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CP English 12 Mid-Term Guidelines
Mrs. Cloos
The mid-term will be held on Tuesday, January 15th and Wednesday, January 16th.
The test will be multiple choice and short answer reply.
Students must have a complete understanding of the following texts: Oedipus, Hamlet, Life of
Pi and Dante’s Inferno. Test questions will be geared toward comprehension and literary
analysis. This encompasses, plot, setting, themes, and characterization. In addition, any
literary terms applicable to the understanding of the works also applies. (Personification,
Irony, etc.)
Remember, a study guide is a tool that helps you organize the content of the novels and plays
for an overall better understanding of the material. Be sure to look over lecture notes and any
study guides. If something is unclear, ask. Remember, the more you look at the material, the
easier it is to remember it. Also, study every day, don’t cram.
Hamlet
Besides knowing the entire plot line, students should also be able to address the following:
 Know all the characters and their relationship to one another – This is crucial!
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Why are people motivated to create an appearance different from reality? (Claudius)
What are the themes of the play? Ambition – sin – corruption – isolation and loneliness
and procrastination – good versus evil, family – loyalty + many more
Is our future beyond our control?
How do minor characters contribute to the play’s actions and themes?
Do revenge and vengeance produce satisfaction? (Hamlet, Prince Fortinbras, R&G)
What are the causes of Hamlet’s mental deterioration throughout the play?
To what extent does the supernatural motivate Hamlet’s actions?
Does Hamlet cause his own downfall?
How does Hamlet grapple with difficult decisions? Love? Mother? Revenge? Death?
What are the ingredients of a revenge play?
Know some very basic or common information about William Shakespeare
Use the Hamlet Acts 3-5 study guide. Acts 1-2 are attached
Oedipus
Besides knowing the entire plot line, students should also be able to address the following:
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What do you know about the author Sophocles?
Who are the characters and what is their relationship to one another?
Elements of Greek Theater [choragus, skene, parados, stasimon, episode, exodus,
theatron, etc.
Costumes included character masks, and, in later years, raised boots
Know the preliminary background of the play–[there is a plague, riddle of the Sphinx]
What is the dramatic purpose of the prologue?
What is so important about the Oracle of Delphi?
How is vision an important metaphor in the play?
What is the function or purpose of the chorus?
What examples of the play represent dramatic irony?
How does the protagonist’s reconnection of the truth coincide with his reversal of fortune?
What is the importance or function of Tiresias?
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What’s the difference between physical blindness and moral blindness? [Oedipus]
Explain fate versus free will
Oedipus: Man vs. himself; man vs. nature, man vs. society, man vs. woman, man vs. gods,
man vs. man
Themes: quest for identity, nature of innocence and guilt, moral responsibility, abuse of
power.
Know terms we discussed in class: hubris, hamartia, allegory, catharsis, comic relief,
denotation, foil, hyperbole, irony, metaphor, pathos, satire, tragic flaw, tragic hero, etc.
What did Oedipus hope to gain by sending his wife’s brother, Creon, to pray to the oracle at
Delphi?
Why does Tiresius initially refrain from divulging the truth to Oedipus?
What is Oedipus’s response to Tiresius’s refusal, and then later, to his accusations?
Would you characterize Oedipus as evil, or merely human, in his angry reaction to Tiresius’s
speeches?
With whom does the “I” of the Chorus identify as it vows to keep an open mind about Oedipus
until there is “certain proof” of his guilt?
What effect does the Chorus’s repeated vows of faith for his “good helmsmanship” have on
Oedipus?
Why did the lone surviving slave of Laius’s party plead with Jocasta to leave Thebes when he
saw Oedipus on the throne?
Oedipus calls himself an “abomination” for killing his father and marrying his mother. If he was
aware of neither, why does he call himself evil? Is a man responsible for the evil of his actions if
he is truly unaware that they are evil?
Recount the events that lead up to the self-blinding of Oedipus.
What basis is there for Oedipus’s fears that his daughters will not easily find spouses?
“Count no man happy till (Oedipus) dies,” says the Chorus to the audience. Why?
Life of Pi
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What is the significance of the tiger’s name?
What are some of the human needs that the author conveys through Pi?
What are the main factors contributing to Pi’s survival in the lifeboat?
What are some of the novel’s symbols?
How is religion portrayed?
How do human beings reflect the animal behaviors in the story?
Know what religions Pi follows and what motivates him to do so?
How is Life of Pi a coming of age novel?
The story is not only a mental and spiritual journey but also physical one. How so?
What animal does Pi find inspirational?
What is the author trying to say about basic human needs?
Don’t forget the world of opposites.
How does Pi’s plan to keep Richard Parker alive assist him spiritually, physically, and
intellectually?
How does Pi describe the hierarchy of animals?
What are some literary devices used by Yann Martel?
Anthropomorphism? Zoomorphism?
What is the science of zoo keeping?
Colors of religion? Orange, Green