Compare at Least Two of the Plays Which You Have Studied in the Light of This Statement

Drama 1. Either (a) “As the action of the play unfolds, dramatic tension is often produced by the contrast of concealment and revelation.” Compare at least two of the plays which you have studied in the light of this statement.

(b) Compare and contrast the presentation of any three or four characters in plays you have studied. Say how, and how effectively, each character seems to you to further the dramatic force of the play in which he or she appears.

1. Either (a) Using two or three plays you have studied, compare the presentation of two or three characters (e.g. introduction, dramatic interactions with other characters), saying in each case how the presentation furthered the dramatists’ purposes, and how it rewarded your study.

(b) “Time and place are the basic elements of a play.” In what ways does your study of two or three plays lead you to support (or modify) this generalization?

1. Either (a) “Visual action can be as important on the stage as speech.” How far do you agree with this claim? In your answer you should refer to two or three plays you have studied. Or

(b) Compare the dramatic effectiveness of the relationship between setting and plot in two or three plays you have studied.

Either (a) Compare and contrast the role of symbolism in two or three plays you have studied. Or (b) “Long after the words are forgotten, the spectacle of the drama is remembered.” Compare two or three plays you have studied in the light of this quotation.

Either (a) “Some plays are either serious or light-hearted; others include both elements.” Consider some of the ways in which either or both sorts of element are presented in two or three plays that you have studied and discuss their importance for the understanding of the plays as a whole.

Or (b) Some dramatists make more significant use of physical elements such as stage scenery than do others. Discuss the extent of the use of such features and their impact on meaning in two or three plays that you have studied.

Either (a) “In dramatic construction there must be variation of pace and rhythm, monotony of any kind being certain to induce boredom.” Comparing at least two plays you have studied in the light of this statement, show how variations of pace and rhythm have been used to attract or heighten the interest of the audience.

(b) To what extent can the plays you have studied be seen to have, directly or indirectly, a social or political purpose? Refer to two or three plays, exploring how they achieve their purposes.

1. Drama can be said to contain something of the ritual – something to be repeated in front of an audience for a significant occasion, event or purpose, or simply everyday routines and patterns of behaviour. In what ways have at least two plays you have studied made use of the notion of ritual in this way and to what effect?

2. “The dramatic life of any play often emerges from what is not said rather than what is.” Examine the role and significance of all or any of silence, suggestion and subtext in at least two plays you have studied.

Either (a) “What is drama but life with the dull bits cut out?” To what extent do you find this statement applicable in at least two plays you have studied? Or

(b) A dramatist often creates a gap between what the audience knows and what the characters know. With reference to at least two plays, discuss how and to what effect dramatists have used this technique.

Either (a) “On the stage character must be created solely through action, behaviour and speech.” Compare the skill with which dramatists create our impression of the characters in two or three plays you have studied.

(b) “All plays pose questions about the world, yet some questions are easier to ignore than others.” In the light of this statement, evaluate the questions raised in two or three plays and show how and to what degree these issues are explored.

General Questions on Literature

(a) With specific reference to two or three works you have read, including drama if appropriate, compare the effects of an identified or unidentified narrative voice. or (b) “Realism is as contrived a way of writing as any of the methods of writing against which it is defined.” With specific reference to two or three works which you have read, say how far you would agree with this proposition. or

(c) Compare the subject matter and style of two or three works you have read, which highlight regional locality, saying in each case what is gained by this local focus. Or

(d) “Reading against the grain is a phrase often used to describe reading that identifies but refuses to accept unspoken or implicit assumptions that lie deep within texts.” In what ways could you read two or three text “against the grain””́ and with what validity?

5. Either (a) To read work which was produced in a culture other than your own has difficulties, but cultural differences between audience and text may be productive. How far do you agree?

(b) Literature admits conflicts between good and good, as well as between good and evil. Which two or three works would you choose to discuss to illustrate this generalization, and why might both types of conflict be important?

Or (c) Compare in some detail the use made of the cinema or techniques from the cinema in two or three works you have studied.

Or (d) How far has your study of two or three works of literature suggested that the idea of the writeris ìintentionî is beset with difficulties or is a useful approach, or is both.

5. Either (a) In what ways does the concept “freedom of choice” inform your reading in any two or three works you have studied? Or (b) To what extent have you found it possible, in your consideration of literary works, to separate the individual from his or her public role? In your answer you should refer to any two or three works you have studied. Or

(c) “Fact versus fantasy; this is a clash that can have comic or tragic results.” Bearing this statement in mind explore the results of using realism and fantasy in any two or three works you have studied. Or

(d) Compare how writers in your study have explored the themes of judgment and punishment, or disguise and deceit, or love and friendship, and with what effect.

Either (a) “Some writers succeed in hypnotising the reader; others compel the reader to think.” Compare and contrast two or three works of literature in your study in the light of this statement. Or

(b) “In literature the concept of ‘home’ is often used to locate the thoughts, memories and dreams of humankind.” In the light of this quotation, explore the ways in which “home” is used in any two or three works of literature you have studied. Or

(c) Compare the ways in which writers have explored the relationship between experience and understanding. Refer in detail to any two or three works of literature in your study. Or

(d) Consider the use made of music or musical elements in any two or three works of literature you have studied.

Either (a) “Art is on the side of the oppressed.” Evaluate the means by which two or three works in your study either confirm or raise questions about the validity of this assertion. Or

(b) “Works of literature are often layered, and may require close attention to discover their depth and complexity.” With respect to two or three of the works you have studied, show how valid this view is. Or

(c) “A writer conveys not only experiences but a whole world in which these are possible.” With respect to two or three works you have studied, discuss whether the author has created a coherent, imagined “world”. Or (d) In what ways and to what effect have writers in your study made use of illustrative elements such as anecdotes, analogies, allusions and the like in their works?

9. Compare the presentation and significance of older people in at least two works you have studied.

10. “With the exception, perhaps, of music and dance, in all kinds of art it is possible to distinguish the content from the form.” In what ways do at least two works you have studied make use of this relationship between content and form?

11. Discuss the role of education and/or learning (in the widest sense) in at least two works you have studied.

12. Literature often deals with the themes of coincidence, chance, or accident. To what extent, and in what ways, have at least two works you have studied dealt with all or any of these ideas?

Either (a) “Why won’t writers allow children simply to be children?” Discuss the presentation and significance of children, or the state of childhood, in at least two works you have studied in the light of this complaint. Or

(b) It is said that writers are the conscience of the world. In what ways have at least two of the works you have studied encouraged you to appreciate or question this assertion? Or

(c) “ Art is a lie that makes us realise the truth.” Discuss at least two works you have studied in light of this statement, and say how far you would agree with it. Or

(d) “Although doubt is not a pleasant condition, certainty is an absurd one.” In the light of this statement, explore the impressions of doubt and/or certainty conveyed in at least two works you have studied.

Either (a) “Some authors prefer to write about ‘the real world’, while others prefer to be unhindered by the restrictions of reality.” Discussing two or three works, show how the writer’s preference helps convey the ideas of the works.

Or (b) Compare the ways that the treatment of time has been used to shape meaning in two or three works you have studied. Or

(c) In what ways and to what effect have writers in your study made it possible for you to choose more than one interpretation of their works? Use two or three works you have studied in your answer.

(d) “Mirror or X-Ray or lamp?” Which of these terms do you think best describes the way writers in your study have represented the world? In each case examine how this effect is achieved, using two or three works you have studied.