Exercise 1

A)

-An ancient mariner meets three Gallants in a wedding-feast and stops one to tell him his story.

-The mariner starts telling his story which is about a ship journey.

-The Weddin-Guest seems very bored but the mariner doesnt let him go until he will finish.

-The story starts with a cheered ship sailing from an harbour in a happy atmosphere.

-While the mariner is telling the story, the bride paced into the hall.

-The wedding-guest is still bored, but he is not able to get away.

-During the story, a storm-blast comes: the dramatic part has begun.

-There is a description of the storm, of the ship and of the weather.

-The ship reaches a mysterious place where there is a lot of ice and the temperature is freezing.

-An Albatross flies around the ship: the crew hail it in the name of God.

-For nine days the Albatross follows them for food and play.

-At the end the ancient mariner thinks the Albatross is evil, so he shoots it with his crossbow.

B)

In the ballad we can identify two storylines: one is about the wedding which is goin on; the other one is the ancient mariner who is telling is own story.

Exercise 2

1) The portait of the mariner is not described very well. Coleridge describes only his long grey beard, his glittering eye and his

 skinny hand.

2) The figure of the mariner in the ballad gives me the impression of the typical stereotype of the old mariner who has taken part to a lot of travels and journeys through the seas.

Exercise 3

1)There are two main landscapes described in the ballad. The first one is about the storm; it is described as tyrannous and strong, stricking and chasing with his wings. Very determinated to defeat the enemy it never stops to its aim, but the ship is faster and is able to escape. The other landscape is the land of the ice; it starts with a grown of coldness and the presence of fog and snow. Therefore the absence of any man or beast and the huge amount of ice which is represented as green as emerald. The ice also is the reason of the many noises the crew can hear and that gives a note of fear and dispersion.  

2)There are three natural elements which are personified: the Sun, the Storm-blast, and the Albatross. In order, the Sun is the natural element that refers to the positive aspect of the ballad: it shines high in the sky while the ship is sailing. On the other hand, the Storm-blast personifies the "evil" because attacks the ship and chases it on purpose to make it going to south where there is the pole. In the end, the Albatross personifies the "salvation": it is just a bird, but this gives hope to the crew and they hail it like a Christian soul sent from God.

3)I would say that nature is presented in a symbolic way cause of the presentation of the landscapes.

Exercise 4

1)-The storm chasing the ship

   -The Albatross following the ship

2)In my view the most striking contrast between reality and supernatural is the mariner with the wedding-guest, and the story with the wedding.