Question

The Man Without a Country
by Hackett, Walter (adaptation)

NARRATOR: Four more years passed, and Nolan’s requests for news of his native land continued to be denied. His newspapers were scissored, his books censored. One evening he went up on deck of the ship he then called “home,” where there was a small gathering of officers. Nolan approached them.

NOLAN: Please, don’t let me disturb your conversation.

3RD OFFICER: We were just reading aloud. . .it helps pass the time.

NOLAN: What an excellent idea! What are you reading?

4TH OFFICER: It’s a poem by Sir Walter Scott. “The Lay of the Last Minstrel.”

NOLAN: Hm-m. I don’t believe I know that one.

5TH OFFICER: Why don’t you read it to us, Mr. Nolan? You’re a much better reader than any of the rest of us.

NOLAN: Very well. I’ll give it a try. (Clears his throat, then reads)

“Breathes there a man, with soul so dead,

Who never to himself hath said,

This is my own, my native land! (Coughs slightly, then continues)

Whose heart hath ne’er within him burn’d,

As home his footsteps he hath turn’d,

From wandering on a foreign strand! (Pauses)

For him. . .(Pauses) for him no minstrel raptures swell;

High though his titles, proud his name,

Boundless his wealth as wish can claim,

Despite those titles, power, and pelf,

The—the wretch—the wretch concentered all in self. . . .”

NARRATOR: Nolan’s eyes filled with tears, and he suddenly stopped reading. Giving a distraught look to the seated officers, he pitched the book into the sea. (After a pause) The years passed by. . .1820, 1830, 1840. . . .



The Man Without a Country, by Edward Everett Hale, adapted by Walter Hackett. leman, by Moliere, adapted by Lewy Olfson. © This play is reprinted from Plays, The Drama Magazine for Young People with the permission of the publisher Plays/Sterling Partners Inc. 897 Washington Street #600160, Newton, MA 02460

Question
Use the scene to answer the question.

How does the playwright develop the mood in this scene?

(1 point)
Responses

The mood is joyful in the beginning of the scene, but as the scene goes on the mood becomes depressed.
The mood is joyful in the beginning of the scene, but as the scene goes on the mood becomes depressed.

The mood is calm in the beginning of the scene, but as the scene goes on the mood becomes sorrowful.
The mood is calm in the beginning of the scene, but as the scene goes on the mood becomes sorrowful.

The mood is tense in the beginning of the scene, but as the scene goes on the mood becomes aggressive.
The mood is tense in the beginning of the scene, but as the scene goes on the mood becomes aggressive.

The mood is awkward in the beginning of the scene, but as the scene goes on the mood becomes haunted.
The mood is awkward in the beginning of the scene, but as the scene goes on the mood becomes haunted.

Answer 1

The mood is calm in the beginning of the scene, but as the scene goes on the mood becomes sorrowful.

Explanation: The officers are quietly reading to pass the time, but Nolan’s emotional reaction to the poem—tearing up, stopping, and throwing the book into the sea—creates a sorrowful, mournful mood.