Sara Martín Alegre P08/04540/02135

a)
Ros and Guil find it difficult to recall how their day began. Why does this worry them?
b)
Comment on the stage directions used in this passage. In your view, do they help or
hinder the task of the actor?
c)
Comment on the ambiguous meaning of the word "directions" as used by Guil. Does
he mean "stage directions" –as they are, after all, characters in a play– or "travel directions"
–as they seem to be going somewhere– or just some guidance in life?
d)
In 
Aspects of the Novel
(1927), E. M. Forster speaks of "flat" and "round" characters.
Forster argues that flat characters can be described in just one line, have a limited
development and are often associated with a particular way of speaking, whereas round
characters are always capable of surprising the reader by taking new directions. In 
Hamlet
,
Rosencrantz and Guilderstern are flat characters. In your view, do they seem to be flat
or round characters in Stoppard's play?

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© FUOC
• P08/04540/02135
28
Post-War English Literature 1945-1990
4. English Poetry 1945-1990
The history of post-war poetry is initially the history of the poets'
constant fluctuations towards and away from 
T.� S.� Eliot
and 
W.
H.� Auden
. Eliot's Modernist experimentalism and Auden's rational,
moralising, politically committed poetry offered post-war poets two
eloquent alternatives that could not be ignored. Yet, post-war poetry
was also influenced by the remarkable integration of the poet and the
academic world.
The market for poetry is limited and this has forced poets to seek
other means of securing financial support. Thus, most English poets hold
university positions as lecturers or writers in residence, frequently in
American universities. Otherwise, their professional occupations are related
to publishing or literary journalism.
Poets who are professional writers, and these are very few, usually combine
poetry with other genres. Contemporary poets live and work, therefore, in
a much more limited cultural territory than novelists or playwrights. This
does not mean, however, that contemporary poetry is uniform in tone and
content –quite the contrary; post-war poetry is as varied as post-war novels
and post-war drama.
Post-war poetry also reflects the breakdown of the unity of English.
Other