INTRODUCTION TO LITERATURE IN ENGLISH

2019-2020
INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE ORAL EXAM (ONLINE)

GENERAL REMARKS
Exceptionally this academic year, and due to the present restrictions, students can choose
between working in groups or individually. Therefore, the oral exam will be the result of
the collaborative effort of up to 4 students, or of individual work. The conclusions of each
group or individual should be submitted in a brief written report (maximum 1000 words)
before the deadline (22 June, 2020). No matter they work in groups to present the written
report, students will be “sitting” for the exam individually, by sending a short video file
through Moodle. Once the groups are formed, the instructor will assign each group one
of the two options below (Poem 1 or Poem 2).
(A) The written report will consist of the following sections:
1. A short biographical note of the author accounting for the relations between the
poem and the personal, social, or literary circumstances surrounding its
composition. This part should try to account for those issues or features of a
particular author that are made relevant in a poem.
2. A short description of the metrical features of the poem.
3. A short account of the poem’s themes and meanings.
4. A brief discussion of the poem’s stylistic/linguistic particularities.
5. A brief annotation of difficult words or relevant expressions (see below).
6. A list of bibliographical references used. This section is particularly relevant,
and students should be careful in their choice of references. Not all references
are appropriate to be included in an academic paper, so if you are not sure about
their eligibility, please consult the instructor.
For all these issues, the introduction and annotation of Richard Lovelace’s “To Althea,
from Prison” (See, “Oral Exam. Sample Poem”) are provided as a model.

(B) The individual oral presentation, about 5 minutes long, should tackle at least
two issues, one of them being 1. and another one of their own choice from the
issues below:
1. The working methodology, the difficulties found in the process and the sources
used.
2. An explanation of the most significant formal features of the text (keywords,
rhetorical devices, linguistic peculiarities, metrical aspects, etc.)
3. An account of the general sense (or senses) of the poem.
4. Your conclusions (reflecting also the discrepancies among group members, if
any).
All students must record their oral presentation and upload their files in Moodle, as
instructed. The written report should also be uploaded before the deadline.

OPTION 1. William Cowper, “The Castaway” (1799), in The Poems of William

Cowper, Esq. of the Inner Temple, Complete in One Volume (New York: Charles
Wells, 1835), pp. 459-50.

ANNOTATION: such a destined wretch as I (3); Albion (7); He loved them both, but
both in vain,/ Nor him beheld, nor her again (11-12); whelming brine (13); The cask,
the coop, the floated cord (27); Anson’s tear (52); But misery still delights to trace/
Its semblance in another’s case (59-60); We (64); But I beneath a rougher sea/ And
whelmed in deeper gulfs than her (65-66)
Some suggestions for the commentary:
1) William Cowper (1731-1800) wrote “The Castaway” at the end of his life, around
1799, supposedly in a context marked by sorrowful circumstances. What aspects
of his biography can you relate to the contents of the poem? Apart from its
biographical circumstances, this poem combines narrative and personal
confession of a state of mind. How are these two facets combined?
2) Cowper has been considered a precursor of poetic romanticism in England, and
his work has been related to Coleridge’s for his poetic vision. What romantic
elements can be detected in this poem?
3) What are the major themes of this poem? What are the two parallel situations
described here? What are the differences and similarities between these two
situations?
4) This poem is remarkable for its description of a violent natural landscape. Which
expressions emphasize that idea? What is the relationship between the protagonist
and the natural world of the poem?
5) What’s the meaning of the poem’s title? How many castaways are there in the
poem? Why?
6) Account for the formal devices used by Cowper and provide a metrical description
of the poem.
OPTION 2. Alfred Lord Tennyson, “Ulysses”, in The Poetical Works of Alfred Lord
Tennyson, Poet Laureate (New York, Thomas Y. Crowell, 1851), pp. 104-06.

ANNOTATION: an aged wife (3); and when/ Thro’ scudding drifts the rainy Hyades/
Vext the dim sea (9-11); the ringing plains of windy Troy (17); all experience is an
arch wherethro’/ Gleams that untravell’d world whose margin fades/ Forever and
forever when I move (21); He works his work, I mine (43); Old age hath yet his
honour and his toil (50); Happy Isles (63); Achilles (64)

Some suggestions for the commentary:

