Question

Tom Stoppard's play, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, draws on two previous theatrical works: Shakespeare's Hamlet and Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead follows the "off-stage" exploits of two minor characters from Hamlet, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. While the two main characters in Stoppard's play occasionally make brief appearances in "Hamlet," as scripted in Shakespeare's original tragedy, the majority of the play takes place in other parts of the castle where Hamlet is set. While "off stage" in this way, the characters resemble the main characters in the absurdist Waiting for Godot. As in Beckett's play, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern pass the time by impersonating other characters, engaging in word play, and remaining silent for long periods of time. These same two characters were also featured in a parody of Hamlet, the short comic play by W. S. Gilbert entitled Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Gilbert's play makes Rosencrantz and Guildenstern into central characters and alters the storyline of Hamlet.
The author of this passage is describing
a. intellectual arguments about Shakespeare's characters
b. misunderstood representations of Shakespeare's characters
c. problematic depictions of Shakespeare's characters
d. theatrical adaptations of Shakespeare's characters

Answer 1

A prompt—executive Bird is the Jay

by Emily Dickinson

A prompt—executive Bird is the Jay—

Bold as a Bailiff's1 Hymn—

Brittle and Brief in quality—

Warrant2 in every line—

Sitting a Bough3 like a Brigadier4

Confident and straight—

Much is the mien5 of him in March

As a Magistrate6—

legal officer

legal action

branch of a tree

army officer (British)

appearance

judge

I Heard a Bird Sing

By Oliver Herford

I heard a bird sing

In the dark of December.

A magical thing

And sweet to remember.

"We are nearer to Spring

Than we were in September,”

I heard a bird sing

In the dark of December.

Review the two poems.

How does the structure compare in both poems?

Both poems have two stanzas.

Both poems are about birds.

Both poems use similes.

Both poems use metaphor.