Name:______Date:______Period:______

Senior Final Exam: Waiting for Godot, Part 1

Reminders to Seniors:

There are quite a few people who have yet to turn in their Delve In paragraphs, and this has lowered people’s grades by quite a bit. Please turn them in by this Friday; otherwise, you will have a 0/F from here unto eternity. Otherwise, good luck! Your class has meant a lot to me, and I hope you ace this!

If you’d like to pick up your graded work and progress reports (before the exam), please swing by the room. All makeup work needs to be in by FRIDAY!

Part 1—Vocabulary--no books, no notes allowed.

Matching (1 point each)

Directions: Please write the letter of the definition next to the word.

Word / Definition
1. pugilist ______ / a. cry of sorrow
2. vermin ______ / b. small animals that are pests (like rats)
3. vanquished ______ / c. meticulous; detail-oriented
4. vacuous ______ / d. a fighter
5. recoil ______ / e. postponed; delayed
6. irk ______ / f. hungrily
7. punctilious ______ / g. a saying (like “look before you leap”)
8. affable ______ / h. friendly; good-natured
9. deferred ______ / i. to imply
10. desist ______ / k. defeated; conquered
11. voraciously ______ / l. to wave or flourish menacingly
12. aphorism ______ / m. to irritate; to bother
13. insinuate ______ / n. to shrink back (in fear or disgust)
14. brandish ______ / o. to stop from doing something
15. lamentation ______ / p. empty

Meaningful Sentences (3 points each)

Directions: Write a sentence using each word. Make sure each sentence is meaningful.

1.coquettishly:

2.tangible:

3. menial:

4.precipitately

5.inert

6.vehemently

7.magnanimous

8.privation

9. supplication

10. aesthetic

Academic Challenge:

Write a sentence for the following words:

1. firmament:

2. qua:

Part 2—Analyzing Quotes

Name:______Date:______Period:______

Senior Final Exam: Waiting for Godot, Part 2

Directions: Use your book. No notes. Attach extra pieces of paper if necessary.

Part 2: Your understanding of theater of the absurd and existential ideas and thinkers

Directions: Answer only 6 out of 8 questions. You choose which ones. (8 points each)

  1. What is existentialism? (Name the main questions, the feelings, the main themes) And why do people sometimes go through an existential crisis? What does that mean, anyway?
  1. Some people characterize existentialism as a very hopeful (not depressing) philosophy. Why? In what way can existentialism be very hopeful and freeing?
  1. Name 3 existential philosophers. (Bonus: If you can remember what each one’s philosophy was, extra credit!)
  1. Name or describe one character from the movie, I Heart Huckabees. Describe their existential concerns/crises. What makes their conflict an existential one at heart?
  1. Name 3 aspects of Waiting for Godot that make it characteristic of Theater of the Absurd.
  1. Name 3 aspects of “I Heart Huckabees” that make it characteristic of either existentialism or Theater of the Absurd.
  1. Are YOU an existentialist? Why or why not? (explain thoroughly for full credit.)
  1. Why do some people say that our existence is absurd?

Part 3: Analzying Quotes

Directions: You must answer 5 out of 6 quotes. Answer all subparts of the questions as completely as possible. (8 points each)

  1. “To Godot? Tied to Godot! What an idea! No question of it. For the moment.” (17). What does it mean to be “tied to Godot”? Are they tied to Godot? Is there doubt in this quote? How does this quote relate to the absurdity of our human existence?
  1. “Nothing you can do about it./No use struggling. One is what one is./ No use wriggling. The essential doesn’t change”.(17) How would you characterize the TONE of this statement? What is he talking about? Do you agree with his philosophy? Why or why not?
  1. V: “That passed the time.”

E: “It would have passed in any case.”

V: “Yes, but not so rapidly” (51).

What situation is Vladimir and Estragon referring to? (What is “that”?) How does this quote relate to the absurdity of human existence? What motif is referenced here?

4.

