MODULE I
1 While Plato insists the production of creative work, like poetry or drama, is
dependent on inspiration and nothing else, Longinus and Horace, in
summarizing Aristotle's Poetics, say creative work is based on hard work, on
the quality of the mind that produces a novel or dramatic production.
In your opinion who was right? Plato or Aristotle? Explain.
2. In On the Sublime, Longinus mentions five elements of the sublime. If you
reduce the five into two - the what and how creation, how do you categorize
respectively in the artistic the five elements into the what and the how?
3. How do you interpret Psalm 23 in personal symbolic terms?
4. Why is it easier to accept William Neil's interpretation of the Songs of
Solomon than the Hebrew-Christian traditional explanation of it?
5. Briefly explain the meaning of Horace's "The Ship of State."
6. We have been told that the title of a literary work can be a definer of its
meaning. How true is this in the case of “Love to All” Catullus?
7. St. Augustine is one of the greatest Christian saints, like St. Francis of
Assissi and St. Paul. St. Agustine was a born-again Christian. Explain.
MODULE II
1. Explain the Divine Comedy as a Christian allegory.
2. Is there any indication that the girl in "New Love" is Beatrice, the girl in
Dante's life whom he had known when he was nine years old?
3. You may consider the Boccaccio story as a faithful translation of the
original version in Italian. Comment on the prose and the method of story-
telling in the story in relation to any modern story that you have read.
MODULE III
1. What other lines in Michelangelo's sonnet indicate the meaning of the
poem?
2. After the first four lines, What do the next ten lines of Du Bellay's
sonnet mean?
3. Mention at least 2 lines in the Shakespeare sonnet that state the meaning
of the poem.
4. What is the meaning of envoy?
5. The Montaigne essay may be divided into three parts. What are the first
and second parts?
6. In what way is the character of Don Quixote quixotic?
MODULE IV
1. What is the significance of Alceste's adverse criticism of Oronte's sonnet as
the cause of a near duel?
2. What is the flaw in Céliméne's character that drives Alceste to
misanthropy?
3. What are the requisites of being a philosopher and being happy thereby?
There are 5 traits listed in the play.
4. Articulate the following in your own words:
a. Maxim 49
b. Maxim 102
5.What is the moral lesson in "The Grasshopper and the Ant"?
6. What is the moral lesson in "The Fox and the Crow"?
7. What is "The Frog Who Would be an Ox" about?
MODULE V
Your answers should at least be one paragraph each. (10 points each)
1. In what way is the reference to the story of Paris and Helen an element of
Romantism in Faust?
2. What is the historical reference to the poem's title "The Cedars of
Lebanon"? The Bible and other references will provide the information.
3. If Hugo's characters - including Jean Valjean represent characters who give
the illusion of real people, why is Les Miserables classified as a Romantic
novel, not as a realistic novel, like Dostoevshy's The Brothers Karamazov, for
instance?
MODULE VI
1. In a brief statement, explain sketchily what is the War of 1812. (The
detailed answer to this is to look up the dictionary a small encyclopedia or
better yet a book on European history.)
2. Comment on the role of Pierre Bezuhov, the illegitimate son of a wealthy
count.
3. Comment of the characterization of the three Karamazov sons.
4. Ray B. West in The Art of Modern Fiction says that the title of a literary
piece is the clasp of a necklace.
Explain using as like illustration Madame Bovary.
5. Compare the family backgrounds of Tolstoy and Dostoyevski.
6. According to Henry James in his essay on fiction the primary aim of a
novelist or a short story writer is to give an illusion of reality.
a. With James’ statement in mind how do you classify Tolstoy’s
characterization of Pierre Bezuhoc?
b. Dostoyevski’s Dmitri?
MODULE VII
Lesson 1
1. What is the "doppelgänger motif" as used in literature, in art, and other
disciplines like psychology?
2. Give three adjectives that describe the impression generated by the
Leviathan.
Lesson 2
1. Explain in your own words the nature of the "dubious synthesis" that Peta,
the schoolteacher, mentions.
2. a.Explain the significance of the renewing action of spring as depicted, in
"Among Old Houses."
b. Draw a parallel between that renewal, and a similar "renewal" in a
human context or situation.
Lesson 3
1. Considering the deteriorated situation presented in "Preludes," of what
significance is the act of gathering fuel mentiond in the last line of the poem?
2. In "The Gettysburg Address," Abraham Lincoln is ultimately pleading for the
supremacy of individual rights.
Expand the above statement by supplying your own reactions to the ideas
Lincoln mentions in his address and to the ideas mentioned in the analysis of
the address.
Lesson 4
1. Either defend or deny the statement that: Pakhom was purely victimized by
the Devil through no fault of his own.
2. How much land does a man really need, as indicated in the ending of this
story?
2. Read the poem, "Colours," again, and interpret the last two lines of the
poem: "and that the colours in my eyes will vanish/when your face sets."
Lesson 5
1. In "Three Lines from Li Po," the poet indulges in a kind of whimsical
satirizing in his use of the word, "lovely." Explain the satiric intent.
2. Explain the most blissful moment asserted in the poem, "105."
3. Explain the reason the persona in "Sonnet XXVI" opts for the unfamiliar
aspects in our everyday familiar objects, surroundings, and perceiving
routines.
Lesson 6
Assess the respective personalities of the following as they are depicted in the
painting and described by the author, Bharati Muhkerjee:
1. The Begum
2. the two priests
3. the little boy trying to untie the horses of the two courtiers.
Lesson 7
1. Explain the respective symbolism of the grasshopper and the bell cricket.
2. In your own opinion, is the persona-narrator in this story pessimistic or
optimistic. Justify your answer.
Lesson 8
1. What are the two "realities" mentioned in the poem, "Recognitions"?
2. To the persona in the poem, which "reality" is more revealing of the truth
about ourselves and of life in general?
3. In the poem, "Cross-Roads," what causes the loss of the persona's
religious guidance?
Lesson 9
1. Concerning the young wife and her affliction in the story, "Terminal," do you
think that she gave up too easily, that her attempt to end her life was
premature?
2. We may judge the husband to be a believable character as depicted in this
story. What motivates him to be so exemplary a husband?
(SEE NOS. 4, 5, & 6 OF “INSTRUCTIONS TO THE STUDENTS)
