South Georgia College



Final Exam Study Guide // ENGL 1101

What texts will be covered on the exam: Sonnet 130, Rope, The Plot against People, Thinking as a Hobby, The Fish, The Story of an Hour, I Have a Dream, I Want a Wife, and A Modest Proposal

What you need to know: Authors and title; plots and character names for short stories; major themes and arguments for essays; major themes for poetry.

Suggestions for study: read the 5 questions following each text as you prepare for the exam; the study questions in your textbook will guide you to the most relevant information.

Study questions:

• Sonnet 130

o What is a sonnet (see glossary)? What specific metaphors and similes does Shakespeare use to describe his girlfriend? Why does he describe her in negative terms (i.e. why does he say she is “not” like a rose, the sun, etc.)? What positive statement(s) does Shakespeare about his girlfriend? Does he love her?

• Rope

o What topics do the couple fight about? What do you think the REAL issue(s) is (are)?

• The Plot against People

o What is the plot against people? What or whom is plotting? What “three major categories” does the author assign to the “plotters”? What is the tone of this essay?

• Thinking as a Hobby

o Why did the author choose “thinking” as his hobby? What are the three types of thinkers and in what ways do they differ from one another? What famous person makes an appearance in this essay?

• The Fish

o What does the fish look like? What is beautiful about the fish? Why does the author let the fish go?

• The Story of an Hour

o From what serious illness does Mrs. Mallard suffer? Why does she rejoice after her husband’s death? How and why does she die?

• I Have a Dream

o What is King’s dream? What 2 documents does King refer to as “bad checks” and why? What famous American does King invoke at the beginning of his speech? Why? Has King’s dream been realized? Why/why not?

• I Want a Wife

o What is the tone of this essay? What specific things does the author claim a “wife” does? What is the difference between gender and sex?

• A Modest Proposal

o What is the tone of this essay? What are the primary problems which Swift hopes to solve with his proposal? What is his proposal? What additional benefits does Swift claim will result as a consequence of his proposal? Who/what is the target of Swift’s satire?

Monty Python and the Holy Grail Discussion and Study Guide

Dir. Terry Gilliam (you need to know this)

Themes:

• chivalry/heroism

o In the Middle Ages the Knight (esp. the legendary Arthurian Knights) were deemed to represent the height of chivalry (a knight’s code of honor and conduct) and heroism. Monty Python mocks this chivalry and heroism by presenting Arthur’s knights as the antitheses of their medieval counterparts.

▪ Lancelot’s excessive violence and stupidity, even his ignorance of his own “idiom,” mocks the heroic ideals of strength and courage.

▪ Galahad’s experience at Castle Anthrax is especially funny both because Galahad was supposed to be the only celibate knight in Arthur’s court and because even the more promiscuous knights would never have had lucked out and found a castle full of women b/t the ages of 16 and 19 ½ (except maybe Gawain – who in this film is killed by the Killer Rabbit).

• Violence

o What makes violence funny? How does Python make us laugh at a limbless knight or at slaughtered wedding guests?

• reality/fantasy

o Are Arthur and his knights really searching for a grail or are they a bunch of delusional role-players? Note the coconuts, the bad uniforms, the dead historian, the police cars, etc.

• Futility

o Arthur will never find the grail; we know this to be true b/c he didn’t find in the medieval legend and b/c Python’s Arthur is a bumbling idiot. His search is in vain; the futility of the search is highlighted by the multiple fake grails scattered throughout this film.

• the absurd

o Well, the whole film is absurd – this one is obvious.

• religion/Christianity

o This point should also be obvious; note the monks banging their heads with boards, the appearance of God, and the reading of the Bible in re: the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch.

Political commentary:

What serious points might the movie be trying the make about any of the following?

• Monarchy

• communism (the anarcho-syndicalist commune)

• xenophobia (the fear or hatred of foreigners)

• nationalism/patriotism

Medieval realities:

Believe it or not the film does depict (albeit satirically) some very real issues/events of the Middle Ages.

• Black Plague (“The Bring out Your Dead” scene)

• Inquisition (the witch hunt scene)

o In fact there were some rather ridiculous “tests” for verifying the “witchiness” of a woman (or man), including throwing the suspected witch into a body of water; if the suspect sunk and drowned then the inquisitors declared her innocent (of course she’s dead, but her reward is in heaven); if the suspect floated and did not drown, then the inquisitors concluded she must be a witch and should be burned to death.

• asceticism (the practice of mortifying the flesh to be closer to God; note the monks banging themselves on their heads while chanting, “Pie Jesu domine, donna eis requiem,” which means “Holy Lord Jesus, grant us peace”).

• arranged marriages (The Tale of Sir Lancelot – in this case the unwilling bride is the groom)

• science and magic (Sir Bedivere)

Note Python’s story-telling technique. Modern day reality frequently intrudes into Arthur’s realm, calling into question the very reality of the medieval world. Further some of the characters in Arthur’s story question the reality of his situation: he is not really riding a horse, point out the guards; anyone can own a grail according to the French and the seductresses at castle Anthrax. All of these disconnects with reality beg the question: is King Arthur the great hero of myth and legend or is he just a homicidal loony?

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