British Lit/Comp B MIDTERM

Read the selection. Then, answer the question that follows.

Prior to the emergence of Henrik Ibsen, Denmark’s playwrights were generally expected to portray
an ideal world in which good always won out over evil, and characters did not have to be believable but
had to represent clear ideas. Playwrights created characters by exaggerating one simple trait, such as
greed, love, or honor. As a result, Danish plays tended to show a world that was very unlike the real
world with its complex people and issues.
Henrik Ibsen’s plays presented a reality that Danish audiences found shocking and new. He abandoned
the artificial style of his contemporaries and created a new, more realistic kind of theater. Ibsen’s
themes and ideas challenged society rather than accept it, and brought ideas to the stage that many
people wanted to ignore. For example, many writers of the time tried to celebrate the nobility of the
community, but in An Enemy of the People, Ibsen shows how a community can be corrupt. The play
focuses on one man’s attempt to tell the truth about a danger to a town’s water supply, only to find that
both the politicians and the townspeople were willing to turn their backs on the truth in order to protect
the source of their income.
Ibsen created believable, three-dimensional characters, and provided a rationale for his characters
actions. His characters exemplify the complicated psychology of real people.

What were characters like in plays prior to Henrik Ibsen?

Read the selection. Then, answer the question that follows.
Prior to the emergence of Henrik Ibsen, Denmark’s playwrights were generally expected to portray
an ideal world in which good always won out over evil, and characters did not have to be believable but
had to represent clear ideas. Playwrights created characters by exaggerating one simple trait, such as
greed, love, or honor. As a result, Danish plays tended to show a world that was very unlike the real
world with its complex people and issues.
Henrik Ibsen’s plays presented a reality that Danish audiences found shocking and new. He abandoned
the artificial style of his contemporaries and created a new, more realistic kind of theater. Ibsen’s
themes and ideas challenged society rather than accept it, and brought ideas to the stage that many
people wanted to ignore. For example, many writers of the time tried to celebrate the nobility of the
community, but in An Enemy of the People, Ibsen shows how a community can be corrupt. The play
focuses on one man’s attempt to tell the truth about a danger to a town’s water supply, only to find that
both the politicians and the townspeople were willing to turn their backs on the truth in order to protect
the source of their income.
Ibsen created believable, three-dimensional characters, and provided a rationale for his characters
actions. His characters exemplify the complicated psychology of real people.

Which of the following best describes people’s reaction to Ibsen’s themes and ideas?

How does a parable differ from a sermon?

The Greek prefix ana- means “backward.” Why might the appearance of a clock in a Shakespearean play be called anachronistic?

Read the selection. Then, answer the questions that follow.
In the nineteenth century, consumers had little protection against false advertising. Unregulated
advertising led to dangerous business practices and even created an atmosphere for consumers. In the
twentieth century, many countries started to regulate advertising claims and medical treatments. Today,
many governments believe that consumers are entitled to receive honest information from advertisers,
and modern laws help make sure that the information presented in advertisements is fair and truthful.
Laws about truth in advertising help to protect public health—the health of an entire community. In
the United States, the agency that would become the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was founded
in 1927 to regulate many things that could affect public health, including foods and medicines. The
stated goal of the FDA, and similar agencies in other countries, is to ensure that these types of products
are safe for the public to use. Special care is taken to make sure that new medicines are as safe as possible,
thus the process of releasing a new drug can last several years while researchers conduct tests and
evaluate data.
Governments also recognize that pollution damages public health and that many substances can pollute
the air, water, land and, possibly, the food supply. As a result, laws have been passed to limit the
number of impurities that can be found in drinking water or in food.

What do modern laws require of advertisers?

Read the selection. Then, answer the questions that follow.
In the nineteenth century, consumers had little protection against false advertising. Unregulated
advertising led to dangerous business practices and even created an atmosphere for consumers. In the
twentieth century, many countries started to regulate advertising claims and medical treatments. Today,
many governments believe that consumers are entitled to receive honest information from advertisers,
and modern laws help make sure that the information presented in advertisements is fair and truthful.
Laws about truth in advertising help to protect public health—the health of an entire community. In
the United States, the agency that would become the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was founded
in 1927 to regulate many things that could affect public health, including foods and medicines. The
stated goal of the FDA, and similar agencies in other countries, is to ensure that these types of products
are safe for the public to use. Special care is taken to make sure that new medicines are as safe as possible,
thus the process of releasing a new drug can last several years while researchers conduct tests and
evaluate data.
Governments also recognize that pollution damages public health and that many substances can pollute
the air, water, land and, possibly, the food supply. As a result, laws have been passed to limit the
number of impurities that can be found in drinking water or in food.

