English 12 Unit 5: The Victorian Era | Notes and practice

Notes

Context

The Victorian era (1837 to 1901) saw industrial growth, empire, reform, and deep poverty. Darwin's ideas fed religious doubt. The serialized novel dominated reading.

Novelists

Dickens exposed poverty and cold institutions using caricature, humor and satire (Gradgrind's "Facts").
Charlotte and Emily Brontë published as "Bells." Jane Eyre is a first-person bildungsroman with Gothic touches; Wuthering Heights uses nested narrators.

Poets

Tennyson: grief, doubt, and perseverance ("Ulysses," In Memoriam).
Browning: the dramatic monologue. In "My Last Duchess," the Duke unintentionally reveals his cruelty to a silent listener, with dramatic irony.

Topics in this unit

Each topic has its own short notes and practice.

Practice

Dickens's character Gradgrind demands "Facts" and rejects imagination. Dickens is most likely criticizing:

In which kind of narration does the narrator know the thoughts of all characters?

The Brontë sisters used the pen names Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell mainly because:

In "My Last Duchess," what is the effect of the Duke's calm, polite tone?

A poem is spoken by one character to a silent listener in a particular situation, revealing the speaker's personality. This is:

Which Tennyson line best expresses perseverance?

Free response

Write your answer first, then open the scoring guide.

Free-response question

Read these lines from Browning's "My Last Duchess," spoken by the Duke: "She had / A heart—how shall I say?—too soon made glad, / Too easily impressed; she liked whate'er / She looked on, and her looks went everywhere."

(a) What does the Duke complain about, and how does the pause "how shall I say?" affect his tone?

Show the answer and scoring guide

He complains that the Duchess was too easily pleased and gave her happiness to everything, not just to him. The pause makes him sound as if he is choosing his words carefully to seem reasonable.

Check off the points you earned:

1 point: states the complaint (too easily pleased or her attention went everywhere)
1 point: explains the effect of the pause (calculated, polite or controlled tone)

(b) Identify two features of the dramatic monologue form that appear in the passage or poem.

Show the answer and scoring guide

There is a single speaker (the Duke) who addresses a silent listener (the envoy), and the speaker reveals his character without meaning to.

Check off the points you earned:

1 point: identifies one feature of the form
1 point: identifies a second feature

(c) Explain how the form lets readers judge the Duke differently than he judges himself.

Show the answer and scoring guide

The Duke thinks he sounds reasonable, but readers see his jealousy and desire for control. Because we only hear his voice, we can notice what he tries to hide, which makes his pride and cruelty clear.

Check off the points you earned:

1 point: distinguishes the Duke's view of himself from the reader's view
1 point: explains how the speaker's own words expose his flaws (dramatic irony)