Task I: Sample Questions
Task I
Direction to Students:
For this part of the test, you will listen to a lecture about how Shakespeare strategically adopted the source from Roman history in writing the tragedy Julius Caesar, and the recent production of the play. Write a response based on the situation described below. You will also answer some multiple-choice questions about key ideas in the lecture.You will hear the lecture twice. You may take notes on the sheet provided at any time you wish during the readings.
The Situation:
You are asked to make a presentation in your English class to describe how writers/artists use historical events and characters in creating works of literature or other forms of artistic expressions. In your presentation, you're also asked to use specific references from the listening passage to illustrate your points.
Your task:Write an essay of 250 words or more explaining how writers/artists use historical facts in creating their work.
Guidelines:
- tell your audience what they need to know to help them understand the relationship between historical facts and literature, and how writers/artists use the facts creatively and purposefully in their work.
- use accurate, specific evidence from the listening passage.
- organize your ideas in a logical and coherent manner
- use language that communicates ideas and information effectively
- follow the conventions of standard written English
Listening passage:
Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar is based on the actual assassination of Julius Caesar, which occurred on March 15, 44 B.C. Much of Shakespeare's material is drawn from Sir Thomas North's translation of Plutarch's Lives of the Noble Romans (c. 1579). As is the case with many of Shakespeare's plays which depict historical events, the source is highly altered and condensed into theatrical form. For example, the duration of the opening two scenes, which actually took several months, is compressed into one day. All together, the action is compressed from an actual time span of three years into a period of five days. The main characters, though drawn from Plutarch's stories, are also altered. For example, some of Caesar's less admirable characteristics, such as his conceit and dynastic ambition, are emphasized. On the other hand, Brutus is treated more sympathetically as a result of the emphasis on his philosophic nature and admirable personal life. The envy and insecurity of Cassius is masterfully drawn, as is Antony's opportunism and his love for Caesar. Thus, in Julius Caesar we see Shakespeare utilizing and transforming historical material to make an exciting stage drama.
HOW QUICKLY THE WORLD IS OVERTURNED !A quick glance at the course of world history reveals many examples of ambitious men and their subsequent assassinations. The 1991 production of Julius Caesar at the Colorado Shakespeare Festival will focus on the timelessness of Caesar's death and the issues raised by the assassination of a man in power. Brutus loves Caesar but he loves Rome more, and is forced to make the difficult decision to destroy a potential tyrant in order to save Rome. The chaos which follows this act eventually destroys Brutus. Therefore, one of the central issues in this production is the power of the "irreversible act," and the relentless momentum of events and circumstances which follow Caesar's death. Many recent productions of Julius Caesar have been set in locales other than Rome, in order to give greater immediacy to the theme of dictatorship and the destruction caused by civil uprising. Instead of placing the story of Julius Caesar in Central or South America, or in the Middle East, our production uses a postmodern approach to create a unique, timeless environment, a world which has its own specific rules and set of references. Therefore, though the setting of the production is clearly Rome, scenery and costumes do not refer to a specific time period.
As in Shakespeare's day, there is little emphasis on historical accuracy. Central to this production concept are images drawn from the text: power, destruction, and the inability to escape the results of an irreversible act. This production uses visual icons and images to vivify the play's events and, instead of reproducing history, explores the deeper issues and the "modern myth" of power and destruction. Like many instances in history, the murder of Caesar was an irreversible act. Caesar's blood stains not only his assassins' hands, but the entire city of Rome, which is forever changed.
Multiple Choice Questions:
- Shakespeare's Julius Caesar---
- a) is just like the historical figure, Julius Caesar.
- b) is his invention without any historical background.
- c) tells readers precisely what happened in the history.
- d) is his creation based on Plutarch's Lives of the Noble Romans.
- Brutus in Julius Caesar is described as ---
- a) very truthful to the history.
- b) a villain.
- c) a perfect hero.
- d) being artistically treated for drawing audience's sympathy.
- In writing Julius Caesar, Shakespeare--
- a) created all the characters from his imagination.
- b) utilized and transformed historical material to make an exciting stage drama.
- c) created his characters based on some famous people of the Elizabethan time.
- d) used sterotyped concepts in creating his perfect heros.
- The production of Julius Caesar at the Colorado Shakespeare Festival focused on----
- a) the timelessness of Caesar's death and the issues raised by the assasination of a man in power.
- b) the accurate historical details.
- c) creating its own version of Julius Caesar without any relevance to history.
- d) presenting Shakespeare's paly precisely the way it is.
- Central to the production of the play --
- a) is the setting which should be placed in Rome to give great immediacy to the theme.
- b) are images drawn from the text: power, destruction, and the inability to escape the results of an irreversible act.
- c) is the setting which should be placed in locales other than Rome.
- d) is to make the audience be familiarized with what really happed in history.
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