Why did governments in the twentieth century begin to regulate advertising claims?

Read the selection. Then, answer the question that follows.

Prior to the emergence of Henrik Ibsen, Denmark’s playwrights were generally expected to portray
an ideal world in which good always won out over evil, and characters did not have to be believable but
had to represent clear ideas. Playwrights created characters by exaggerating one simple trait, such as
greed, love, or honor. As a result, Danish plays tended to show a world that was very unlike the real
world with its complex people and issues.
Henrik Ibsen’s plays presented a reality that Danish audiences found shocking and new. He abandoned
the artificial style of his contemporaries and created a new, more realistic kind of theater. Ibsen’s
themes and ideas challenged society rather than accept it, and brought ideas to the stage that many
people wanted to ignore. For example, many writers of the time tried to celebrate the nobility of the
community, but in An Enemy of the People, Ibsen shows how a community can be corrupt. The play
focuses on one man’s attempt to tell the truth about a danger to a town’s water supply, only to find that
both the politicians and the townspeople were willing to turn their backs on the truth in order to protect
the source of their income.
Ibsen created believable, three-dimensional characters, and provided a rationale for his characters
actions. His characters exemplify the complicated psychology of real people.

How were Henrik Ibsen’s plays different from previous plays?

Which statement about proper nouns is true?

Read the selection. Then, answer the question that follows.

Prior to the emergence of Henrik Ibsen, Denmark’s playwrights were generally expected to portray
an ideal world in which good always won out over evil, and characters did not have to be believable but
had to represent clear ideas. Playwrights created characters by exaggerating one simple trait, such as
greed, love, or honor. As a result, Danish plays tended to show a world that was very unlike the real
world with its complex people and issues.
Henrik Ibsen’s plays presented a reality that Danish audiences found shocking and new. He abandoned
the artificial style of his contemporaries and created a new, more realistic kind of theater. Ibsen’s
themes and ideas challenged society rather than accept it, and brought ideas to the stage that many
people wanted to ignore. For example, many writers of the time tried to celebrate the nobility of the
community, but in An Enemy of the People, Ibsen shows how a community can be corrupt. The play
focuses on one man’s attempt to tell the truth about a danger to a town’s water supply, only to find that
both the politicians and the townspeople were willing to turn their backs on the truth in order to protect
the source of their income.
Ibsen created believable, three-dimensional characters, and provided a rationale for his characters
actions. His characters exemplify the complicated psychology of real people.

Which of the following best explains what the characters in Ibsen’s plays reflect?

Read Portia’s famous speech from The Merchant of Venice, a play by William Shakespeare. Then, answer the question that follows.

The quality of mercy is not strain’d,
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath: it is twice blest;
5 It blesseth him that gives and him that takes:
’Tis mightiest in the mightiest: it becomes
The thronéd monarch better than his crown;
His sceptre shows the force of temporal power,
The attribute to awe and majesty,
Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings;
10 But mercy is above this sceptred sway;
It is enthroned in the hearts of kings,
It is an attribute to God himself;
And earthly power doth then show likest God’s
When mercy seasons . . . justice.

What verse form does Portia’s speech use?

Which of the following excerpts from “Lord Randall” contains an example of direct address?

Read the selection. Then, answer the question that follows.
Prior to the emergence of Henrik Ibsen, Denmark’s playwrights were generally expected to portray
an ideal world in which good always won out over evil, and characters did not have to be believable but
had to represent clear ideas. Playwrights created characters by exaggerating one simple trait, such as
greed, love, or honor. As a result, Danish plays tended to show a world that was very unlike the real
world with its complex people and issues.
Henrik Ibsen’s plays presented a reality that Danish audiences found shocking and new. He abandoned
the artificial style of his contemporaries and created a new, more realistic kind of theater. Ibsen’s
themes and ideas challenged society rather than accept it, and brought ideas to the stage that many
people wanted to ignore. For example, many writers of the time tried to celebrate the nobility of the
community, but in An Enemy of the People, Ibsen shows how a community can be corrupt. The play
focuses on one man’s attempt to tell the truth about a danger to a town’s water supply, only to find that
both the politicians and the townspeople were willing to turn their backs on the truth in order to protect
the source of their income.
Ibsen created believable, three-dimensional characters, and provided a rationale for his characters
actions. His characters exemplify the complicated psychology of real people.

