THE NIGHTINGALE AND THE ROSE, Q [2]
The Nightingale and The Rose Guided Ouestion 2 for Sri Lanka’s National GCE OL Appreciation Of English Literary Texts. Developed by bunPeiris.
THE NIGHTINGALE AND THE ROSE by OSCAR WILDE [1854-1900 ]
Here is a set of literal comprehension question [*1] [A] and a pair of inferential comprehension question [*2] [B] & [C] that will enable you to compose an essay type answer to the examination type question [D] that appears u in the paragraph [D] Essay type question
[A] Read the following quotation and answer the questions [i] to [iv].
Quote
“Be happy,” cried the Nightingale, “be happy; you shall have your red rose. I will build it out of music by moonlight, and stain it with my own heart’s-blood.
All that I ask of you in return is that you will be a true lover, for Love is wiser than Philosophy, though she is wise, and mightier than Power, though he is mighty. Flame-colored are his wings, and colored like flame is his body. His lips are sweet as honey, and his breath is like frankincense. [*3] ”
The Student looked up from the grass, and listened, but he could not understand what the Nightingale was saying to him, for he only knew the things that are written down in books.
Unquote.
[i] Love is wiser than Philosophy, though she is wise
Who is “she” in the above quotation?______________
[ii] mightier than Power
Who/what is mightier than Power? _______________
[iii] though he is mighty.
Who is mighty? ______________________________
[iv] Flame-colored are his [1] wings, and colored like flame is his [2]
body. His lips are sweet as honey, and his [3] breath is like
frankincense.”
Who is denoted by four possessive pronouns “his” in above quotation?
________ _______ _________
[B] What is the effect of the anaphora [*4] in the following quotation?
And when the Moon shone in the heavens the Nightingale flew to the Rose tree, and set her breast against the thorn. All night long she sang with her breast against the thorn, and the cold, crystal Moon leaned down and listened. All night long she sang, and the thorn went deeper and deeper into her breast, and her lifeblood ebbed away from her.
She sang first of the birth of love in the heart of a boy and a girl. And on the topmost spray of the Rose-tree there blossomed a marvelous rose, petal followed petal, as song followed song. Pale was it, as first, as the mist that hangs over the river- pale as the feet of the morning, and silver as the wings of the dawn. As the shadow of a rose in a mirror of silver, as the shadow of a rose in a water-pool, so was the rose that blossomed on the topmost spray of the Tree.
[i] All night long ___________________________________________________
[ii] pale as the ___________________________________________________
[iii] as the shadow __________________________________________________
[C] Inferential Comprehension question [A brief explanation is required]
Do you think the little lizard, something of a cynic, who exclaimed that it is “ridiculous” to cry for red rose and laughed outright would be able comprehend the Nightingale’s self-less act sacrificing her life to secure a rose for the student? Comment.
Hints
[a] Do you think Nightingale’s act is one of sacrifice without expecting anything in return?
[b] Do you think Nightingale values human love above the value her life?
Answer the question in the backdrop of following quotation.
“Yet love is better than life, and what is the heart of a bird compared to the heart of a
man?”
[c] Cynic is someone who believes all human actions are borne of selfish motives.
[D] Essay type question
According to the Student, “What a silly thing Love is, …It is not as half as useful as logic.” Do you agree? Discuss in relation to the fairy tale.
Hints
To answer the above essay type question, is addition to the above supporting material, you may think in following line of arguments too.
Make note of the keywords in the question, “Love” and “logic” [reason] and discuss
merits of both in relation to the fairy story.
Love
[a] “She sang of birth of passion in the soul of a man and a maid.”
[b] “She sang of the Love that is perfected by death, of the Love that dies not in
the tomb.”
[c] “Here indeed is the true lover,” said the Nightingale. “What I sing of, he suffers: what is joy to me, to him is pain. Surely Love is a wonderful thing. It is more precious than emeralds, and dearer than fine opals. Pearls and pomegranates cannot buy it, nor is it set forth in the market-place. It may not be purchased of the merchants, nor can it be weighed out in the balance for gold.”
Selfish Love Vs. Selfless Love
[i] What do you think of the student’s/girl’s love in the fairy tale?
[ii] What do you think of Nightingale’s love towards humanity?
Did the Nightingale expect anything in return for herself?
Is it selfish love or selfless love? Why do you say so?
[iii] What do you think selfless love contains in its spirit?
