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chronological sequence, (4) a topical sentence, (5) a balanced sentence, (6) word repetition for emphasis, (7) rapid characterization, (8) a passage rendered graphic through vivid details, (9) unnecessary coarseness, (10) exaggeration, (11) unpleasant positiveness, (12) careless misstatement. What in Macaulay's skill as a writer do you envy most? What have you gained through reading the essay?

SCOTT'S LADY OF THE LAKE

CANTO FIRST

1. Explain the following: Ascabart, bland, blithe, boon, cairn, Caledon, cloister, copse, errant-knight, Ferragus, filial, gauntlet, high emprise, lave, martial, matins, mere, mien, Naiad, orison, quarry, reveille, rood, snood, sylvan, target, tapestry, unwonted, whinyard. 2. Explain the following lines: 114, 194-7, 270-3, 296-7, 309-10. 3. Would the beginning have been equally effective had Fitz-James met Ellen while he was taking a long. tramp through the Trossachs? 4. Why is the chase made so furious, all the hunters, save one, outdistanced by the stag? 5. Why does the story-teller have the stag escape, the horse die? 6. Is the description of the Trossachs and Loch Katrine so carefully done that you can make a simple topical plan of it? 7. Does the description read like one written after a visit to the region? 8. Does it show familiarity with nature? 9. Would the canto have been equally effective had it begun with a description of the region? 10. Why does Scott delay describing the personal appearance of the hunter till his meeting with Ellen? 11. What hints are given that Ellen is of noble birth? that she has a lover? 12. How do you explain the mystery concerning the invisible harp that plays while Ellen sings? 13. How do you account for the knight's dream? 14. The transitions in this canto are interesting; how does the poet pass from the hunt to the description of the Trossachs, from the Trossachs to Loch Katrine, from Loch Katrine to Ellen? 15. The canto contains a number of interesting comparisons-similes and metaphors; without rereading, try to recall to what each of the following is likened: the stag on hearing the hounds, the hunters passing through the glen, the rocky summits in the Trossachs, Loch Katrine, the mountains surrounding Katrine, the Lady of the Lake. 16. Are

these comparisons appropriate? 17. In the third stanza, how many words can you discover that were chosen, apparently, because their sound suggests the spirited scene described? 18. Note how quiet the concluding lines of the stanza are when compared with the first. Are there certain letters which have a hush sound? 19. Where else in the canto have you noted examples of onomatopoeia? 20. What in the canto have you enjoyed most? 21. What questions concerning the rest of the story are left in the reader's mind? 22. Memorize the fourteenth stanza, or some other that you like better. 23. Write a paragraph beginning with one of the following sentences: (a) The canto contains not a little that is mysterious. (b) The plan of the canto is very simple. (c) I know a lake which, like Loch Katrine, is very beautiful. (d) Fitz-James makes a very good hero.

CANTO SECOND

1. Explain: assuage, boding, bourgeon, foray, glozing, guerdon, henchman, Holy-Rood, homicide, meed, pibroch, reave, sable, strathspey, vindictive, votaress. 2. Explain the following lines: 165, 200, 391-2, 540-1, 577-8, 615-22, 805-6. 3. Explain clearly (a) what claim Roderick has on Ellen's affections, (b) why she does not wish to marry Roderick, (c) why an attack from the royal forces is feared. 4. Without rereading, make a simple topical plan of the canto, employing but three or four headings. 5. Is the canto somewhat dramatic in construction, the interest increasing toward the end? 6. Is the most exciting incident at the very close of the canto? 7. What mystery in the first canto is cleared up in the second? 8. What new questions arise in the reader's mind? 9. What is the purpose of the stanzas telling of the stranger's farewell and the conversation between Ellen and Allan? 10. How is the transition made from these stanzas to the account of the home-coming of Roderick? 11. Can you think of a good reason why Scott brought FitzJames to the Isle during the absence of Roderick? 12. What do you find to admire in the account of the approach and arrival of the chief? 13. It has been noted that in the third stanza of the first canto, the sound suggests the sense. In the Boat Song there is a successful attempt to indicate the measured swing of the rowers. Read the Song aloud, stressing the syllables in such a way as to indicate the stroke of the oars. 14. Compare the way

in which Roderick is brought into the story with the way in which Fitz-James is introduced. 15. What is gained by having Douglas and Roderick return at the same time? 16. How many rival suitors do you discover, and which do you think has the best chance of winning Ellen? 17. Is the second canto more interesting than the first? 18. What do you like best in it? 19. Do you recall an elaborate simile, many lines long? 20. Memorize the Boat Song, or some other passage that you like better. 21. Write a paragraph, using one of the following as a topical sentence: (a) The return of Roderick is in marked contrast to the return of Douglas. (b) The tune played by the pipers tells a thrilling story. (c) The three songs found in the first two cantos differ widely in character. (d) Ellen's position is most trying. 22. Try to form clear mind-pictures from what is suggested in the following lines, letting the imagination have full swing: 66-7, 141, 277-82, 592-4.

