- •1) What two genres of literature were most important in Elizabethan England?
- •2) What is a sonnet?
- •3) What is iambic pentameter?
- •4) Who was the Christopher Marlowe? What is one of his famous works?
- •5) Why do we know so little about Shakespeare’s life?
- •6) What did Shakespeare do besides writing plays and sonnets?
- •7) What was the most popular form of entertainment in Elizabethan England?
- •8) Why were theatres closed during the Civil War period in 17 th century in England?
- •9) Who were the Puritans and what literature did they write?
- •10) What was the Globe theatre? Why is it important?
- •11) Name one of the Shakespeare’s tragedies and tell briefly what is it about?
- •12) Name a Shakespeare’s tragedy, comedy and histories
- •13) What three types of plays did Shakespeare write? Give examples
- •14) What is the meter and rhyme used in most Shakespeare plays?
- •15) What Shakespeare play is this quote from? What does it mean? “Cowards die many times before their deaths. The valiant never taste of death but once.”
- •20) Who are three writers from the 17th century (Civil War and Restoration)
- •21). What is Puritanism, and who are two famous Puritan writers in the 17th century?
- •22)Who was John Milton? What was his most famous work?
- •23)What is Paradise Lost? Who is the author? Why is it famous?
- •27)What is the most famous example of Enlightenment era social satire?
- •28)Who calls mankind “the glory, jest and riddle of the world”? What does he mean?
- •29) What is Johnathan Swift most famous for?
- •30)Was Gulliver’s Travels intended to be a children’s book? What was the author’s intention?
- •31) What is the main plot of Gulliver’s travels?
- •32) Describe one of Gulliver’s voyages in Gulliver’s Travels.
- •33)Describe Gulliver’s adventure to the land of the Lilliput in Gulliver’s Travels.
- •34) Describe Gulliver’s adventure to the land of the Giants in Gulliver’s Travels.
- •35) Describe Gulliver’s adventure to the land of the Laputa in Gulliver’s Travels.
- •36) Describe the Gulliver’s adventure to the land of Houynhnhnm and Yahoos in Gullivers travels.
- •37) What is the one main theme in Gulliver’s travels.
- •38)Who are the Yahoos in Gulliver’s travels.
- •39) What book is considered as the first English novel?
- •40). Why is the Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe so important?
11) Name one of the Shakespeare’s tragedies and tell briefly what is it about?
Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written early in the career of playwright William Shakespeare about two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately unite their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular archetypal stories of young, teenage lovers.
Romeo and Juliet belongs to a tradition of tragic romances stretching back to antiquity. Its plot is based on an Italian tale, translated into verse as The Tragical History of Romeus and Juliet by Arthur Brooke in 1562 and retold in prose in Palace of Pleasure by William Painter in 1582. Shakespeare borrowed heavily from both but, to expand the plot, developed supporting characters, particularly Mercutio and Paris. Believed written between 1591 and 1595, the play was first published in a quarto version in 1597. This text was of poor quality, and later editions corrected it, bringing it more in line with Shakespeare's original.
Shakespeare's use of dramatic structure, especially effects such as switching between comedy and tragedy to heighten tension, his expansion of minor characters, and his use of sub-plots to embellish the story, has been praised as an early sign of his dramatic skill. The play ascribes different poetic forms to different characters, sometimes changing the form as the character develops. Romeo, for example, grows more adept at the sonnet over the course of the play.
Romeo and Juliet has been adapted numerous times for stage, film, musical and opera. During the Restoration, it was revived and heavily revised by William Davenant. David Garrick's 18th-century version also modified several scenes, removing material then considered indecent, and Georg Benda's operatic adaptation omitted much of the action and added a happy ending. Performances in the 19th century, including Charlotte Cushman's, restored the original text, and focused on greater realism. John Gielgud's 1935 version kept very close to Shakespeare's text, and used Elizabethan costumes and staging to enhance the drama. In the 20th century the play has been adapted in versions as diverse as MGM's comparatively faithful 1936 film, the 1950s stage musical West Side Story, and 1996's MTV-inspired Romeo + Juliet.
12) Name a Shakespeare’s tragedy, comedy and histories
Shakespeare’s Comedies
The 18 plays generally classified as comedy are as follows:
All's Well That Ends Well
As You Like It
The Comedy of Errors
Cymbeline
Love's Labour’s Lost
Measure for Measure
The Merry Wives of Windsor
The Merchant of Venice
A Midsummer Night's Dream
Much Ado About Nothing
Pericles, Prince of Tyre
The Taming of the Shrew
The Tempest
Troilus and Cressida
Twelfth Night
Two Gentlemen of Verona
The Two Noble Kinsmen
The Winter's Tale
Shakespeare’s Histories
The 10 plays generally classified as history are as follows:
Henry IV, Part I
Henry IV, Part II
Henry V
Henry VI, Part I
Henry VI, Part II
Henry VI, Part III
Henry VIII
King John
Richard II
Richard III
Shakespeare’s Tragedies
Antony and Cleopatra
Coriolanus
Hamlet
Julius Caesar
King Lear
Macbeth
Othello
Romeo and Juliet
Timon of Athens
Titus Andronicus