Rick Rolling, Teacher Style

As their final project each year, my students create Facebook pages for the characters in Cyrano de Bergerac.  They typically have a lot of fun with them and ultimately show a greater understanding of the text than if they had simply written a paper.

This year, I've had a uniquely close relationship with many of my students.  As a result, they felt it would be okay to Rick Roll me through these projects.  For those not aware of the act of "Rick Rolling," it involves tricking people into hearing the lyrics and/or music of Rick Astley's 1987 painful classic "Never Gonna Give You Up."  Said listener wasn't expecting to hear the song, and he or she then curses the prankster as the song (rick) rolls through his or her head all day.  Allow me to Rick Roll you now as a demonstration:



I'm not one to sit back and let teenagers have the last laugh.  After they've taken their final exams this week, I'm going to tell them we're listening to a recording of a lecture about Cyrano de Bergerac and that they will be expected to respond to it with two formal essays, each of which will count for 50% of their final grade.  After they've received the instructions below, I'll begin to play the text of the "lecture."  And then Mr. Astley's song will kick in, thus effectively Rick Rolling my sophomores.  Last word: Mrs. Scherer.

The Divine Existentialism of Cyrano de Bergerac

Final Exam Supplementary Essays  

Directions: As you listen to Oxford University professor Raymond Logue's lecture on the existentialism of the divine actions of Cyrano de Bergerac, write a well-organized and detailed essay on the professor's assertions that dichotomy of Cyrano's perfunctory nature is in direct contrast with his stouthearted actions. 

Further analyze the professor's opinion on the protagonist's archaic actions as contrasted with the coquettish nature of his fraternal cousin and the play's heroine, Roxane.

In a second essay, predict how Professor Logue's follow-up lecture on Roxane's love interest, Christian, seeks both to support and dispel the myth that the Don Juan complex flourished at the time of the Musketeers. Would such a complex have flourished in the pre-Raphialite age as it did at that time?  Or are the two inherently mutually exclusive? Support your answer with at least six historical examples, including direct quotations from Sigmund Freud's early theories (references to later theories or other psychologists' refutations of such theories will result in zero credit).    

In both essays, support your position with exact quotations from Cyrano de Bergerac and at least three other texts read this year. Paraphrasing is unacceptable and will result in zero credit.