Worksheet: Rising of the Moon
1. What is the physical description of the convict?
2. Why might the sergeant or the policemen get “nothing but abuse” from friends and relatives?
3. What excuse does the stranger give for going down to the water?
4. What description does the stranger give of the man the police are searching for?
5. Why does the stranger not want to share the reward with the sergeant? (Actually, there are two reasons.)
6. How does the sergeant knows the lyrics to the songs of the stranger?
7. What “what if’s” does the sergeant consider?
8. Why does the stranger sing the song “The Rising of the Moon”?
9. What deeper significance does the song have?
10. How does the sergeant try to get the other policemen to leave?
11. What humor does the writer provide? (You might have to think in terms of how this would look on stage as well as how it sounds)
12. What is the turning point of the play?
13. What examples of dramatic irony can you find? (Go look it up if you can’t remember what it is)
14. What examples of verbal irony can you find?
15. The sergeant asks this question of himself, “I wonder, now, am I as great a fool as I think I am?” How would you answer that question for him? (In other words, in what way(s) is he foolish? In what way(s) is the farthest thing from a fool?)
16. Think about:
In broader terms, is it ever permissible to break a law for the sake of a cause? Why or why not? Can you think of anyone in our own history who has ever done such a thing?
In what way is it appropriate that the leader of a great rebellion should be a ballad singer? (What’s the job of a ballad singer--or a ballad?)
2. Why might the sergeant or the policemen get “nothing but abuse” from friends and relatives?
3. What excuse does the stranger give for going down to the water?
4. What description does the stranger give of the man the police are searching for?
5. Why does the stranger not want to share the reward with the sergeant? (Actually, there are two reasons.)
6. How does the sergeant knows the lyrics to the songs of the stranger?
7. What “what if’s” does the sergeant consider?
8. Why does the stranger sing the song “The Rising of the Moon”?
9. What deeper significance does the song have?
10. How does the sergeant try to get the other policemen to leave?
11. What humor does the writer provide? (You might have to think in terms of how this would look on stage as well as how it sounds)
12. What is the turning point of the play?
13. What examples of dramatic irony can you find? (Go look it up if you can’t remember what it is)
14. What examples of verbal irony can you find?
15. The sergeant asks this question of himself, “I wonder, now, am I as great a fool as I think I am?” How would you answer that question for him? (In other words, in what way(s) is he foolish? In what way(s) is the farthest thing from a fool?)
16. Think about:
In broader terms, is it ever permissible to break a law for the sake of a cause? Why or why not? Can you think of anyone in our own history who has ever done such a thing?
In what way is it appropriate that the leader of a great rebellion should be a ballad singer? (What’s the job of a ballad singer--or a ballad?)