1) The poetry of Alfred Lord Tennyson (1809-1892) is understood traditionally as
navigating between romantic and Victorian tendencies. The contrast between an
intense individualism and a more communal sense is evident in his poetry, and
“Ulysses”, an early poem written around 1833, seems a good instance of this. How
do these two tendencies converge in the poem? Which one prevails over the other?
Why and how?
2) This poem is an example of a “dramatic monologue”, a poetic form in which
eminent Victorians like Robert Browning or Tennyson himself excelled. What
does a dramatic monologue consist of? What features of this poem are typical of
that poetic form?
3) Explain the meanings of this poem and account for its bitter and nostalgic tone.
Against whom does the speaker address his irony and scorn? What vital
circumstances explain Ulysses’ state of mind? How does the protagonist confront
his past, present and future?
4) This poem can be clearly divided in three parts (which are marked
typographically). How are these three parts structured and how do they give shape
to the whole poem?
5) How does Ulysses face the contradiction between duty and individual will? How
are these two tendencies embodied in the poem? What’s the meaning of the line
‘’Tis not too late to seek a newer world’ (57)?
6) What do you find remarkable in this poem from the points of view of style, form,
and prosody?
 POEM 1
William Cowper, “The Castaway”
(1799)
Obscurest night involv'd the sky,
Th' Atlantic billows roar'd,
When such a destin'd wretch as I,
Wash'd headlong from on board,
Of friends, of hope, of all bereft,
His floating home for ever left.
No braver chief could Albion boast
Than he with whom he went,
Nor ever ship left Albion's coast,
With warmer wishes sent.
He lov'd them both, but both in vain,
Nor him beheld, nor her again.
Not long beneath the whelming brine,
Expert to swim, he lay;
Nor soon he felt his strength decline,
Or courage die away;
But wag'd with death a lasting strife,
Supported by despair of life.
He shouted: nor his friends had fail'd
To check the vessel's course,
But so the furious blast prevail'd,
That, pitiless perforce,
They left their outcast mate behind,
And scudded still before the wind.
Some succour yet they could afford;
And, such as storms allow,
The cask, the coop, the floated cord,
Delay'd not to bestow.
But he (they knew) nor ship, nor shore,
Whate'er they gave, should visit more. 30
Nor, cruel as it seem'd, could he
Their haste himself condemn,
Aware that flight, in such a sea,
Alone could rescue them;
Yet bitter felt it still to die
Deserted, and his friends so nigh.
He long survives, who lives an hour
In ocean, self-upheld;
And so long he, with unspent pow'r,
His destiny repell'd;
And ever, as the minutes flew,
Entreated help, or cried--Adieu!
At length, his transient respite past,
His comrades, who before
Had heard his voice in ev'ry blast, 45
Could catch the sound no more.
For then, by toil subdued, he drank
The stifling wave, and then he sank.
5
No poet wept him: but the page
Of narrative sincere; 50
That tells his name, his worth, his age,
Is wet with Anson's tear.
And tears by bards or heroes shed
10 Alike immortalize the dead.
I therefore purpose not, or dream, 55
Descanting on his fate,
To give the melancholy theme
A more enduring date:
15 But misery still delights to trace
Its semblance in another's case. 60
No voice divine the storm allay'd,
No light propitious shone;
When, snatch'd from all effectual aid,
20 We perish'd, each alone:
But I beneath a rougher sea, 65
And whelm'd in deeper gulfs than he.
25
35
40
 POEM 2
Alfred Lord Tennyson, “Ulysses” (1833)
It little profits that an idle king,
By this still hearth, among these barren crags,
Match'd with an aged wife, I mete and dole
Unequal laws unto a savage race,
That hoard, and sleep, and feed, and know not me. 5
I cannot rest from travel: I will drink
Life to the lees: All times I have enjoy'd
Greatly, have suffer'd greatly, both with those
That loved me, and alone, on shore, and when
Thro' scudding drifts the rainy Hyades
Vext the dim sea: I am become a name;
For always roaming with a hungry heart
Much have I seen and known; cities of men
And manners, climates, councils, governments,
Myself not least, but honour'd of them all;
And drunk delight of battle with my peers,
Far on the ringing plains of windy Troy.
I am a part of all that I have met;
Yet all experience is an arch wherethro'
Gleams that untravell'd world whose margin fades 20
For ever and forever when I move.
How dull it is to pause, to make an end,
To rust unburnish'd, not to shine in use!
As tho' to breathe were life! Life piled on life
Were all too little, and of one to me
Little remains: but every hour is saved
From that eternal silence, something more,
A bringer of new things; and vile it were
For some three suns to store and hoard myself,
And this gray spirit yearning in desire
To follow knowledge like a sinking star,
Beyond the utmost bound of human thought.
Free hearts, free foreheads—you and I are old;
Old age hath yet his honour and his toil; 50
Death closes all: but something ere the end,
Some work of noble note, may yet be done,
Not unbecoming men that strove with Gods.
The lights begin to twinkle from the rocks:
The long day wanes: the slow moon climbs: the
deep 55
Moans round with many voices. Come, my
friends,
'T is not too late to seek a newer world.
Push off, and sitting well in order smite
The sounding furrows; for my purpose holds
10 To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths
Of all the western stars, until I die. 60
It may be that the gulfs will wash us down:
It may be we shall touch the Happy Isles,
And see the great Achilles, whom we knew.
15 Tho' much is taken, much abides; and tho'
We are not now that strength which in old days
65
Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we
are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield. 70
25
30

This is my son, mine own Telemachus,

To whom I leave the sceptre and the isle,—
Well-loved of me, discerning to fulfil 35
This labour, by slow prudence to make mild
A rugged people, and thro' soft degrees
Subdue them to the useful and the good.
Most blameless is he, centred in the sphere
Of common duties, decent not to fail 40
In offices of tenderness, and pay
Meet adoration to my household gods,
When I am gone. He works his work, I mine.

There lies the port; the vessel puffs her sail:

There gloom the dark, broad seas. My mariners, 45
Souls that have toil'd, and wrought, and thought
with me—
That ever with a frolic welcome took
The thunder and the sunshine, and opposed