Final Exam Study Guide // ENGL 1101
What texts will be covered on the exam: Sonnet 130, Rope, The Plot
against People, Thinking as a Hobby, The Fish, The Story of an Hour, I Have a Dream, I
Want a Wife, and A Modest Proposal
What you need to know: Authors and title; plots and character names for short
stories; major themes and arguments for essays; major themes for poetry.
Suggestions for study: read the 5 questions following each text as you prepare
for the exam; the study questions in your textbook will guide you to the most relevant
information.
Study questions:

Sonnet 130
o What is a sonnet (see glossary)? What specific metaphors and similes does
Shakespeare use to describe his girlfriend? Why does he describe her in
negative terms (i.e. why does he say she is “not” like a rose, the sun, etc.)?
What positive statement(s) does Shakespeare about his girlfriend? Does he
love her?

Rope
o What topics do the couple fight about? What do you think the REAL
issue(s) is (are)?

The Plot against People
o What is the plot against people? What or whom is plotting? What “three
major categories” does the author assign to the “plotters”? What is the
tone of this essay?

Thinking as a Hobby
o Why did the author choose “thinking” as his hobby? What are the three
types of thinkers and in what ways do they differ from one another? What
famous person makes an appearance in this essay?

The Fish
o What does the fish look like? What is beautiful about the fish? Why does
the author let the fish go?

The Story of an Hour
o From what serious illness does Mrs. Mallard suffer? Why does she rejoice
after her husband’s death? How and why does she die?

I Have a Dream
o What is King’s dream? What 2 documents does King refer to as “bad
checks” and why? What famous American does King invoke at the
beginning of his speech? Why? Has King’s dream been realized?
Why/why not?

I Want a Wife
o What is the tone of this essay? What specific things does the author claim
a “wife” does? What is the difference between gender and sex?

A Modest Proposal
o What is the tone of this essay? What are the primary problems which
Swift hopes to solve with his proposal? What is his proposal? What
additional benefits does Swift claim will result as a consequence of his
proposal? Who/what is the target of Swift’s satire?
Monty Python and the Holy Grail Discussion and Study Guide
Dir. Terry Gilliam (you need to know this)
Themes:
 chivalry/heroism
o In the Middle Ages the Knight (esp. the legendary Arthurian Knights)
were deemed to represent the height of chivalry (a knight’s code of honor
and conduct) and heroism. Monty Python mocks this chivalry and heroism
by presenting Arthur’s knights as the antitheses of their medieval
counterparts.
 Lancelot’s excessive violence and stupidity, even his ignorance of
his own “idiom,” mocks the heroic ideals of strength and courage.
 Galahad’s experience at Castle Anthrax is especially funny both
because Galahad was supposed to be the only celibate knight in
Arthur’s court and because even the more promiscuous knights
would never have had lucked out and found a castle full of women
b/t the ages of 16 and 19 ½ (except maybe Gawain – who in this
film is killed by the Killer Rabbit).
 Violence
o What makes violence funny? How does Python make us laugh at a
limbless knight or at slaughtered wedding guests?
 reality/fantasy
o Are Arthur and his knights really searching for a grail or are they a bunch
of delusional role-players? Note the coconuts, the bad uniforms, the dead
historian, the police cars, etc.
 Futility
o Arthur will never find the grail; we know this to be true b/c he didn’t find
in the medieval legend and b/c Python’s Arthur is a bumbling idiot. His


search is in vain; the futility of the search is highlighted by the multiple
fake grails scattered throughout this film.
the absurd
o Well, the whole film is absurd – this one is obvious.
religion/Christianity
o This point should also be obvious; note the monks banging their heads
with boards, the appearance of God, and the reading of the Bible in re: the
Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch.
Political commentary:
What serious points might the movie be trying the make about any of the following?
 Monarchy
 communism (the anarcho-syndicalist commune)
 xenophobia (the fear or hatred of foreigners)
 nationalism/patriotism
Medieval realities:
Believe it or not the film does depict (albeit satirically) some very real issues/events of
the Middle Ages.
 Black Plague (“The Bring out Your Dead” scene)
 Inquisition (the witch hunt scene)
o In fact there were some rather ridiculous “tests” for verifying the
“witchiness” of a woman (or man), including throwing the suspected
witch into a body of water; if the suspect sunk and drowned then the
inquisitors declared her innocent (of course she’s dead, but her reward is
in heaven); if the suspect floated and did not drown, then the inquisitors
concluded she must be a witch and should be burned to death.
 asceticism (the practice of mortifying the flesh to be closer to God; note the
monks banging themselves on their heads while chanting, “Pie Jesu domine,
donna eis requiem,” which means “Holy Lord Jesus, grant us peace”).
 arranged marriages (The Tale of Sir Lancelot – in this case the unwilling bride is
the groom)
 science and magic (Sir Bedivere)
Note Python’s story-telling technique. Modern day reality frequently intrudes into
Arthur’s realm, calling into question the very reality of the medieval world. Further
some of the characters in Arthur’s story question the reality of his situation: he is
not really riding a horse, point out the guards; anyone can own a grail according to
the French and the seductresses at castle Anthrax. All of these disconnects with
reality beg the question: is King Arthur the great hero of myth and legend or is he
just a homicidal loony?