Introduction to Literature

FINAL EXAM

1. Discuss and evaluate the versification of the Poem said the Toad (200 words) You should
focus on:
a. the composition of the stanza
b. the versification
c. the musical device
d. evaluation on the significance of the musical device (what effect/ impression is created from
the sound)

Said the Toad
By J. Patrick Lewis
I was really in a muddle
looking over a mud puddle
'cause I didn't have a paddle
or a twig to ride the reef.
But I said, Oh, fiddle-faddle,
this is just a little piddle
of a second fiddle puddle
so I saddled up a leaf.
I set sail on the puddle,
but I reached the muddy middle
and I rocked the leaf a little,
then I gave it all I had.
And I solved the mighty riddle
of the whole caboodle puddle
when I hopped up on the middle
of a beetle launching pad.

2.Read the poem Gourmet Recipe and write your analysis on the poem (approx. 400 words) Use the
following questions as guideline for your analysis
a. What poetic devices are mentioned in the poem?
b. What are the function of the poetic devices that are mention.
c. Analyse the way the writer used unusual ingredients. Is he/she really cooking?
d. how would you relate it to the concept of artistics in poetry?

Gourmet Recipe

Take a bunch of images
you've picked in your dream
Stew it in the pan
of stanza
over the charcoal
burning with fantasy
Mix it with a handful
of metaphor
freshly caught from
the Pacific Ocean
Season it with a pinch
of simile
you've stored
in the volcano crater
Add some slices
of rhyme
pickled in torrential rain

Stir well
stir and stir and
stir well
with your pen
and wait
until tender
to your ear.

3. Read the poem For seasons of Solitude and discuss the meaning of the poem (400 words).
Pay attention to the following points:
a. What poetic terms are used? Why does the poet use that words? Does the poet talk about
his/her loneliness?
b. Relate the meaning with the concept of poetry that you have learned so far
Four Seasons of Solitude
In spring I sow the seeds of metaphor
on a fertile page of my memory
and sprinkle them with allusion
from the vernacular river that runs
clearly like visual images

In summer I dance in the syllable
with my friend Ghazal and Alexandrine
So joyously we sway
to the rythm of metrical lines
spinning around on our feet

In autumn I wander in the afflatus orchard
harvesting the narratives
picking the ripe avant garde fruit
so sweet they taste
like a drop of curious rhyme

I winter I light up my melody
to warm up my stanza,
and to keep the meiosis out
for if I let it stay
My verse will freeze to death


4. discuss in what why oedipus is categorized as a tragic hero? Who is responsible for his fall?
How fair is it to say that Oedipus is morally guilty ?How fair is it to say that gods are guilty?
(150-200 words)
5. Read the first 100 lines of the play oedipus Rex. Characterize oedipus ! (150-200 words)