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In Mark Twain s story Luck we never meet the main character, Scoresby, yet we come to
know him, and the narrator, very well. Describe both of these characters and tell how Twain uses
them to establish his own attitude about military power and success in general.
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WRITING ABOUT PROSE (FICTION) EXPRESS YOURSELF
QUESTIONS ABOUT LITERATURE
In general there are two types of questions that your teacher will pose about literature: short answer and essay.
Short answer questions can take the form of true/false, multiple-choice, or any question type for which there
is a definite right or wrong answer. These questions are almost always literal and they are almost always con-
cerned with plot and setting. That is, they require you to have very specific, detailed information from the
text. Another way to describe a literal question is that the answer can always be found in the text. For exam-
ple, What is the name of Louise Mallard s husband? is a literal question. The answer is right in the story.
But all good tests will also require that you go beyond basic textual facts to interpretation. These ques-
tions are called figurative or interpretive questions and unlike literal questions, they are almost always con-
cerned with characterization and theme. You must know the details from the text but these questions ask you
to use those details to draw conclusions and opinions based on them. Why did Louise die at the end? This
question has several possible answers. Literally, she had a bad heart, and the shock of seeing her dead hus-
band killed her. But figuratively, or interpretively, she died because she was also shocked to realize that she
really was glad he was dead and then disappointed that he was alive. This isn t stated in the text. It is implied
and therefore, it is an interpreted response.
Good interpretive questions will lead you to use textual details in your responses, and you will always
score more points if you quote words or lines from the text to support your opinions. For example, to say
that the narrator in the story, Luck, was genuinely alarmed that Scoresby would kill thousands of young
men because of his stupidity would become much more powerful if you quoted the line from the story that
said the narrator, thought his hair would turn white he was so alarmed.
On most high stakes tests for high school graduation you will be asked to read short fiction such as the
short stories above and respond to short answer questions and then short essay questions. The short answer
questions usually give you all the information you need to answer the essay part, and it is a good strategy to
read the questions before you read the text so that you ll know what to look for as you read. Once you have
answered the short answers, the essay part often called open-ended or short response should be clearly
outlined for you.
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C H A P T E R
TWELVE
WRITING ABOUT
DRAMA
WRITING ABOUT plays is similar to writing
about other forms of literature. You have to be
alert to details of plot, setting, and characteriza-
tion. But because plays rely solely on dialogue to
convey their messages, reading drama and writ-
ing about it is unique. This chapter will show you
how to interpret characterization and theme
based on dialogue.
lays are not written to be read. Plays are written to be performed. They are meant to be seen. Fortu-
nately, with good video and DVD and some wonderful adaptations of performances for the screen,
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many of the plays that you are required to read in school are also available for you to see on your TV
screen. There is, however, nothing like seeing a play performed live. In either case, video or stage, the oppor-
tunity to see and hear the play enhances the reading of it. There are two reasons for this.
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WRITING ABOUT DRAMA EXPRESS YOURSELF
First, plays rely on dialogue, the simple exchange of conversation between people, or in the case of cer-
tain plays, soliloquies. But as you well know, your mother can call you for dinner, and it is the tone of her
voice, her pitch, and her body language that conveys her mood. The same words, minus the tone of her voice
and her body posture, can have many different meanings. When you read dialogue you have to be able to
read between the lines, so it is imperative that any play be read at least two, if not three times. What? you
might say. I have to read something twice when I hated it once? Yes. And your teacher(s) have probably
already set it up that way for you. You read it over at night for homework but then you read it again, care-
fully, with nuance, in class.
Consider the soliloquies in the play Hamlet, by William Shakespeare. As you well know, a soliloquy is
a speech delivered by a character to reveal his innermost thoughts and feelings. It is not dialogue in the sense
that it is an exchange between two or more characters, but it is the way the playwright discloses a character s
thoughts without the benefit of an elaborate textual explanation such as is possible in a short story or novel.
Consequently, the soliloquy is a very important window into the main character s heart and mind.
In Hamlet there are seven soliloquies, all focused on the major themes of the play and designed to reveal
how Hamlet develops as a man confronting enormous moral, social, and political obligations. Read the fol-
lowing soliloquy, and see how much you can learn about Hamlet s character and mental state.
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 to take arms against a sea of troubles
And by opposing end them. To die, to sleep
No more; and by a sleep to say we end
The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks
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