ENGLISH

PROJECT
• Sohan Ajay Vernekar
• 10 B
• 32
MERCHANT OF VENICE
DRAMA
 INDEX
DATE - 03/06/2020
SR.NO TOPIC PAGE.NO
1 COVER PAGE 1
2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT 3
3 Based on your understanding of the scenes from Act-1 and 2, 5
answer the following questions

4 With reference to the short stories you have read, write the 15
character sketch of any two characters from the list given
below
5 Write the critical appreciation on any one of the poems given
below
22
6 BIBLIOGRAPHY 28
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like take this opportunity to express my profound gratitude and deep regards to
everyone for their kind support to complete this Project.

 Firstly, I would like to thank respected Principal Ms Jyotsna Mayadas and respected
teacher Mrs. Vasantha Ma’am for giving me the golden opportunity to do this wonderful
project on the topic Merchant of Venice, which helped me in doing a lot of research and to
know about so many new things. Also, I would like to thank for their exemplary guidance,
monitoring and constant encouragement throughout the course of this project.

  Finally, I would like to thank my parents, colleagues and friends, who have helped me with
their valuable suggestions and guidance, and were very helpful for completion of this
project.
1. ANTONIO SEEMS TO HAVE IT ALL. WHY, THEN, IS ANTONIO SO SAD?
WHY DOESN’T HE KNOW THE CAUSE OF HIS SADNESS? WHAT GUESSES
DO SOLANIO AND SALARINO HAVE ABOUT THE CAUSES OF HIS
DEPRESSION? ( ACT-1 )

• Antonio, a merchant, is in a melancholic state of mind and unable to find a

reason for his depression. Solanio suspects Antonio is worried about his ships at
sea with all their cargo but Antonio denies this reason. This unexplained
melancholy is common in Shakespeare's plays. Still one could speculate that
Antonio is self-absorbed. I always thought he is merely lonely. Helping Bassanio
with his gamble (wooing Portia) seems to help.
 2. BASSANIO INVITES SHYLOCK TO EAT WITH ANTONIO AND HIM, BUT
SHYLOCK REFUSES. WHAT REASONS DOES HE GIVE?

• Shylock's refusal to eat, drink, or pray with Bassanio and Antonio exists because
of his own religious ideologies (beliefs). Shylock is Jewish. According to Jewish
law, pigs are not allowed to be eaten because they are not kosher. Animals which
are kosher are those which are ruminant (chew the cud- to chew food, swallow,
bring back into the mouth, and chew again) and have split hooves. Now, although
pigs have split hooves, they do not chew their cud and are considered unclean to
eat or touch. 
3. WHY IS IT SUCH A CRISIS FOR SHYLOCK THAT HIS DAUGHTER
CONVERTED AND MARRIED A CHRISTIAN?

• Shylock was a Jew and respected the religion a lot and wanted his
daughter to too. So it was against Jewish custom that a Jew girl
married someone of a different religion. So he was against the
marriage.

Also, when she took the idea of converting her religion, he got angry.
He did want his daughter to abandon his native religion for a outsider
religion boy.
4. BASED ON HOW SHYLOCK HAS BEEN TREATED BY CHRISTIANS, IS IT
WRONG FOR HIM TO WANT REVENGE? IF POSITIONS WERE
REVERSED, WOULD ANTONIO DEMAND FULFILLMENT OF THE BOND
ACCORDING TO THE TERMS THAT WERE SET? ( ACT-2 )

• No, based on how Christians have treated Shylock, it is not wrong for
him to take revenge. It is certainly justified. Antonio has publicly
ridiculed and physically assaulted Shylock on numerous occasions. He
has also purposely undermined Shylock's business practices and
unapologetically expresses his hatred towards him. Given Antonio's
previous treatment of Shylock, one could argue that he would
demand fulfillment of the bond according to the set terms if he was in
a similar position.
5. WHICH DOES SHYLOCK MISS MORE: JESSICA OR HIS MONEY? HOW WOULD HIS
GRIEF AND ANGER AFFECT THE WAY HE TALKS ABOUT THE LOSSES?

• In the story, Shylock, a Jewish merchant is upset with his daughter as she
converted to Christianity. There is one instance when he says that he had
wished his daughter had died along with the jewels that she had stolen.