Vladimir: “Was I sleeping, while the others suffered? Am I sleeping now? To-morrow, when I wake, or think I do, what shall I say of to-day? That with Estragon my friend, at this place, until the fall of night, I waited for Godot?...But in all that what truth will there be?...Astride of a grave and a difficult birth. Down in the hole, lingeringly, the grave-digger puts on the forceps. We have time to grow old. The air is full of our cries. But habit is the great deadener. At me too someone is looking, of me too someone is saying, He is sleeping, he knows nothing, let him sleep on…I can’t go on!” (104-105)

What is Vladimir talking about? What kinds of existential questions does he bring up in this passage? What is the tone of this passage? How does this passage relate to the absurdity of our existence and existentialism?

5. Estragon: “And if we dropped him? (Pause) If we dropped him?

Vladimir: “He’d punish us. (Silence. He looks at the tree.) Everything’s dead but the tree.”

Who are they “dropping”? What does that mean? HOW and WHY would “he” punish them? Do you believe that “he” will punish them? Why or why not? What does the tree have to do with anything?

6. Estragon: “I can’t go on like this.”

Vladimir: “That’s what you think.”

Estragon: “If we parted? That might be better for us.”

Vladimir: “We’ll hang ourselves tomorrow. (Pause). Unless Godot comes.”

Estragon: “And if he comes?”

Vladmir: “We’ll be saved.”

Why does Estragon say something so negative as “I can’t go on like this”? Why might it be better if they parted? Why do they stay together? Why do Vladimir suggest hanging? Do you believe that they will be saved if Godot comes? Why or why not?

Part 4: General Understanding of the play

Directions: You must answer 4 out of 5 questions. (10 points each)

  1. Godot can be interpreted as a symbol for many different things. What are 3 possible things that Godot may symbolize? Explain your reasoning for each one.
  1. In many ways, this play is a parody of our absurd human behavior. What are 3 possible things that one of the characters does or says that may be interpreted as making fun of what we do in our every day lives?
  1. Why do Vladimir and Estragon end up in the same place as the beginning? Has anything changed? What has stayed the same? What do you think the play may have been trying to express with this repetition? What do you think it was trying to symbolize with the change?
  1. Some people say that Beckett was a master of “expressing the inexpressible.” What do you think he was trying to express? Do you think what he was trying to express was inexpressible? Was he successful? Did you think this play was well-written or not? Why?
  1. What does this play have to do with existentialism?

Part 5: Delve In Paragraph (33 points)

Directions: Choose only one of the following thematic motifs. Develop a thesis (claim, theme) using the motif. Write a Delve In Paragraph where you make a strong claim, backed up with three quotes that are well integrated from the book. Don’t forget to introduce and analyze every quote.

-waiting

-memory

-language/(mis)communication

-suffering/strugglin/striving

Part 6: Personal Connection to the play (10 points)

Directions: Just answer the last question. I understand that all of the characters in this play are pretty frustrating, but like you all said—that’s kind of the point! People that we know are frustrating in very similar ways! That said, which character do you feel most sympathetic towards? Why? (Respond in a paragraph.)

Name:______Date:______Period:______

Quiz on Waiting For Godot Vocabulary, Existentialism, and Theater of the Absurd

Vocabulary (30 points total; 3 points per sentence)

Directions: Please write meaningful sentences for the following words. Remember, “he is a cretin” does not count as meaningful because you have not shown you understand what cretin means.

  1. insinuate:
  1. magnanimous:
  1. effulgence:
  1. privation:
  1. inevitable:
  1. ostentatious:
  1. pugilist:
  1. vacuous:
  1. imbecile:
  1. vehemently:

Understanding existentialism and theater of the absurd (25 pts total)

  1. What is existentialism? Explain fully. What are the feelings and ideas commonly associated with existentialism? (6 pts)
  1. What does it mean to say that our existence is absurd? (3 pts)
  1. What are some characteristics of theater of the absurd? (central themes, subjects, structures, characteristics)—mention at least 5 (5pts)
  1. Why do some people say that our existence is meaningless or without purpose? (3pts)
  1. What was Kierkegaard’s philosophy? (4 pts)
  1. What was Camus’ philosophy? (4 pts)