Exploring the Humanities (8-week) Romance Theme Test Post completed tests in the appropriate iNET assignment submission AND in turnitin.com

Exploring the Humanities (8-week)

Romance Theme Test

Post completed tests in the appropriate iNET assignment submission AND in turnitin.com (directions are under course title; ask instructor for password info). Turnitin.com is required for originality report purposes, as evidence that your work is your work. Short answers might have some acceptable text matches in originality reports because they contain common definitions.

Part I: Short Answer

Each short answer is worth 5 points, for a total of 30 in Part I. 

Answer 6 out of the 8 questions below with short answers (1 to 3 sentences is sufficient). If you answer all 8, only the first 6 will be read for grading.

1.   Give a specific example of the cultural definition of romance in Moonstruck.

2.   Give a specific example of the dictionary definition of romance in the movie Moonstruck.

3.   What makes Romantic era classical music "romantic" and/or unique in its time?

4.   How was Impressionist art "romantic" and/or unique in its time?

5.   Name one Impressionist artist and describe how his paintings fit the Impressionist art movement. Include the name of a specific painting if you want to focus on one, or describe the artist's work in general. 

6.   Quote a line or two from Shakespeare's Sonnet XVIII (#18). Briefly explain how any one cultural or dictionary definition of romance applies to that line.

7.   Quote a line or two from John Keats' "Ode on a Grecian Urn." Briefly explain how any one cultural or dictionary definition of romance applies to that line.

8.   Quote a line or two of lyrics from one of your favorite songs (artistic or popular culture). Briefly explain how any one cultural or dictionary definition of romance applies to that line.

Part II: Essay

Each essay is worth 35 points, for a total of 70 in Part II.

Choose 2 of the 3 essay topics. Write a short (approximately 300 words or 1 page typed double spaced) essay for each. If you respond to all 3, only the first 2 will be read for grading. Each one needs a thesis statement—that is, a clear, to-the-point sentence early in the essay that summarizes and states the "gist" of the essay. 

1.   For this essay, use one of your favorite television shows (comedy or drama) that has a cultural romance theme involving passion, infatuation, or companion love. Name the show and explain how it features cultural romance and types of romantic relationships. Give the basic premise of the show and name major characters. Most importantly, explain how the show compares to any of the works (movie, art, poetry, music, etc.) we have studied and discussed in this theme. 

What does the TV show say about romance, in a way that is similar to or different from the works we have discussed? For example, how does a character in the show approach romance in a way similar to or distinctively different from the characters in Moonstruck? How might characters in the show relate to the line of one of the poems we discussed? You can use those works and/or others.

Give very specific examples from the TV show and the works you chose to compare it to. Your thesis statement could pinpoint which work(s) the show is like or how they are different. 

9.   Create a "Wedding Day Blues" (or "Wedding Day Joy") music mix of four or five songs for one of the artists, poets, or two characters in Moonstruck if the artist, poet, or characters were to get married. Songs can be artistic or popular culture. What do these songs have in common?  How do they fit the person's or characters' life or romance? Quote lyrics from the songs and explain how cultural and/or dictionary definitions of romance apply. 

10.   We, as a society, tend to think of romance strictly in the cultural definition. However, this theme shows that it also has dictionary definitions that are quite different from love and relationships. What are those dictionary definitions? Explain how the works (movie, art, etc.) that we have addressed in class express romance by any one or more of the dictionary definitions(s) that have little or nothing to do with love, love-hate, or relationships. For example, how were the British Romantic poets and the Impressionist artists imaginative? How did Loretta in Moonstruck use exaggeration?

Give very specific examples from the works you chose. You can choose one of the dictionary definitions or several, as long as you cover ones that are not about love, love-hate, or relationships. Your thesis statement can summarize how the works you chose are romantic in ways that aren't about the cultural definition of love, but other types of romance instead.