Schmidt/Duffner Name:
Honors English II Oedipus Unit Test
I. Select the best correspondent for each of the following (1 points each):
1._____ author of Oedipus the King
2._____ founder of
3._____ Creon and
Tiresias to Oedipus
4._____ successful tragedies should inspire this
5._____ appeals to emotion
6._____ excessive self- pride
7._____ allows audience to use their imagination
8._____ shortcoming, “missing the mark”
9._____ believes plot is most important part of drama
10._____ sudden reversal of circumstances
11._____ Oedipus’ original home town
12._____ Oedipus requests to go here to die
13._____ appeals to reputation
14. _____ moment of recognition
15._____ Oedipus as hunter
II.
Select the best
choice for each question (2 point each):
16._____ Which of the following cannot be said about Oedipus? (A) he possesses intelligence (B) he demonstrates great compassion for his people. (C) he is quick to judge. (D) he refuses to accept responsibility for his actions. (E) he is a great man who suffers peripeteia.
17._____ What aspect of the characters in the play did Greek masks portray? (A) that the characters were stoic (indifferent to or unaffected by pleasure or pain) since the masks were made out of wood (B) age of character (C) the loudness of the character due to built in megaphone (D) all of the above (E) none of the above
18._____ Why is Oedipus so eager to solve the mystery of Laius’ murder? (A) he knows that he is the murderer and wants to find someone to blame it on. (B) because he is a great leader (C) because he is good at solving problems. (D) he is afraid the killer might strike again. (E) both B and C
19._____ The chorus does not believe Oedipus is guilty because: (A) they cannot believe anything bad about their king. (B) they don’t believe in Tiresias’ powers (C) they believe Apollo will reveal the truth (D) all of the above. (E) none of the above.
20._____ In Greek culture the gods represented a form of _______ for humans: (A) death (B) life (C) guidance (D) trickery (E) torture
21._____ Which of the following is not true about the author of Oedipus? (A) he lived from 496 – 406 BC (B) he won his first drama competition at age 28 (C) he won approximately 20 prizes at drama competitions (D) he developed skenes (backdrops) for drama productions (E) he only wrote 7 plays
22._____ According to Aristotle, the catastrophe in a tragedy is: (A) the final dramatic event in plot (B) suffering (C) the tragic hero’s downfall (D) when Oedipus discovers that the oracle came true (E) reversal of circumstances
23._____ Indirect characterization does not include: (A) details about the character’s appearance (B) statements about the character’s personality from the writer (C) details about the character’s actions (D) conversation or thoughts of the character (E) other characters’ opinions of the character
24._____ “A stranger, / you may think, who lives among you, / he soon will be revealed a native Theban / but he will take no joy in the revelation. / Blind who now has eyes, beggar who now is rich, / he will grope his way toward a foreign soil, / a stick tapping before him step by step.” This quote is an example of: (A) the hunter motif (B) denouement (C) satire (D) logos (E) foreshadowing
25._____ What prevented the Thebans from solving Laius’ murder? (A) Oedipus covered it up as soon as he became king (B) no witnesses (C) they were waiting for the gods to tell them who did it (D) sphinx (E) none of the above
III.
Quotes (6
points each)
*Identify the speaker.
*Explain the significance of the quote: What does the quote exemplify
(act as an example of)? Why is this
quote important? How does it relate to
the overall theme of the play?
dramatic irony, eccyclema,
foil, hubris, nautical motif, peripeteia,
sight and blindness motif, etc.
- “Never let us remember of your reign: / you helped us stand, only to fall once more.”
- “Now my curse on the murderer. Whoever he is, / a lone man unknown in his crime / or one among many, let that man drag out / his life in agony, step by painful step—”
- “How terrible – to see the truth / when the truth is only pain to him who sees! / I knew it well, but I put it from my mind, / else I never would have come.”
- “Suddenly / Oedipus burst in, screaming, he stunned us so / we couldn’t watch her agony to the end, / our eyes were fixed on him. Circling / like a maddened beast, stalking, here, there, / crying out to us—”
- “No, but I came by, Oedipus the ignorant, / I stopped the sphinx! / With no help from the birds, / the flight of my own intelligence is the mark.”
IV.
Short Answer
(10 points each)
*Use complete sentences to develop a brief, but thorough response for
each of the following questions.
- Define the three appeals of persuasion and give one example of each from Oedipus the King. Then, discuss why Sophocles uses the three appeals within the play.
- Define the elements of dramatic structure and give an example of each from Oedipus the King. Finally, discuss the relationship between theme and dramatic structure.
V. Essay (15 points)
*Choose ONE of the following essay topics. Write at least two to three well organized paragraphs.
- In “On Tragedy,” from The Poetics, Aristotle identifies several elements of a successful tragedy including peripeteia, epiphany, calamity, and catharsis. What is each element, where is it seen in Oedipus the King, and how do these elements help to portray the play’s theme(s).
- Sophocles develops Oedipus as a tragic hero. Identify the elements of a tragic hero, how Oedipus exemplifies (acts as an example of) these elements, and how his role as tragic hero contributes to the theme(s) of the play.
