English II Spring Final Exam Review
Shakespeare and The Tragedy of Julius Caesar
1. What theater is popular because of Shakespeare’s plays?
2. How did it get its nickname?
3. What is unusual about Shakespeare’s birthday?
4. What acting company did Shakespeare first perform with? Why did the name
change?
5. The play, The Tragedy of Julius Caesar is based on what?
6. Plot- Describe the play with details from the story in the following parts:
a. Exposition:
b. Rising Action/Complications:
c. Climax
d. Falling action
e. Resolution
7. Identify the following:
a. Protagonist:
b. Antagonist:
8. Shakespeare has the nobility or main characters speak in what form of poetry?
Define that form.
9. Brutus is a proponent of what philosophy? What does it entail?
10. Identify each of the following characters and his or her significance in the play.
Include if he or she dies and the circumstances of his or her death. Follow the
example for Marcus Brutus.
a. Marcus Brutus: noble Roman, Friend of Caesar, supports a republic,
convinced to join conspiracy to assassinate Caesar for the good of Rome,
Caesar is surprised by his involvement as evident by his dying words.
1. live/die if die-how? Runs on sword held by Strato, his servant,
to avoid being captured by Mark Antony and Octavius.
b. Julius Caesar
c. Octavius Caesar
d. Mark Antony
e. Cassius
f. Casca
g. Decius Brutus
h. A Soothsayer
i.
Calpurnia
j.
Portia
11. Identify two characters who foreshadow the death of Caesar.
12. Identify two events that foreshadow the downfall of Caesar.
13. When does the audience first know how Mark Antony truly feels about Caesar and
the conspirators?
14. Why does Brutus allow Mark Antony to speak at Caesar’s funeral? What is
Antony’s purpose?
15. Define a tragic hero. Explain why each of the following is or is not a tragic hero.
a. Brutus
b. Cassius
c. Caesar
16. To whom does the ghost of Caesar appear? What is the setting for the first
appearance in Act IV? For the second in act V?
17. What is the prevailing tone of the play when Antony and Octavius deliver their final
words about Brutus?
18. What is the theme of the play?
Sophocles, Greek Theater and Antigone
19. What did Greek theater use instead of elaborate costumes?
20. What was the role of the Chorus in Greek theater?
21. Who was Antigone’s father? Explain his “curse”.
22. Explain why Creon denied Antigone the right to bury her brother. Was he right?
23. With which character do you most strongly identify? Why?
24. Explain what makes this play a tragedy.
A Separate Peace
25. Where does the story take place?
26. How long ago were the characters in school?
27. When the narrator returns to school, where does he want to visit?
28. When does the story take place?
29. What event is taking place that pervades the setting?
30. List the boys that jumped from the tree.
31. Why did the masters treat the “upper middlers” differently than they treated the
seniors?
32. Why does Finny wear a pink shirt? What is the result?
33. What does Gene secretly believe about Finny during the summer session?
34. How does Gene feel about Finny’s claim the Gene is his “best pal?” What is his
reaction to Finny?
35. What are Gene’s strengths at Devon? Finny’s?
36. Why does Gene fight with Quackenbush?
37. Does Gene confess to his role in Finny’s accident? When? How? What is the
result?
38. How do the boys feel about Leper’s enlistment? What is ironic about it?
39. What does Phineas believe about the war?
40. Explain Leper’s involvement in the war.
41. What does Gene learn about war and enemies by the end of then novel?
ASP Vocabulary to know:
Sobriety
Gullible
Keynote
Rhetorically
Pun
Conniver
Reputedly
Infer
Opulent
Pun
Sanctity
Venerable
Infirmary
Tedious
Resonant
Vindicated
Lacrosse
Bellicose