What does the main character in An Enemy of the People attempt to do?

Read Holy Sonnet 7 by British poet John Donne. Then, answer the questions that follow.

At the round earth’s imagined corners, blow
Your trumpets, angels; and arise, arise
From death, you numberless infinities
Of souls, and to your scattered bodies go;
5 All whom the flood did, and fire shall o’erthrow,
All whom war, dearth,° age, agues,° tyrannies,
Despair, law, chance, hath slain, and you whose eyes
Shall behold God and never taste death’s woe.
But let them sleep, Lord, and me mourn a space,
10 For if above all these my sins abound,
’Tis late to ask abundance of thy grace
When we are there; here on this lowly ground
Teach me how to repent; for that’s as good
As if thou hadst sealed my pardon with thy blood.

° dearth= scarcity of food
° agues= fevers

Which of these text aids would give you the best general understanding of the poem?

Read the selection. Then, answer the questions that follow.
In the nineteenth century, consumers had little protection against false advertising. Unregulated
advertising led to dangerous business practices and even created an atmosphere for consumers. In the
twentieth century, many countries started to regulate advertising claims and medical treatments. Today,
many governments believe that consumers are entitled to receive honest information from advertisers,
and modern laws help make sure that the information presented in advertisements is fair and truthful.
Laws about truth in advertising help to protect public health—the health of an entire community. In
the United States, the agency that would become the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was founded
in 1927 to regulate many things that could affect public health, including foods and medicines. The
stated goal of the FDA, and similar agencies in other countries, is to ensure that these types of products
are safe for the public to use. Special care is taken to make sure that new medicines are as safe as possible,
thus the process of releasing a new drug can last several years while researchers conduct tests and
evaluate data.
Governments also recognize that pollution damages public health and that many substances can pollute
the air, water, land and, possibly, the food supply. As a result, laws have been passed to limit the
number of impurities that can be found in drinking water or in food.

What have governments learned about pollution?

Read this sonnet by the Elizabethan poet Michael Drayton. Then, answer the question.

Like an adventurous seafarer am I
Who hath some long and dang’rous voyage been,
And called° to tell of his discovery,
How far he sailed, what countries he had seen;
5 Proceeding from the port whence° he put forth,
Shows by his compass how his course he steered,
When east, when west, when south, and when by north,
As how the pole to ev’ry place was reared,°
What capes he doubled, of what continent,
10 The gulfs and straits that strangely he had passed,
Where most becalmed, where with foul weather spent,°
And on what rocks in peril to be cast:
Thus in my love, time calls me to relate
My tedious travels and oft-varying fate.

°called= visited
°whence= from where
°was reared= rose up
° spent= exhausted


This sonnet was the introductory sonnet in Drayton’s series of sonnets called Idea. From the details in this sonnet, what can a reader infer that the whole series will be about?

Read this stanza from Spenser’s Prothalamion. Then, answer the question that follows.

There in the Meadow, by the River’s side,
A Flock of Nymphs° I chancéd to espy,
All lovely Daughters of the Flood° thereby,
With goodly greenish locks all loose untied,
5 As each had been a Bride,
And each one had a little wicker basket,
Made of fine twigs entrailéd° curiously,
In which they gathered flowers to fill their flasket:°
And with fine Fingers cropped full feateously
10 The tender stalks on high.
Of every sort which in the Meadow grew,
They gathered some; the Violet pallid blew,
The little Daisy that at evening closes,
The virgin Lily, and the Primrose true,
15 With a store of vermeil Roses,
To deck their Bridegrooms’ posies
Against the Bridal day, which was not long:
Sweet Thames run softly, till I end my song.

° Nymphs= young maidens
° Flood= River
° entrailéd= interlaced
° flasket= basket

What kinds of people does the speaker describe?

