We can work on Rostand’s Cyrano de Bergerac AND Hammett’s The Maltese Falcon.

Topic 1. Endings? Look at both the play and the crime novel and look closely at the two endings. How do these endings work? That is, how does Rostand in his play and Hammett in his crime novel complete the action, emphasize a theme, and/or pull on the emotions of the reader through the way the stories finish? I am thinking about Act 5 in Cyrano de Bergerac and about Chapters 19 and 20 in The Maltese Falcon. Also, there should be some compare and contrast of the two endings; help me to see how the two endings are alike and different in useful ways.

Topic 2. Earlier in the semester we looked at villains, so let’s do that again. How do our two writers present “bad guys” in useful or powerful ways? I can think of such characters in both the play by Rostand and the crime novel by Hammett. How do the writers help us to see how bad the characters really are? How do the writers use the bad characters for good – or strong – effects in their stories? Focus our attention on at least two such characters in each of the pieces—so that’s four characters total. Pick “bad” characters that will help us see how Rostand and Hammett use those characters effectively.

Topic 3. Roxane vs. Brigid O’Shaughnessy? Write an essay that digs into the good and bad qualities of these two characters. How do they get what they want? What kind of characters are they, really? What makes Roxane worth our time and trouble? How does Brigid get other characters to help her so often? Help me to see as clearly as possible these two women in positive and negative ways. Help me to see how they are alike, if they are, and how they are different.

(Bonus: how would the stories change if we put Brigid in Cyrano de Bergerac and Roxane in The Maltese Falcon?)

Topic 4. Cyrano vs. Sam Spade? Write an essay that digs into the positive and negative qualities of these two characters. How do they behave in the world? What are their main qualities? What kind of character is each one? What makes Cyrano worth our time and trouble? How does Sam Spade manage to control situations so well? How would the stories change if we put Sam Spade in Cyrano de Bergerac and Cyrano in The Maltese Falcon? What would we learn about the characters if we think about such strange revisions of the two stories?

Topic 5. Romance and Love? What should we do with these topics in relation to our play and our crime novel? How important are the themes of romance and love to the two works? What models – positive and negative – are we given by Rostand and by Hammett? Is love a power for good or a power for abuse in the play, in the novel? Use concrete details to support your claims as you develop these themes deeply in Cyrano de Bergerac and The Maltese Falcon.

Sample Solution

‘Ram Ke Naam’ is a documentary that shows the destructive effects of the campaign executed by Hindu-nationalists that emphasized building a Ram temple on the grounds of the Babri Mosque. The documentary explores religious beliefs in India and how politics come into play to create tension between Hindus and Muslims. Since the mid-1900’s, India was a secular state, but as Hindu fundamentalists attempted to redefine India as solely a Hindu nation, the nation became religiously divided. The nation was no longer seen as somewhere where Hindus and Muslims could peacefully reside. The documentary portrays how Hindu history begins to suggest that India’s problems are all a result of Muslim invasion and faults. As Hindus claim to represent the history of Indian Society, we can see that religion in the documentary is portrayed through the caste system, politics, and violence. The Hindu caste system is divided into four main categories – Brahmins (the priests), Kshatriyas (royalty), Vaishyas (traders), and Shudras (laborers). The Brahmins, Kshatriyas, and Vaishyas are all seen as a part of the ritual system, and thus throughout the movie had strong beliefs towards the Babri Mosque. On the other hand, the Shudras, at the bottom of the caste system, did not have as much investment in the dispute because they were not even allowed to enter the Mosque. This difference between opinions towards the Mosque is seen throughout the documentary through the higher castes taking much more of a violent attitude towards destroying the Mosque as they emphasize getting rid of Muslims and repossessing their land. However, the lower caste has much more of an indifferent attitude: “Hindus and Muslims are brothers. Why>

‘Ram Ke Naam’ is a documentary that shows the destructive effects of the campaign executed by Hindu-nationalists that emphasized building a Ram temple on the grounds of the Babri Mosque. The documentary explores religious beliefs in India and how politics come into play to create tension between Hindus and Muslims. Since the mid-1900’s, India was a secular state, but as Hindu fundamentalists attempted to redefine India as solely a Hindu nation, the nation became religiously divided. The nation was no longer seen as somewhere where Hindus and Muslims could peacefully reside. The documentary portrays how Hindu history begins to suggest that India’s problems are all a result of Muslim invasion and faults. As Hindus claim to represent the history of Indian Society, we can see that religion in the documentary is portrayed through the caste system, politics, and violence. The Hindu caste system is divided into four main categories – Brahmins (the priests), Kshatriyas (royalty), Vaishyas (traders), and Shudras (laborers). The Brahmins, Kshatriyas, and Vaishyas are all seen as a part of the ritual system, and thus throughout the movie had strong beliefs towards the Babri Mosque. On the other hand, the Shudras, at the bottom of the caste system, did not have as much investment in the dispute because they were not even allowed to enter the Mosque. This difference between opinions towards the Mosque is seen throughout the documentary through the higher castes taking much more of a violent attitude towards destroying the Mosque as they emphasize getting rid of Muslims and repossessing their land. However, the lower caste has much more of an indifferent attitude: “Hindus and Muslims are brothers. Why>

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