Semi-Barbaric Ap Language Essay

 Discuss language use. Why is the king described as “semi-barbaric”? Do you believe he is semi-barbaric?
Direct characterization, foreshadowing, and metaphors were some of the figurative language that was used in the story. One example of foreshadowing in the story is how the readers knows that the princess hates the beautiful young lady who waits behind one of the doors. She is extremely jealous of her, and it is possible to conclude that she may not signal her lover to pick the door where the lady waits to marry her beloved. The king is described as “semi- barbaric” because he has two personalities. He is half barbaric, which means he acts brutal (hurts/ kills people over little things) and he is half civilized which shows he has government

and some respect to others. I believe he is semi- barbaric because in the first paragraph of the story it says how his nature was bland and genial. This shows that the king was sometimes friendly to people.

 What does the following quotation mean:
“for nothing pleased him so much as to make the crooked straight and crush down uneven places”?
I think the quotation means that the king liked everything in his life to be perfect. This tells me that the king is a perfectionist and never likes anything out of order. The king would get mad at his servants if anything is out of order.

 Read the passage below and consider the idea of chance. Is the amphitheater an agent of justice? Why/ why not?
“This vast amphitheater, with its encircling galleries, its mysterious vaults, and its unseen passages, was an agent of poetic justice, in which crime was punished, or virtue rewarded, by the decrees of an impartial and incorruptible chance.

The amphitheater is an agent of justice. This is because the king built this place for a criminal to pick between two doors (a beautiful lady or a dangerous tiger). The king needed a way to administer justice so he did it through building an amphitheater.

 A satire is described as a “literary work holding up human vices and follies to ridicule or scorn.” Is this story a satire? Why/why not?
This story is a satire. This because the princess must pick a door for her lover. She gets the choice of happiness for the man, or the choice or torture and death.

 Among his “courtiers was a young man of that fineness of blood and lowness of station common to the conventional heroes of romance who love royal maidens” – what does this mean?

I think that it is sort of making fun of romantic stories. It is saying that all of these stories have a hero in them who is in love with a princess but who is poor and does not have a high-status position. In other words, the hero who loves the princess is often poor, but whose love is true and loyal. In this case, these words set up the essential conflict which the princess must face which is either to allow her loving hero to live but with another woman, or have her lover die so that he belongs only to her even in death. The "fineness of blood" is to indicate that the young man is a truly fine man, but with no position or wealth to change his station in life, he has no prospects for marrying the princess. Thus, her choice will be final and a test of what the reader believes about love.

 Is loving the prince a crime, as the king believes? Why does the princess go to the spectacle?
I don’t believe that loving the prince is a crime.

The princess had every right to be in love with the prince. The princess goes to the spectacle because she decides on the door for the prince (a punishment or a reward). She gets the final decision of the prince’s future which is either love or torture.

 What is Frank Stockton’s view on women? How do you know? What does he mean when he claims, “gold, and the power of a woman’s will, had brought the secret to the princess”?
The author’s view on women is that they have all the power in the end. In the story, the prince’s future lies in the hands of the princess. I know this because he wrote a story portraying the princess (woman) with all the power. The author meant by that quotation is that the princess knew which door held the lady. She knew this by gold and her intuition.

 Should the prince trust the princess? Why or why not?
I think the prince should trust the princess. They once loved each other, so they’ve experienced trust and honesty with one another. I think the princess will do the right thing if she loved him.

 Characterization: How is the princess portrayed? Do you feel sympathy for the princess? Why/why not? Is she a round or flat

character?
The princess is portrayed as a victim and villain in the story in the story. She’s a victim because her father is making her pick the punishment/reward for her lover. She’s the villain also because she could pick the door with the tiger for the lover because she is jealous of the lady that could potentially marry the prince. I feel sympathy for the princess. She doesn’t deserve to lose her lover and give him up (either way they won’t be together another). I would be very sad if I was the princess. I wouldn’t want to give up my love because of my father. It isn’t right for him to go and love another lady or be devoured by a tiger. The princess is a round character in the story.

 Conflict: Identify three conflicts that occur in the text. Describe if they are external or internal, and what occurs as a result of the conflicts.
The main conflict in the story is between the princess and herself. The question she faces in the story is if should she should betray her lover and send him to his death or allow him to be married to someone else? This will also have her ask herself if she’s allowing herself to live in jealousy and self-consciousness for the rest of her life. This conflict is internal and the result of the conflict is an opinion (your choice to decide what happens).
Another conflict is between the suitor (prince) and the princess and the king. The king dislikes that the suitor (prince) is not royalty, but the princess and the suitor (prince) believe that it shouldn't matter in the face of love. This is an external conflict and the result is that the king sends the suitor to the amphitheater to have the princess pick a door for him (one holds a lady and the other holds a tiger). The result of which door she picks is the reader’s decision.
The last conflict that I would consider would be an internal conflict of the suitor--should he listen to the princess or choose the door she doesn't point to?

This result is also an opinion because the author leaves it up to you to determine how the story will end.

 How is the cliffhanger an effective literary device?
The cliffhanger is an effective literary device. This is because the readers will never know the ending to the story. This will cause us to wonder forever what door the princess picked for her lover. We’ll be curious and hanging off our heels until we know the result. Cliffhangers will make us want to research for an answer. They will also make us emotional (angry, curious, etc.)

 After our classroom discussion, use the space below to write reasons why you think the princess chose the lady, and why she chose the tiger.
The Lady
The Tiger

• Doesn’t want him hurt
• Wants him to be with someone since she can’t have him
• Wants him to experience love
• He’s safe and alive- possibility they can see another again (even though he’ll be with someone else)
• Knows he’ll happy and thankful for saving his life
• She’ll be doing the right thing (won’t regret

it)

• Jealous of the lovely lady so she doesn’t want him with her
• Angry that her father separated him from her
• Comes from a father who is a barbarian (has a violent, torturing background)
• No one can have him, only her
• She’ll be united with him in Heaven