Mid-Term Writing Test

The Nightingale and the Rose

PART A

Close reading questions 1-10
1- The student is unhappy because he is in love with a girl
a) to whom he promised red roses, which he cannot find.

2- Which two of the following statements are true?
b) The nightingale believes in true love.
d) The nightingale thinks the student knows what true love is.

3- The nightingale identifies herself with the student because
c) The student feels the same passion as her nightly song.

4- Why does the nightingale decide to sacrifice herself? Give two reasons.
- She thinks that her life is important, but that Love is more important than life. Therefore, her life is a very little price to pay in exchange for the love the student wishes for.
- She also thinks that humans are more important than birds, therefore the student is more important than herself.
Quotation: "Yet Love is more important than Life, and what is the heart of a bird compared to the heart of a man?"

5- The nightingale describes love as being wiser than Philosophy, and stronger than Power, with wings and a body that are coloured like flame, and lips as sweet as honey, and his breath is like frankincense.

6- Why doesn't the student understand what the nightingale is saying?
"The Student looked up from the grass, and listened, but he could not understand what the Nightingale was saying to him, for he only knew the things that are written down in books."

7- What tdoes the student think about the nightingale's song for the oak tree? He thinks that it
b) is only a meaningless song with some beautiful notes.

8- Why does the student think the beautiful rose has a long Latin name?
He only finds beauty (or understands) the things that are written down in books; therefore, the amazing rose he found has to be scientifically beautiful, thus the long Latin name.

9- What three reasons does the professor's daughter give for refusing the red rose?
- She tells him that the red rose will not go with her dress.
- She says that the Chamberlain's nephew gave her jewels, and since jewels cost more than roses, she values it more.
- She says that he is only a Student, and that he probably doesn't have silver buckles to his shoes, as the Chamberlain's nephew has.

She is very superficial and materialistic.

10- What happens to the rose?
Angry and the Professor's daughter, the Student "threw the rose into the street, where it fell into the gutter, and a cart-wheel went over it."

PART B

450 words text on the irony in The Nightingale and the Rose

The short story "The Nightingale and the Rose", by Oscar Wilde, is a widely known poetic love story. At first glance, it may look like any other little love story, but if read carefully, the reader will notice the deeper meaning of the text. Love is a theme exploited thorough the ages by various authors, scenarists or poets. It is a subject almost everyone can relate to; therefore, most people are interested in the material created about it. In this short story, the theme of love is stained by irony, which adds depth to the text and creates a surprising ending.

In the beginning of the story, both the Nightingale and the Student share the same wish: for the Student and the Professor's daughter to fall madly in love. The Student is weeping because he cannot find a red rose to give her and fears that she will reject him for it. The Nightingale, seeing the boy's despair, helps him the best she can: she sacrifices her life to make him the most beautiful of all the roses to give to his maiden, to earn her love. It may seem like a wonderfully touching love story with a happy ending, but this is where irony kicks in. First of all, when the Nightingale sings for the oak tree before her sacrifice, the Student does not understand her song: "In fact, she's like most artists; she is all style, without any sincerity. She would not sacrifice herself for others." It is undeniably ironic, because in fact it is her last song before her sacrifice for him! After her death, he did not recognize the Nightingale's work at all. On the contrary, after finding it he said: "Why, what a wonderful piece of luck!”. The bird's noble gesture is not valued or even noticed: that is the very opposite of what was expected, and is thus ironic.

The story ends with the Student’s attempt to give the rose to the woman of his dreams. To the reader's surprise, the girl refuses it because a rose is not worth enough money. The idealized romantic 'princess' is in fact a superficial and materialistic brat! She refuses the rose and dismisses the Student, who throws the rose in the street in frustration. The rose is then rolled over by a car and totally destructed. In anger, the Student then returns to his books, saying that love is in fact useless compared to Philosophy and Metaphysics. This ending is not what the Nightingale nor the Student intended in the beginning at all. It is very dramatic, in an ironic way, because the bird’s death did not serve any purpose and goes unnoticed by both the lovers.

450 words