CANTO THIRD

1. Explain: anathema, augured, Ave Maria, Ben-Shie, brachen, chalice, compeers, coronach, correi, Druid, execration, fay, Fiery Cross, goading, imprecation, Inch-Cailliach, murky, patriarch, sage, satyr, searest, sepulchral, sequestered, snood, strath, unwonted. 2. Explain the following lines: 135-44, 161-2, 465, 629-31. 3. Scott has his choice of all kinds of weather; why does he begin this canto with nature quiet and peaceful? 4. If you were preparing an illustrated edition of the poem, what eight scenes would you like to have pictured to go with this canto? 5. Of all the scenes, which stands out most vividly? 6. Why is Brian's history given in such detail? 7. What three curses does the priest pronounce? 8. Through what similes are the responses, made by the clansmen, emphasized? 9. Trace the symbolism of the ceremony, showing why the cross is made as it is, why it is scathed by fire and dipped in blood. 10. Why does Scott introduce the funeral scene and the wedding? 11. What similes are employed in an effort to show the speed of the runners? 12. Study the figures in the Coronach. 13. How does this canto compare with the preceding ones in interest? 14. What do you like best in it? 15. Memorize the thirteenth stanza. 16. Write a paragraph beginning with one of the following sentences: (a) Clan loyalty is well illustrated in the way all

obey the summons of the Fiery Cross. (b) The close of the canto is much quieter than the preceding stanzas. (c) Evidently one of the poet's purposes in telling the story is to picture bygone customs. (d) The first nine lines of the canto contain an unusual number of figures of speech.

CANTO FOURTH

1. Explain: apprehensive, augury, boune, fane, glaive, imbrue, inured, kern, pall and vair, weeds, wold. 2. Explain the following lines: 55-6, 100-105, 110-17, 419, 468-71, 743-8, 780. 3. Describe the Taghairm ceremony. 4. Which to you is the more gruesome, the Taghairm or the ceremony connected with the preparation of the Fiery Cross? 5. Tell the story

of Alice Brand, beginning Once upon a time. 6. Tell the story of Blanche of Devan. 7. Interpret Blanche's song (xxv). 8. The boat which bears Ellen and Fitz-James to the Isle is also called skiff, shallop, and barge. Do you recall any of Scott's favorite substitutes for the word sword? Why does he employ synonyms so freely? 9. The conversation between Ellen and the minstrel in the second canto serves to explain the situation; what is learned from their conversation in canto fourth? 10. What is gained by telling where the bull came from that was slain for the Taghairm? 11. What is gained by introducing Blanche of Devan? 12. What do you find to like in stanzas xxix-xxxi? 13. What is the most exciting moment in the canto? 14. Memorize the thirtieth stanza. 15. Write a paragraph beginning with one of the following sentences: (a) Allan-bane possesses a wonderful harp. (b) The minstrel is also a gifted dreamer. (c) Evidently Highland hospitality is a favorite theme with Scott. (d) It is difficult to decide at what point in the story Fitz-James is most attractive—as a hunter, as a guest at Roderick's lodge, as suitor at Ellen's cave, or as he appears in the campfire scene. (e) Among the appropriate similes in this canto are those found in the following lines: 199–203, 299-300, 544–7. (f) The Taghairm prophecy and Fitz-James's ring provide hints of how the story will end.

CANTO FIFTH

1. Explain: apparition, arraignment, banditti, buffet, burghers, butts, carpet knight, clemency, cognizance, cumbered, invulnerable, morrice-dancers, retribution. 2. Explain the following

lines: 75-9, 123, 182, 443-4, 461-2, 543-4, 660, 887. 3. If you were making a plan of this canto, what three or four topics would you employ? 4. In their conversation while on the way to Coilantogle, what three charges does the knight bring against Roderick, and how are they answered? 5. Would the combat have been as exciting had there been spectators? had the combatants not been rival suitors? had Brian's prophecy been different? had Fitz-James not vowed to avenge Blanche of Devan? had Roderick not entertained his foe? 6. With which combatant does the reader sympathize? 7. Does Scott introduce the games at Stirling because the account is needed in the story, or because he wishes to show the customs of long ago? 8. Are the contests interesting and the outcome probable? 9. What is the purpose of Douglas in going to Stirling? 10. Does FitzJames know that Douglas is Ellen's father? 11. How do you account for the knight's harsh treatment of Douglas? 12. What are the most dramatic moments in the canto? 13. What questions are uppermost in the reader's mind at its close? 14. What figures are found in the following lines: 347, 348, 390, 897-8? 15. Show that the figures in lines 188-9 and 407-10 are appropriate. 16. Do you recall anywhere in the canto a series of brief, sharp contrasts? 17. What do you like best in the canto? 18. Memorize stanzas ix-x. 19. Write a paragraph, employing one of the following as a topical sentence: (a) This canto contains good illustrations of "martial Faith and Courtesy's bright star." (b) The conversation between Roderick and Fitz-James leaves the reader with a far better impression of the former's character. (c) The games at Stirling differ in a number of respects from an athletic contest of today. (d) I see much to admire in Scott's skill as shown in the account of the combat.

CANTO SIXTH

1. Explain: caitiff, collation, eyry, fealty, gyve, jeopardy, leech, proselyte, refluent, requiem, tinchell. 2. Explain the following lines: 43-4, 621-2, 704-5, 707. 3. Nearly all the characters, you have noted, come together in this canto. Tell how each happens to be in Stirling. 4. Some critics condemn the guardroom scene; does it seem objectionable to you? 5. What is gained by having Allan tell of the battle? Why have him tell it to Roderick? 7. Why have Roderick die? Would it have been

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