(1) Then said Christian, “You make me afraid, but whither shall I fly to be safe? If I go back to mine own country, that is prepared for fire and brimstone; and I shall certainly perish there. If I can get to the celestial city, I am sure to be in safety there. I must venture. To go back is nothing but death; to go forward is fear of death, and life everlasting beyond it. I will yet go forward.” So Mistrust and Timorous ran down the hill; and Christian went on his way. But thinking again of what he heard from the men, he felt in his bosom for his roll, that he might read therein and be comforted; but he felt and found it not.
(2) His prose is the model of the middle style: on grave subjects not formal, on light occasions not grovelling; pure without scrupulosity, and exact without apparent elaboration; always equable and always easy, without glowing words or pointed sentences. Addison never deviates from his track to snatch a grace; he seeks no ambitious ornaments and tries no hazardous innovations. His page is always luminous, but never blazes in unexpected splendour.
(3) Two men I honour, and no third. First, the toilworn Craftsman that with earth-made Implement laboriously conquers the Earth, and makes her man’s. Venerable to me is the hard Hand; crooked, coarse; wherein notwithstanding lies a cunning virtue, indefeasibly royal, as of the Sceptre of this Planet. Venerable too is the rugged face, all weather-tanned, besoiled, with its rude intelligence; for it is the face of a Man living manlike. O, but the more venerable for thy rudeness, and even because we must pity as well as love thee! Hardly-entreated Brother! For us was thy back so bent, for us were thy straight limbs and fingers so deformed: thou wert our Conscript, on whom the lot fell, and fighting our battles wert so marred.
11. Compare Shakespeare’s methods of description and characterization with those of Chaucer. Wherein lies the difference, and wherein the resemblance?
12. Give a historical account of the sonnet in English, from its inception to the death of Tennyson. Who were the most successful writers in this type of poetry, and why were they so successful?
13. Distinguish between wit and humor. In which class would you place the works of Chaucer, Bernard Shaw, Swift, Thackeray, Charles Lamb, Wilde, Goldsmith, and Shakespeare? Give reasons for your classification.
14. In what respects is Burns a national poet? Try to explain why in this respect he is unique in British literature.
15. It has been said that Shakespeare’s women characters are more important in his comedies than they are in his tragedies. Quote the examples of some of his plays in support of this statement, and try to account for it.
16. Compare any one of Shakespeare’s comedies with one by Goldsmith or Sheridan.
17. Trace the Celtic (Irish and Scottish) influence in English literature. Can you account for the comparative poverty of the Welsh influence in English?