This statement shows that money was more important to him than his
daughter. However, when time came, he chose his pride over money.
• WITH REFERENCE TO THE SHORT STORIES YOU HAVE
READ, WRITE THE CHARACTER SKETCH OF ANY TWO
CHARACTERS FROM THE LIST GIVEN BELOW:

• Margot
• Jesse Owens
• Mr. Thompson
1. MARGOT:
• Margot, the protagonist of “All Summer in a Day,” is a nine-year-old girl who moved from Ohio to the
planet Venus when she was four years old. Margot longs intensely for the sun, which she remembers
vividly from her time on Earth. Without the sun, Margot has become withdrawn, pale, and somber,
eschewing the company of other children and thinking only of summertime. Margot’s classmates treat
her coldly or with jealousy, because they have hardly experienced the sun at all and will likely remain
on Venus for the rest of their lives, while Margot may be lucky enough to return to Earth. On the much-
anticipated single day of summer, Margot becomes a scapegoat for the other children’s longing and
deprivation: they lock her in a closet so she won’t be able to see the sun, which is the experience she
most craves.
2. JESSE OWENS

• Jesse Owens was an American track and field athlete and four-time Olympic gold medalist in the 1936
games. He appears to be a calm and relaxed athlete in the beginning. He thought he would take home one or
two gold medals. He had set his eyes on winning the gold in the long jump. He was confident of it because he
had trained, sweated and disciplined himself for six years in order to participate in the same, and moreover,
everyone expected him to win that Olympic event hands down because just a year before, as a sophomore at
the Ohio State University, he had set the world record at 26 feet 8 1/4 inches.
However, feelings of anger and hatred overcame him when he witnessed Luz Long and Hitler’s Aryan
supremacy theory. This reveals Jesse’s short-tempered nature.
Owens was given a piece of advice by Luz Long which helped him qualify for the trials. He showed his
gratitude towards Long by visiting his room that night to thank him. This shows that Owens respected his
gesture and also understood the spirit of the Olympic Games. He was a warm-hearted person who weighted
friendship more than the competitive spirit. He was also a man of emotions as he said that his friendship
with Luz Long was more worthy than the medals and cups he had won.
3. MR. THOMPSON
• Jo Thompson the well right is a loving caring and kind hearted person he loves children and likes their
company though rough in exterior he has a Tender Heart. He is a strong man but the experience with
magnet touches him greatly and that is why he cries a little bit when the youngest Maggi the crippled
child is left alone because nobody wants to deal with her disability. He takes pity on her and decides to
take Maggi with him for a while his puzzled because he knows that his wife would not accept her but
his son resolves his conflict and takes her along with him he leaves her in the strong arms and take her
to his home. He has a great understanding of his wife when she ask why he has brought that sick brat to
her home he does not reply but give her a look that is pleading at cautionary. Then to call his wife
doubt he refers to the Bible in which it is mentioned that the savior rebuked the disciples who did not
receive and love the children.
• WRITE THE CRITICAL APPRECIATION ON ANY ONE OF
THE POEMS GIVEN BELOW:

1. Daffodils- William Wordsworth

2. Cold Within- James Patrick Kinney
 1. DAFFODILS- WILLIAM WORDSWORTH:

• Daffodils' is a famous poem written by William Wordsworth. In this poem, the poet- William
Wordsworth describes one of his real experiences in a beautiful place known for its natural beauty.
Once in that place, he was aimlessly walking alone like a cloud and suddenly discovered a bunch of
golden daffodils which, mesmerized him and kept him gazing at its wonder. The poet tells that how
this simple look was so wonderful for him and what this glance later meant to him. The poet
describes this godly beauty of daffodils in many extraordinary remarks and comments. He seems
the endless view of the golden (gold-coloured) daffodils as a never-ending line.
After describing the daffodil's beauty, he proceeded on to tell about the beauty of its background
and the nice setting it made on the daffodils. At last, after his long gaze, he suddenly asks himself
that what does all those meant to him and how it will benefit him and then left the place. But later,
he realized how the picture benefitted him and how it made him relaxed when alone .
 2. COLD WITHIN- JAMES PATRICK KINNEY
• This poem "The Cold Within" displays a powerful imagery of the coldness which lies within the heart of man. James
Patrick Kinney was a civil right activist who beautifully showcases the futility and stupidity of racism and social class
hierarchy. As the man who fought in the civil rights movement, he in his poem captures the essence of class partition
and the hate it creates in the heart.
The theme of racism and social hierarchy are quite prominent in the poem. One man does not wants to give his log to
a black and the black man does not wants to share his log with the white. The conflict of racism is a major theme in
this poem. These people would rather die than sharing their resources with one another. Just because they belong to
different races changes their priorities fro survival to expressing their hatred for the other race.
Not only the black and white but the person who recognizes the person from a different religious group also refuse to
share his log which shows the low religious tolerance of 1960's. Even as a religious person, if one cannot deem all the
creatures of God one and consider them worth saving then even religion cannot save one's soul.
• But social hierarchy is the theme which overshadows the whole poem. It is made prominent through the
appearance of a rich and a poor person. While the poor is hesitating to share his log for why should he sacrifice
for the rich, the rich on the other hand does not even bothers to ponder over the point of throwing his log into
the fire to survive because he is too busy planning to save his fortune from the poor. The theme of hatred is the
theme which links all the themes together. It becomes so prominent when the black expresses his desire
for revenge even at the cost of his own life but he will be taking down a white with him, which seems to be
an accomplishment in his eyes.
 • BIBLIOGRAPHY
• https://www.google.com/
• https://brainly.in/
• https://search.yahoo.com/
• https://www.wikipedia.org/
• https://www.aplustopper.com/