Or in other words, what do you think the selfless love calls for?
Or What do you think true love require from us?
Logic
[c] “Everybody knows that jewels cost far more than flowers.”
[d] “Who are you? Only a student. Why I don’t think believe you have even got
silver buckles to your shoes as the Chamberlains nephew has.”
Time for some notes
[*1] Literal Comprehension Questions require straight answers. Answers to literal questions are always factual, and there is always one correct answer. Answers are explicitly stated in the text. In other words, answers are found on the surface layer of the meaning of the text.
[*2] Inferential Comprehension Questions involves taking information given in a text and using it to find out what the text means. Answers are implicitly stated. While the author simply implies, the reader infers the meaning. In other words, based on the evidence available in the text [short story, novel, drama], you make your own conclusions. In other words, the answers are found in a deeper layer of meaning in the text.
[*3] Learn a word.
Frankincense is an aromatic resin used in incense and perfumes, obtained from trees of the genus Boswellia in the family Burseraceae. The word is from Old French franc encens (‘high-quality incense’)
[*4] Learn a literary device.
Anaphora is a rhetorical device that features the repetition of a word/phrase/sentence at the beginning of successive expressions. Remember you ought to always figure out the effect of literary devices upon the reader/audience.
| Quotations containing anaphora | Effect of anaphora on the reader/audience |
| “It’s not the size of the dog in the fight; it’s the size of the fight in the dog.” (Mark Twain) | Reinforce or Emphasize a Concept |
| “Indifference [absence of emotions] elicits no response. Indifference is not a response. | Indifference is not a beginning; it is an end. And, therefore, indifference is always the friend of the enemy, for it benefits the aggressor–never his victim, whose pain is magnified when he or she feels forgotten.” (Elie Wiesel) | Evoke Emotion |
| “Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed.” (I Have a Dream: Martin Luther King Jr.) | Create Urgency or Call to Action |
| There’s nothing you can do that can’t be done Nothing you can sing that can’t be sung Nothing you can say, but you can learn how to play the game It’s easy “All You Need Is Love”: Beatles. Lyrics by John Lennon & Paul McCartney | Reinforce or Emphasize a Concept |
Time to enjoy music within the context of our fairy tale of “The Nightingale and the Rose.”
[a] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OuYLGHkrBk
Paul McCartney, Joe Cocker, Eric Clapton & Rod Stewart – All You Need Is Love (LIVE) HD
20,904,330 views Dec 4, 2010 The concert was held on 3 June 2002, Buckingham Palace Garden, London, England
[b] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GYt6mzQ3Xo
Sting, Bruce Springsteen – Every Breath You Take (Live)
17,512,058 views Jul 24, 2018 Sting performs “Every Breath You Take” with Bruce Springsteen
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdS-jpFgRo4
The Police – Every Breath You Take 2008 Live Video HD59,668,680 views Jan 20, 2013 The Police – Every Breath You Take “Synchronicity 1983” “Live in Concert” at Baseball Stadium “Tokyo Dome” 2008 Japan Sting – Vocals, Bass Andy Summers – Guitar Stewart Copeland – Drums
Every breath you take
And every move you make
Every bond you break
Every step you take
I’ll be watching you
Every single day
And every word you say
Every game you play
Every night you stay
I’ll be watching you
[a] What do you think is the effect of the repetition of the word “every” at the beginning
and phrase with “every”+ noun [breath, move, bond, step] of these lines?
[b] Do you think the he/she has given any freedom to his/her beloved?
[c] What do you think of that kind of love? Is it selfless love or selfless love?
[d] What do you think is the difference between selfless love and selfish love?
Time to enjoy a closer look at the world in terms of Human Condition
Evaluative Comprehension Questions
What do you do when you are given a Evaluative Comprehension Question?
Grasp the meaning of the text, form an opinion based on the text and apply same to the world outside the story.
Relate the self-less love and selfish love that can be seen in the fairy tale “Rose and the Nightingale” to your life.
[i] How do you view of your mother’s/father/s love towards you?
[ii] Do you think you return your parents’ love to you by studying hard enough so that you could have comfortable life in the future, become a straightforward and steadfast character and also become a contributing citizen to your motherland?
[iii] What do you think of your parents’ love towards you? Is it selfish love or selfless love? Comment.
Chees!
For question 1 of The Nigtingale and the Rose, click https://www.bunpeiris.org/the-nightingale-and-the-rose-q1/
