovens Testament was a heart-felt cry of pain about his predicament of a would-be composer going deaf addressed to his brothers, yet never sent. Describe using the elements of music as an aid the way Beethovens 5th symphony expressed some of the same sentiments of his letter. Be sure to mention in which movements certain melodies relate to certain feelings in your opinion.
2) Give the impression you got from one of the Broadway selections. How do the lyrics convey a theme? How does the music combine to present the theme? Be sure to use the elements of music to help you in writing your answer. Do not just talk about the lyrics. Be certain to write about the music you hear.
3) Parallels in music and drama: Discuss the importance of motive as basis and foreshadowing of the melody that is to come out of it in any of the musical examples in Note 18 and motive that is the basis and foreshadows the plot that is to develop from it, as the oracles functioned in Oedipus, Miss Julies dream of falling, Hamlets fathers ghost, Hjalmars humiliation of seeing his disgraced father at Werles party, etc.
4) Determine how you believe or understand Beethovens 5th symphony to be a philosophy of his life. Is the work life affirming or does it reject life? What makes you say so? Refer to the elements of music in your answer. Of the philosophers we have read in this class, whose philosophy does Beethovens symphony most relate to and why? Describe how parts of the music relates to a philosophy.
Philosophychoose 1
1) Weve had some discussion of Aristotles poetics and his claim that comedy presents man as worse than they are. Yet, all of the plays we have read end in tragedy. The ending to the play Hamlet is riddled with death. According to Aristotle, depictions of tragedy should end in death. Is Hamlet an Aristotelian tragedy? Why or why not? If it is, explain how it shows both pity and fear. Also, point out what Hamlet’s tragic flaw is.
2) Refer to Note 17 on Kierkegaard and Hamlet in week 5. Review Hamlets soliloquy:
To be or not to be, that is the question:
Whether tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or take arms against a sea of troub
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