Read the selection. Then, answer the questions that follow.
In the nineteenth century, consumers had little protection against false advertising. Unregulated
advertising led to dangerous business practices and even created an atmosphere for consumers. In the
twentieth century, many countries started to regulate advertising claims and medical treatments. Today,
many governments believe that consumers are entitled to receive honest information from advertisers,
and modern laws help make sure that the information presented in advertisements is fair and truthful.
Laws about truth in advertising help to protect public health—the health of an entire community. In
the United States, the agency that would become the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was founded
in 1927 to regulate many things that could affect public health, including foods and medicines. The
stated goal of the FDA, and similar agencies in other countries, is to ensure that these types of products
are safe for the public to use. Special care is taken to make sure that new medicines are as safe as possible,
thus the process of releasing a new drug can last several years while researchers conduct tests and
evaluate data.
Governments also recognize that pollution damages public health and that many substances can pollute
the air, water, land and, possibly, the food supply. As a result, laws have been passed to limit the
number of impurities that can be found in drinking water or in food.

What is the purpose of laws about truth in advertising?

What is the chief type of metrical foot used in both sonnets and blank verse?

Read the selection. Then, answer the questions that follow.
In the nineteenth century, consumers had little protection against false advertising. Unregulated
advertising led to dangerous business practices and even created an atmosphere for consumers. In the
twentieth century, many countries started to regulate advertising claims and medical treatments. Today,
many governments believe that consumers are entitled to receive honest information from advertisers,
and modern laws help make sure that the information presented in advertisements is fair and truthful.
Laws about truth in advertising help to protect public health—the health of an entire community. In
the United States, the agency that would become the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was founded
in 1927 to regulate many things that could affect public health, including foods and medicines. The
stated goal of the FDA, and similar agencies in other countries, is to ensure that these types of products
are safe for the public to use. Special care is taken to make sure that new medicines are as safe as possible,
thus the process of releasing a new drug can last several years while researchers conduct tests and
evaluate data.
Governments also recognize that pollution damages public health and that many substances can pollute
the air, water, land and, possibly, the food supply. As a result, laws have been passed to limit the
number of impurities that can be found in drinking water or in food.

Which of the following is one of the tasks of the Food and Drug Administration?

Read this stanza from Spenser’s Prothalamion. Then, answer the question that follows.

There in the Meadow, by the River’s side,
A Flock of Nymphs° I chancéd to espy,
All lovely Daughters of the Flood° thereby,
With goodly greenish locks all loose untied,
5 As each had been a Bride,
And each one had a little wicker basket,
Made of fine twigs entrailéd° curiously,
In which they gathered flowers to fill their flasket:°
And with fine Fingers cropped full feateously
10 The tender stalks on high.
Of every sort which in the Meadow grew,
They gathered some; the Violet pallid blew,
The little Daisy that at evening closes,
The virgin Lily, and the Primrose true,
15 With a store of vermeil Roses,
To deck their Bridegrooms’ posies
Against the Bridal day, which was not long:
Sweet Thames run softly, till I end my song.

°Nymphs= young maidens
° Flood= River
° entrailéd= interlaced
° flasket= basket

What form of writing does the stanza illustrate?

Based on your understanding of the root -voc-, what does vocalize mean in this sentence?

Because of a mouth injury, he was unable to vocalize his thoughts.

Read the selection. Then, answer the question that follows.

Prior to the emergence of Henrik Ibsen, Denmark’s playwrights were generally expected to portray
an ideal world in which good always won out over evil, and characters did not have to be believable but
had to represent clear ideas. Playwrights created characters by exaggerating one simple trait, such as
greed, love, or honor. As a result, Danish plays tended to show a world that was very unlike the real
world with its complex people and issues.
Henrik Ibsen’s plays presented a reality that Danish audiences found shocking and new. He abandoned
the artificial style of his contemporaries and created a new, more realistic kind of theater. Ibsen’s
themes and ideas challenged society rather than accept it, and brought ideas to the stage that many
people wanted to ignore. For example, many writers of the time tried to celebrate the nobility of the
community, but in An Enemy of the People, Ibsen shows how a community can be corrupt. The play
focuses on one man’s attempt to tell the truth about a danger to a town’s water supply, only to find that
both the politicians and the townspeople were willing to turn their backs on the truth in order to protect
the source of their income.
Ibsen created believable, three-dimensional characters, and provided a rationale for his characters
actions. His characters exemplify the complicated psychology of real people.

What were Denmark’s plays like before Henrik Ibsen?

The correct contraction of "we are" is which of the following?

Which of these sentences uses an action verb?

