ENGLISH
QUARTERLY ASSESSMENT REVIEWER
FORMAL FALLACY
A premise and conclusion that doesn't hold up to
scrutiny, either the premises are untrue or the
argument is invalid.
VALID ARGUMENT
Premise A: All humans are mammals.
Premise B: Some, or most, mammals are
warm-blooded.
Conclusion: All humans are warm blooded.
INVALID ARGUMENT
Premise A: All humans are mammals.
Premise B: All cats are mammals.
Conclusion: All humans are cats.
STAGE PERFORMANCE
It is a presentation of literary material. An interaction
between performers (actors) and observers
(audience members)
UTTERANCES
The speeches of the actors in a drama
PRIMARY PURPOSES
a. Voice of character: to become familiar with a
character’s authentic voice and point of view.
b. Motivation of character: to understand a
character’s behavior within a narrative.
c. Backstory of character: to provide
information and meaning for the reader, to
move the narrative forward, and indicate the
impact of a character’s traits and past events
in terms of the overall story.
TYPES OF UTTERANCES
MONOLOGUE
The word monologue is made up of the Greek roots
for alone and speak. A speech given by a single
character in a story, frequently to express their
thoughts and feelings, directed at a specific other
character or to the audience
DIALOGUE
A conversation between two or more people in a
work of literature.
SOLILOQUY
A kind of monologue, or an extended speech by one
Character. A speech that a character makes in a
work of drama is delivered only to him or herself, to
the audience, or to no one in particular.
DRAMATIC STRUCTURE
The framework that allows a story’s plot to unfold,
typically broken up into acts, scenes, and plot points.
HISTORY
Aristotle’s Poetics believed and explained that every
poetry or drama must have a beginning, middle, and
an end. There are three act structures, protasis,
epitasis, and catastrophe. Horace is a Roman poet
who advocated for five acts. Gustav Freytag, a
German playwright, developed the five-act structure
In 1863 which presented a plot diagram, commonly
known as Freytag’s pyramid or Freytag’s triangle.
PLOT / ACTS
The sequence of events in a drama or play that are
divided into acts.
a. Exposition (Beginning) - includes prologue,
contains the background information about
the characters and setting of the story. Also
known as the inciting incident.
b. Rising Action (Beginning) - where the main
character faces obstacles and trials,
complications and conflicts arise.
c. Climax (Middle) - the turning point of the
story arc, the big battle or showdown. Where
the main character faces their main conflict
head-on.
d. Falling Action (Middle) - the conflict
between the protagonist and the antagonist
unravels, creating suspense about the final
outcome, known as the plot twist.
e. Denouement (End) - the resolution of the
story or the conflict that concludes the plot,
tying up loose ends, and answering final
questions.
TYPES OF PLAYS
a. One-Act Plays or Flash Drama - Limited,
usually runs from 15 mins to an hour. It is
truer to life. Concerned with one single
incident and one single dramatic situation
with a definite aim. It is usually performed
without a break.
Ex. A Marriage Proposal, Anton Chekov.
b. Full-Length Plays or Evening-Length
Drama - Extended, runs from an hour or
more. It does not deal all the time with
realistic subject matters and sometimes the
characters are exaggerated. Have more than
one plot. It is performed with a break.
Ex. Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare.
THE MERCHANT OF VENICE
HISTORICAL CONTEXT
• Early Publications of The Merchant of Venice, it
was first printed in a quarto edition in 1600 and also
appeared in a definitive version in the First Folio of
William Shakespeare in 1623.
*Quarto - small book-sized edition of a single play.
Eight pages within a whole sheet of paper.
*The First Folio - printed in 1623, is the first
published collection of Shakespeare’s plays,
produced seven years after his death.
• Venice during the 16th Century, it was
predominantly known for its prosperity through
mercantilism and was the main trading center since
the early Middle Ages. Transportation in Venice was
done by the use of canal systems.
*Social Classes divided by a Caste System:
Patricians – the upper class
Popolani – the middle class
Cittadini – the townspeople (most are peasants)
• Religous Intolerance, the jews were seen as a
threat to Christianity. Venetian laws restricted Jews.
• Women in the Venetian Society were under the
rule of men, making women considered legally
subject to their husbands. No political power.
SETTINGS
The Merchant of Venice is set in Italy in the 16th
century, mainly in Venice — an independent
city-state. Belmont is a fictional place in rural Italy
which means 'beautiful mountain' and is the home
of Portia and her mysterious caskets. It is an
idealized “green world.”
CHARACTERS
The Merchant’s Friends
● Antonio - Christian merchant of Venice
● Bassanio - who borrows three thousand
ducats from Antonio
● Gratiano - accompanies Bassanio to
Belmont and marries Nerissa
● Lorenzo - who escaped eloped with his love,
Jessica.
● Solanio and Salarino - Antonio’s fellow
merchants
● Salerio - Venetian messenger who comes to
tell Bassanio that Antonio forfeited the loan
● Leonardo - one of Bassanio’s servants
The Belmont People
● Portia - wealthy Christian heiress who must
marry the man who chooses the correct
casket. - later marries Bassanio.
● Nerissa - attendant to Portia, plays the clerk
at the court.
● Dr. Bellario - Portia’s cousin, a law scholar
from Padua.
● Bathasar - Portia’s servant Stephano - one of
Portia’s servant, an adept musician.
● Prince of Arragon and Prince of Morocco -
Portia’s suitors who fail to win by choosing
the right caskets.
The Jew’s Affiliates
● Shylock - Jewish moneylender, demands a
pound of flesh from Antonio
● Jessica - Shylock’s daughter who breaks her
father’s heart by eloping with Lorenzo.
● Launcelot Gobbo - a clown, Shylock’s servant
before, and now Bassanio’s
● Old Gobbo - Launcelot’s elderly father,
convinces his son leave Shylock and work for
Bassanio
● Leah - Shylock’s deceased wife
● Tubal - Shylock’s fellow moneylender
● Duke of Venice - upholder of the law, ruler of
Venice who presides over Antonio’s trial
PLOT
Exposition - In Venice, a merchant named Antonio
feels sad but can't explain why. His friends, Salarino
and Solanio suggest that the reason must be due to
his commercial investments in his ships that are at
various ports.
As his friends, Bassanio, Graziano, and Lorenzo
arrive, they offer comfort to him.
Inciting Incident - Bassanio, who already owes
Antonio a substantial amount, asks Antonio for a
loan, so that he can pursue the wealthy Portia, who
lives in Belmont. He sends Bassanio to borrow
money in Antonio’s name from one of the
moneylenders in Venice. At Belmont, Portia and her
maid, Nerissa, discuss the suitors who have come in
response to Portia's father's strange will.
Rising Action - Bassanio approaches Shylock, a
Jewish moneylender, about the loan and asks to
borrow 3000 ducats with Antonio as a bond. Shylock
talks about his hatred for Antonio as he spits on him
and curses both his religion and business practices
in public. Shylock agrees to lend the money on one
condition: if the loan is not repaid in full within three
months, Shylock will take one pound of Antonio’s
flesh.
Bassanio sets sail for Belmont with Gratiano, while
Shylock rages over the loss of his daughter and the
treasures she has stolen especially, the ring given to
Shylock by Leah, her mother. Jessica gives
Launcelot a letter to Lorenzo that contains plans for
them to elope that night. The Prince of Morocco visits
Portia in Belmont to try his luck with the caskets.
Climax - The Prince of Morocco chooses the golden
casket, the other suitor, the Prince of Aragon selects
silver. Both chose the wrong casket and are
unsuccessful to win Portia's hand in marriage.
Bassanio carefully examines the caskets and
chooses the lead one which reveals Portia's portrait
along with the poem congratulating him and
confirming that he has won Portia's hand. Lorenzo,
Jessica, and Salerio arrive in Belmont along with the
letter containing the news that Antonio's ships have
been lost at sea, and he is now bankrupt.
Falling Action - Portia offers to repay the debt
“twenty times over” and sends Bassanio back with
Gratiano to Venice to sort things out. Shylock,
insistent on getting his bond, has Antonio arrested. In
the court in Venice, the Duke, who presides over the
trial, seeks legal advice from his usual lawyer, Dr.
Bellario, who happened to be Portia's cousin and is
unable to attend the trial but has sent another lawyer,
Balthazar, to mediate.
Balthazar is in fact Portia's servant whom she
dispatches to get the appropriate materials from Dr.
Bellario and whom she used as a disguise along with
Nerissa as a clerk.
Moment of Final Suspense - Balthazar (Portia)
pleads for Shylock to have mercy on Antonio.
Bassanio offers his wife's money, which would more
than pay the debt, but Shylock refuses to accept -
Balthazar (Portia) examines the contract and
declares that it is legal. - As Shylock is about to cut
Antonio, Balthazar (Portia) stops him and points out
that the contract does not mention blood. - . If
Shylock spills a drop of Antonio’s blood, everything
he owns will be confiscated.
Denouement - Shylock is charged and punished by
losing all his possessions - half of his property to
Antonio and half to the state. Antonio has two
conditions: first, that half of Shylock’s money goes to
Jessica and Lorenzo and second, that Shylock must
convert to Christianity.

