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?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?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;
How does the playwright develop the mood in this scene?
(1 point)
Responses
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.
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.
1 answer
The mood is calm in the beginning of the scene, but as the scene goes on, the mood becomes sorrowful.
The initial interaction feels polite and serene, as Nolan approaches the officers without interrupting their activity. However, as Nolan reads the poem about longing for one’s homeland, the reader can sense a shift toward melancholy, particularly as the themes of loss and longing for a native land become prominent. The contrast between the calm atmosphere and the profound sorrow conveyed in the poem enhances the emotional weight of the scene.
1 answer