Read the selection. Then, answer the questions that follow.
In the nineteenth century, consumers had little protection against false advertising. Unregulated
advertising led to dangerous business practices and even created an atmosphere for consumers. In the
twentieth century, many countries started to regulate advertising claims and medical treatments. Today,
many governments believe that consumers are entitled to receive honest information from advertisers,
and modern laws help make sure that the information presented in advertisements is fair and truthful.
Laws about truth in advertising help to protect public health—the health of an entire community. In
the United States, the agency that would become the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was founded
in 1927 to regulate many things that could affect public health, including foods and medicines. The
stated goal of the FDA, and similar agencies in other countries, is to ensure that these types of products
are safe for the public to use. Special care is taken to make sure that new medicines are as safe as possible,
thus the process of releasing a new drug can last several years while researchers conduct tests and
evaluate data.
Governments also recognize that pollution damages public health and that many substances can pollute
the air, water, land and, possibly, the food supply. As a result, laws have been passed to limit the
number of impurities that can be found in drinking water or in food.

Which is the best description of action taken by governments to control pollution?

Read Portia’s famous speech from The Merchant of Venice, a play by William Shakespeare. Then, answer the question that follows.

The quality of mercy is not strain’d,
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath: it is twice blest;
5 It blesseth him that gives and him that takes:
’Tis mightiest in the mightiest: it becomes
The thronéd monarch better than his crown;
His sceptre shows the force of temporal power,
The attribute to awe and majesty,
Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings;
10 But mercy is above this sceptred sway;
It is enthroned in the hearts of kings,
It is an attribute to God himself;
And earthly power doth then show likest God’s
When mercy seasons . . . justice.

If you were paraphrasing Portia’s speech, which is the best restatement of lines 12–14?

Read Portia’s famous speech from The Merchant of Venice, a play by William Shakespeare. Then, answer the question that follows.

The quality of mercy is not strain’d,
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath: it is twice blest;
5 It blesseth him that gives and him that takes:
’Tis mightiest in the mightiest: it becomes
The thronéd monarch better than his crown;
His sceptre shows the force of temporal power,
The attribute to awe and majesty,
Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings;
10 But mercy is above this sceptred sway;
It is enthroned in the hearts of kings,
It is an attribute to God himself;
And earthly power doth then show likest God’s
When mercy seasons . . . justice.

A sceptre (or scepter) is a rod or staff held by kings as a symbol of their authority. What can readers infer that Portia means by “sceptred sway” in line 10?

Read this stanza from Spenser’s Prothalamion. Then, answer the question that follows.

There in the Meadow, by the River’s side,
A Flock of Nymphs° I chancéd to espy,
All lovely Daughters of the Flood° thereby,
With goodly greenish locks all loose untied,
5 As each had been a Bride,
And each one had a little wicker basket,
Made of fine twigs entrailéd° curiously,
In which they gathered flowers to fill their flasket:°
And with fine Fingers cropped full feateously
10 The tender stalks on high.
Of every sort which in the Meadow grew,
They gathered some; the Violet pallid blew,
The little Daisy that at evening closes,
The virgin Lily, and the Primrose true,
15 With a store of vermeil Roses,
To deck their Bridegrooms’ posies
Against the Bridal day, which was not long:
Sweet Thames run softly, till I end my song.

° Nymphs= young maidens
° Flood= River
° entrailéd= interlaced
° flasket= basket

Which sentence is the best summary of the stanza?

Read this sonnet by the Elizabethan poet Michael Drayton. Then, answer the question.

Like an adventurous seafarer am I
Who hath some long and dang’rous voyage been,
And called° to tell of his discovery,
How far he sailed, what countries he had seen;
5 Proceeding from the port whence° he put forth,
Shows by his compass how his course he steered,
When east, when west, when south, and when by north,
As how the pole to ev’ry place was reared,°
What capes he doubled, of what continent,
10 The gulfs and straits that strangely he had passed,
Where most becalmed, where with foul weather spent,°
And on what rocks in peril to be cast:
Thus in my love, time calls me to relate
My tedious travels and oft-varying fate.

°called= visited
°whence= from where
°was reared= rose up
° spent= exhausted

When you identify with the speaker in this sonnet, what do you understand?

Read Holy Sonnet 7 by British poet John Donne. Then, answer the question that follows.

At the round earth’s imagined corners, blow
Your trumpets, angels; and arise, arise
From death, you numberless infinities
Of souls, and to your scattered bodies go;
5 All whom the flood did, and fire shall o’erthrow,
All whom war, dearth,° age, agues,° tyrannies,
Despair, law, chance, hath slain, and you whose eyes
Shall behold God and never taste death’s woe.
But let them sleep, Lord, and me mourn a space,
10 For if above all these my sins abound,
’Tis late to ask abundance of thy grace
When we are there; here on this lowly ground
Teach me how to repent; for that’s as good
As if thou hadst sealed my pardon with thy blood.