Defeated, Shylock agrees and leaves. Bassanio
thanks the lawyers, who ask for their rings as legal
fees. Undisguised, Portia and Nerissa return home at
night to find Lorenzo and Jessica enjoying the
tranquility of Belmont.
adverb, or even a whole sentence. It tell us why the
action occurred.
Example : Marie walked to breathe in some
fresh air.

Antonio receives news that his ships have returned

safely after all.

INFINITIVEs

A verbal consists of the word to plus a verb (in its

base or simplest "stem" form) and functions as a
noun, adjective, or adverb.

Like nouns, infinitives can be used in different

positions in sentences, as: subject, predicate
nominative / subject complement, appositive, direct
object, and object of the preposition.

*Verbals – words or group of words derived from

verbs, often express action but are used as nouns,
adjectives, or adverbs. It could be a gerund,
participle, and infinitive.

*Infinitive Verbs – Made up of infinitives and its

modifiers and complements.

FUNCTIONS OF INFINITIVEs

INFINITIVE AS A SUBJECT
The idea being talked about in the sentence.

Example : To tell the truth is important

whether it hurts so bad.

INFINITIVE AS A SUBJECT COMPLEMENT

A word or phrase that follows a linking verb and
identifies or describes the subject.

Example : My family’s advice to me was to

file a complaint against Daza’s family.

INFINITIVE AS AN APPOSITIVE
A noun or a noun phrase that sits next to another
noun to rename or to describe it in another way.

Example : Their terrible goal, to kill, failed.

INFINITIVE AS A DIRECT OBJECT

A noun, pronoun or noun phrase that receives the
action of the sentence. It answers “whom?” or
“what?” in regards to the verb.

Example : Collum likes to meditate after a

stressful day.

INFINITIVE AS AN OBJECT OF PREPOSITION

A noun or pronoun answering "whom" or "what" after
a preposition in a prepositional phrase.

Example : . Romeo had no choice but to

drink the poison as he thought that Juliet died
already.

INFINITIVE AS ADJECTIVES
Are words that describe and modify people, places,
or things. What for?

Example : I have a paper to write before

class about the benefits of reading.

INFINITIVE AS ADVERBS
A word that modifies a verb, an adjective, another