Allusion, figurative language, and tone to convey Wolsey’s complex response to his dismissal from court (Shakespeare’s play Henry VIII)
A Sample Essay Question with 2 Sample Answers & Scoring Comments
(For Students of 2011)
In the following speech from Shakespeare’s play Henry VIII, Cardinal Wolsey considers his sudden downfall from his position as advisor to the king. Spokesmen for the king have just left Wolsey alone on stage. Read the speech carefully. Then write a well-organized essay in which you analyze how Shakespeare uses elements such as allusion, figurative language, and tone to convey Wolsey’s complex response to his dismissal from court.
1. So farewell—to the little good you bear me.
2. Farewell? a long farewell to all my greatness!
3. This is the state of man: to-day he puts forth
4. The tender leaves of hopes, to-morrow blossoms,
5. And bears his blushing honors thick upon him;
6. The third day comes a frost, a killing frost,
7. And when he thinks, good easy man, full surely
8. His greatness is a-ripening, nips his root,
9. And then he falls as I do. I have ventur’d,
10. Like little wanton boys that swim on bladders,1
11. This many summers in a sea of glory,
12. But far beyond my depth. My high-blown pride
13. At length broke under me, and now has left me,
14. Weary and old with service, to the mercy
15. Of a rude stream that must for ever hide me.
16. Vain pomp and glory of this world, I hate ye!
17. I feel my heart new open’d. O how wretched
18. Is that poor man that hangs on princes’ favors!
19. There is, betwixt that smile we would aspire to,
20. That sweet aspect of princes, and their ruin,
21. More pangs and fears than wars or women have;
22. And when he falls, he falls like Lucifer,2
23. Never to hope again.
Sample Essay A (675 words) [with my inserted comments]
A writer must employ a variety of rhetorical devices in order to convey the emotions of a character. If these techniques are used well, the character becomes more real to the reader. In his play Henry VIII, William Shakespeare does a remarkable job of conveying the emotions of his
(For Students of 2011)
In the following speech from Shakespeare’s play Henry VIII, Cardinal Wolsey considers his sudden downfall from his position as advisor to the king. Spokesmen for the king have just left Wolsey alone on stage. Read the speech carefully. Then write a well-organized essay in which you analyze how Shakespeare uses elements such as allusion, figurative language, and tone to convey Wolsey’s complex response to his dismissal from court.
1. So farewell—to the little good you bear me.
2. Farewell? a long farewell to all my greatness!
3. This is the state of man: to-day he puts forth
4. The tender leaves of hopes, to-morrow blossoms,
5. And bears his blushing honors thick upon him;
6. The third day comes a frost, a killing frost,
7. And when he thinks, good easy man, full surely
8. His greatness is a-ripening, nips his root,
9. And then he falls as I do. I have ventur’d,
10. Like little wanton boys that swim on bladders,1
11. This many summers in a sea of glory,
12. But far beyond my depth. My high-blown pride
13. At length broke under me, and now has left me,
14. Weary and old with service, to the mercy
15. Of a rude stream that must for ever hide me.
16. Vain pomp and glory of this world, I hate ye!
17. I feel my heart new open’d. O how wretched
18. Is that poor man that hangs on princes’ favors!
19. There is, betwixt that smile we would aspire to,
20. That sweet aspect of princes, and their ruin,
21. More pangs and fears than wars or women have;
22. And when he falls, he falls like Lucifer,2
23. Never to hope again.
Sample Essay A (675 words) [with my inserted comments]
A writer must employ a variety of rhetorical devices in order to convey the emotions of a character. If these techniques are used well, the character becomes more real to the reader. In his play Henry VIII, William Shakespeare does a remarkable job of conveying the emotions of his