° dearth= scarcity of food
° agues= fever

How does the structure of this sonnet relate to its content or theme?

How many prepositional phrases does this sentence contain?

The book of love sonnets sat on my shelf for years, but I never had time to read it.

Who or what is a psalm most likely to praise?

Read the selection. Then, answer the questions that follow.
In the nineteenth century, consumers had little protection against false advertising. Unregulated
advertising led to dangerous business practices and even created an atmosphere for consumers. In the
twentieth century, many countries started to regulate advertising claims and medical treatments. Today,
many governments believe that consumers are entitled to receive honest information from advertisers,
and modern laws help make sure that the information presented in advertisements is fair and truthful.
Laws about truth in advertising help to protect public health—the health of an entire community. In
the United States, the agency that would become the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was founded
in 1927 to regulate many things that could affect public health, including foods and medicines. The
stated goal of the FDA, and similar agencies in other countries, is to ensure that these types of products
are safe for the public to use. Special care is taken to make sure that new medicines are as safe as possible,
thus the process of releasing a new drug can last several years while researchers conduct tests and
evaluate data.
Governments also recognize that pollution damages public health and that many substances can pollute
the air, water, land and, possibly, the food supply. As a result, laws have been passed to limit the
number of impurities that can be found in drinking water or in food.

Which of the following best describes the role of the Food and Drug Administration?

Select the appropriate choice of words for the sentence below:

The center for disease control has __________ an order for reporting potential health issues.

From your knowledge of the root -sequent- and your study of sonnets, which statement best defines the literary term sonnet sequence?

Read the selection. Then, answer the question that follows.

Prior to the emergence of Henrik Ibsen, Denmark’s playwrights were generally expected to portray
an ideal world in which good always won out over evil, and characters did not have to be believable but
had to represent clear ideas. Playwrights created characters by exaggerating one simple trait, such as
greed, love, or honor. As a result, Danish plays tended to show a world that was very unlike the real
world with its complex people and issues.
Henrik Ibsen’s plays presented a reality that Danish audiences found shocking and new. He abandoned
the artificial style of his contemporaries and created a new, more realistic kind of theater. Ibsen’s
themes and ideas challenged society rather than accept it, and brought ideas to the stage that many
people wanted to ignore. For example, many writers of the time tried to celebrate the nobility of the
community, but in An Enemy of the People, Ibsen shows how a community can be corrupt. The play
focuses on one man’s attempt to tell the truth about a danger to a town’s water supply, only to find that
both the politicians and the townspeople were willing to turn their backs on the truth in order to protect
the source of their income.
Ibsen created believable, three-dimensional characters, and provided a rationale for his characters
actions. His characters exemplify the complicated psychology of real people.

What did Ibsen’s character in An Enemy of the People find in the end?

Which of these sentences is a complex sentence?

Which line from “Get Up and Bar the Door” contains an instance of direct address?

Read the selection. Then, answer the question that follows.
Prior to the emergence of Henrik Ibsen, Denmark’s playwrights were generally expected to portray
an ideal world in which good always won out over evil, and characters did not have to be believable but
had to represent clear ideas. Playwrights created characters by exaggerating one simple trait, such as
greed, love, or honor. As a result, Danish plays tended to show a world that was very unlike the real
world with its complex people and issues.
Henrik Ibsen’s plays presented a reality that Danish audiences found shocking and new. He abandoned
the artificial style of his contemporaries and created a new, more realistic kind of theater. Ibsen’s
themes and ideas challenged society rather than accept it, and brought ideas to the stage that many
people wanted to ignore. For example, many writers of the time tried to celebrate the nobility of the
community, but in An Enemy of the People, Ibsen shows how a community can be corrupt. The play
focuses on one man’s attempt to tell the truth about a danger to a town’s water supply, only to find that
both the politicians and the townspeople were willing to turn their backs on the truth in order to protect
the source of their income.
Ibsen created believable, three-dimensional characters, and provided a rationale for his characters
actions. His characters exemplify the complicated psychology of real people.

What does Ibsen demonstrate in An Enemy of the People?

Which of these statements is true of sonnets?