Directions for ID Questions

Directions for ID Questions

An ID question asks you to identify something. It may a literary term, a literary style or technique, an important concept or theme of a book, a character, a historical period related to a book, or a quotation, for example. Following are some general guidelines about responding to ID questions, but basically, you are to write everything you know about whatever is given as an ID. All ID questions should be answered in paragraph form, as you respond to an essay question.

1. Literary Device (metaphor, personification, allegory, symbol, allusion, irony, foreshadowing, etc.):

a.Define the term, if necessary.

b.Give examples from the text.

c.Explain how the use of the device adds to the meaning/theme(s) of the work.

EXAMPLE: TERM: Conflict

BAD: Dramatic Irony is a from of ifighting that takes place in books and when you want to add excitement.

GOOD: Conflict in literature takes many forms. There are two types, internal and external. All of the novels and plays read this semester have some form of conflict in them. The best stories have both types. Antigone by Sophocles uses conflict in almost every scene to drive the action, establish characters, and increase the tension. In terms of driving the plot, the play starts with a conflict between Antigone and Ismene about the burial of their brother. This is the source of all of the other conflicts in the play, most of them between Creon, the king, and a variety of characters from the city of Thebes. Creon’s external conflicts are with Antigone, his own son Haimon, and the prophet Tieresias. His internal conflict comes about as a result of his interactions with these characters when he begins to think that he may have made the wrong decision concerning Polyneices. At each stage, the stakes get higher and higher, and eventually, the conflicts culminate in violence and desperation. Creon’s struggles can be defined in terms of Man vs. Man (Antigone, Haimon, and Teiresias); Man vs. Fate; Man vs. Society; and Man vs. Self. Sophocles has effectively used conflict throughout the play to develop its characters and themes.

2. If it is a character:

a.Identify the character (Who is he/she?)

b.What is his/her role within the work? (Does he/she provide conflict? Does he/she act as another character’s conscience? Is he/she a foil to another character? Does he/she represent a stereotype? Is he/she used as a symbol?)

c.Explain the significance of this character to the meaning/theme(s) of the work.

EXAMPLE: TERM: Haimon

BAD: Haimon is a dude in that play that we red written by Sofacles. His is the bruther of antgone.

GOOD: Haimon is the son of King Creon in Sophocles’ Antigone. In this play, Haimon serves as a foil for Creon and the conflict between them is developed by their argument surrounding Antigone. Haimon, who is engaged to Antigone, comes to Creon to tell him that the public feels as if he is being unreasonable by calling for the death of Antigone. He threatens to kill himself. When Creon is confronted by Haimon’s threats, he first reacts violently. However, he does agree to wall Antigone up in a tomb. When he finally realizes that he is wrong, he goes to save her. Haimon attacks Creon and then kills himself. This death causes Eurydice, Haimon’s mother and Creon’s wife, to kill herself. Therefore Haimon’s death is a result of the theme of the play; hubristic pride will cause an great downfall. Creon learns his lesson too late.

3.If it is location, object, time period, or any other reference:

a.Identify it (What is it?).

b.Explain how it functions within the plot of the work. (Does it serve as a symbol or foreshadowing? Does it represent any other literary element?)

c.Explain the significance of this reference to the meaning/theme(s) of the work.

EXAMPLE: TERM: “Ark”

BAD: This is a bad 80’s rock group.

GOOD: The Ark is an archetypal symbol mostly associated with Noah from the Old Testament of the Bible. However, it is also found in the Epic of Gilgamesh. The Ark was a large floating boat that was used to save humanity (and animals) when God or the gods decided to create a great flood and destroy the world. Symbolically, it could represent the world itself. Noah and his family, then, could represent all of mankind. The ark is a vehicle for the redemtion of mankind. In both stories, much emphasis is placed on the dimensions and the acutal building of the ark. This may indicate how mankind is responsible for saving itself, and although the instructions for doing so comes from God, the responsibility rests on the individual. Therefore, a theme associated with the ark is that God helps those who help themselves.

4. Quotations:

a)Identify the speaker

b)Identify who is being spoken to

c)Identify who or what is being talked about

d)Explain the situation and/or circumstances under which this is being said. (Why is this character saying this to this other character? When/where is this taking place in the plot? In reference to what other events in the work is this taking place?)

e)If necessary, paraphrase the quotation or explain the meaning of the quotation in your own words.

f)Identify any and all literary elements found in or associated with the quotation. (Also, explain how or why the literary element is being used.)

g)Identify and explain any way in which the quotation represents some unique aspect of the author’s style or represents current thinking or beliefs from the time period in which it was written.

h)Explain the significance of the quotation to the work as a whole:

•What does it reveal about a character or characters?

•What does it reveal about a theme or theme(s)?

EXAMPLE: QUOTE: “Well, you keep your place…I could have you strung up on a tree so easy it ain’t even funny.”

BAD: Curley’s wife to Crook. She is tellin him about how he is going to be hung if he says anything to her. She is mean. Crook and Curley’s wife are not friends. (-18)

GOOD: In this quotation, from Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, Curley’s wife shows her anger towards Crooks, the black stable buck. In this part of the story, all of the ‘outcasts’ are assembled in one location; however, despite being together, they still cannot connect. Candy, Crooks, and Lenny have been discussing George and Lennie’s‘dream’ to have and run their own place which now includes Candy. Crooks seems interested. At this point, prior to Curley’s wife’s entrance, the reader feels as if the protagonists will reach their goal. However, through Curley’s wife, Steinbeck shows the difficulty and impossibility of this due to the restrictions of society, which further indicate themes surrounding alienation and isolation. In this particular quote, Curley’s wife reveals her personal frustration and isoloation and the rampant racism of the time.Steinbecks theme in this quote is that isolation from a group frustrates and angers an individual. Also, her emphasis on lynching references vigilante justice, which is significant to George and Lennie with respect to what happened in Weed, and foreshadows the end of the novella. The deflation and depression of the characters which occur after this , also foreshadow the sad ending.