بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

 

Midterm 2       English 272/51                                    Sunday   January 5, 2007

 

Answer one question : either A or B .

 

A.   Question A :  Drama

1.     Analyze Jabra's Statement ' as the Arabs have become more and more politically alienated from the west , their literature has become subject to more and more influences from it', and use the new poetry after 1948 to show your point.

2.      Are their elements of western influences on these two plays Al-farafir  and You who are Climbing the Tree?  Explain in detail.

3.      Are their elements of traditions and folklore in these two plays? Explain with examples to the texts and the playwrights' views.

4.     Are these plays tragedies that portray the characters' conflicts? Or are these plays mere representation of social and political corruptions? Discuss in detail with examples from the stories of these plays?

5.     In what language or dialect are these two texts written? How does the choice of language or dialect reflect the writers' views of the role  literature ?

6.      What is the role of the Author in Al-farafir  and the green lizard   in You who are Climbing the Tree.? Is it symbolic or realistic? Discuss.

7.     Who are the authors of these two plays? (in detail). How were their education and views reflected in the two plays? Explain.

8.     Is the genre of drama imported from the west ? Or was it rooted in the classical Arabic ? Explain in Detail.

9.     How does' Between war and Peace' represent its author's views of political and social corruption in the world as a whole? Explain.

What type of text is it ( short story, full length play , one act play, an epic or something else)?

                        Is it allegorical or symbolic ? Explain                     

 

 

 

 

B. Question B : Poetry

10.          To how many groups does Jabra  divide Arab poets after 1950? Explain.

11.          Arab poets ,however, rebellious  but are never negligent of traditions. Explain this statement.

12.          Illustrate how Arab poets' choice to be influenced by Eliot's does show or does not show their care for traditions and culture.

13.          How does al-Sayyab understand Eliot's The Waste Land ? ( as a parody, satire or Tragedy) Comment on his understanding . Then Explain in general the effect of Eliot's influence on al-Sayyab's poetry?

14.          Does al-Sayyab use Koranic  images in his poetry? Mention one poem with analyses  of this use to show the setting of the poem and the subject of it.

15.          Use the following poem to answer the following questions :           a. what is the title?

        b. How is the title relevant to the theme and to the  

            poet's life , views?

        c. How does this poem show the influence of Eliot 

               on Al-Sayyab's poem?

 

         Buwab…

I wish I would have drowned in the very depth of my blood

That I might carried the burden with humankind

And  resurrected life. Verily ,my death is a triumph

 

10.          Compare Jabra's 

                               A blade of grass spilt a stone….

                   It is the miracle of thunder to the waste land,  

                    …and rain poured.

with  Sayigh's

                    My land is a waste land

                     Is a handful of earth

                     Which I lost.

In terms of a. the titles and b. poets of these two poems and c. the two poets' lives , alienation and visions.