Unit 4: Close Analysis of Poetic Form and Content

In "My Papa's Waltz," which interpretation of the simile "But I hung on like death" is best supported by the poem? A. that the son found the father's waltz difficult and awkward to sustain B. that the son feared his father would hurt him if he stopped dancing with him C. that the son was clinging to his father for fear of losing him and being abandoned

A

In Maya Angelou's "Phenomenal Woman," every stanza lists the speaker's qualities. What effect does this repetitive structure have? A. It reinforces the idea that the speaker is confident and self-aware. B. It gives the poem a softness that's characteristic of womankind. C. It helps readers visualize how others react to the speaker.

A

The words "I love thee" are repeated many times in Elizabeth Barrett Browning's poem "How Do I Love Thee?" What is the effect of this repetition? A. Repeating this line emphasizes the intensity of the speaker's feelings. B. The repetition shows how sad the speaker is about her lost love. C. The line's repetition echoes the sacrifices the speaker has made for her beloved. D. This line is repeated to reassure her beloved of the strength of her love.

A

Walt Whitman's poem "O Captain! My Captain!" is made up of three stanzas, each composed of four long lines followed by four short lines. What does this form reveal about the speaker's state of mind? A. The form reveals the speaker's emotional turmoil over the president's assassination. B. The form reveals the speaker's guilt over celebrating victory when so many died. C. The form reveals the speaker's ecstasy and relief that the Civil War has ended.

A

What effect does the refrain in Dr. Maya Angelou's "Phenomenal Woman" have? I'm a woman Phenomenally. Phenomenal woman, That's me. A. The poem's refrain helps to stress that the speaker is self-assured and creates a playful rhythm. B. The poem's refrain shows that the speaker is proud to be a woman and breaks up the poem's rhyme scheme. C. The poem's refrain asserts that the speaker considers women superior to men and adds a teasing tone to the poem.

A

What is the speaker's attitude toward death in Theodore Roethke's poem "Elegy For Jane"? A. He is lamenting a life lost before it was completely lived. B. He is glorifying dying young when in one's prime. C. He is unable to accept the reality of the death.

A

Which line best conveys the theme of guilt in Robert Hayden's poem "Those Winter Sundays"? A. "What did I know, what did I know" B. "When the rooms were warm, he'd call" C. "And slowly I would rise and dress"

A

In what way are E. E. Cummings's two love poems "it may not always be so" and "i carry your heart with me" different? A. One uses free verse to express endless love; the other uses blank verse to show love's limits. B. One has a theme of troubled love; the other is about an absolute love. C. One has traditional capitalization and punctuation; the other does not.

B

Onomatopoeic phrases such as "stuttering rifles," "rapid rattle," "patter out," and "wailing shells" are used in Wilfred Owen's poem "Anthem for Doomed Youth." What effect does this poetic device achieve? A. These words emphasize the horrors of war. B. These words recreate the sounds of war. C. These words stress the futility of war.

B

Read these lines from Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken": And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood What do these lines tell you about the speaker? A. The speaker would like a third choice. B. The speaker doesn't feel strongly about one choice over the other. C. The speaker wants to keep his options open and not forgo one for the other.

B

Which aspect of the sonnet form does Robert Hayden use in his poem "Those Winter Sundays"? A. the traditional 5-line, 4-line, 5-line stanza length B. the traditional 14-line overall structure C. the rhymed couplet at the sonnet's end

B

Which poetic device is dominant in William Carlos Williams's "Danse Russe" and what effect does this have? A. Hyperbole; it shows readers that the speaker is exaggerating his loneliness since he's surrounded by his family. B. Imagery; it helps readers visualize the speaker's surroundings and actions giving some insight into how he sees himself. C. Repetition; it provides many "if" questions that showcase how the speaker's desires are constrained by middle-class morality.

B

Which statement best explains the reference to making a model in these lines from Plath's "Daddy"? But they pulled me out of the sack, And they stuck me together with glue. And then I knew what to do. I made a model of you, A man in black with a Meinkampf look A. The speaker does not really want to rid herself of her father's haunting memory. B. The speaker seeks a substitute for her father when she gets married. C. The speaker made a doll in her father's image to express her anger toward him.

B

Why does the speaker in Ben Jonson's poem "On My First Son" seem torn? A. He doesn't know whether to be thankful for having his son for seven years or angry for having lost him so soon. B. He doesn't know whether to grieve his son's death or envy his escape from the world's evils so young. C. He doesn't know whether to learn to stay aloof or risk loving anyone so much ever again.

B

Wilfred Owen's "Anthem for Doomed Youth" and Rupert Brook's "The Soldier" are both war sonnets but have very different themes. Which statement best describes the difference? A. "Anthem for Doomed Youth" depicts the futility and horror of dying at war, while "The Soldier" describes the finality and stillness of death. B. "Anthem for Doomed Youth" depicts the indignity in dying at war, while "The Soldier" glorifies dying at war for one's country. C. "Anthem for Doomed Youth" depicts the burial given to war casualties, while "The Soldier" shows that war casualties aren't even brought home to be buried.

B

An anthem is usually a song about national pride. How is this word used ironically in Wilfred Owen's "Anthem for Doomed Youth"? A. His anthem is about people who refuse to enlist to serve their own country. B. His anthem is about unpatriotic people who wage war against their own country. C. His anthem is about undignified death and devastation in the name of one's country. D. His anthem is about the obscenity of killing other humans in the name of one's country.

C

How do both Wordsworth's "London, 1802" and Blake's "London" present the city? A. According to both poems, it is a deeply dreary city that has no chance of redemption in the poets' lifetime. B. Both poems paint a picture of a city that used to be great but has fallen to a low state in the poets' day. C. In both poems, the prevalence of poverty and corruption is clearly keeping the city from thriving.

C

Read these lines from Li-Young Lee's "Persimmons": I teach her Chinese. Crickets: chiu chiu. Dew: I've forgotten. Naked: I've forgotten. Ni, wo: you and me. What do these lines tell you about the poem's speaker? A. The speaker seems to be struggling with two languages. B. The speaker seems to be ashamed of his Chinese heritage. C. The speaker seems to be losing touch with his Chinese origins.

C

Read these lines from Mary Jo Bang's poem, "The Role of Elegy": The role of elegy is To put a death mask on tragedy, A drape on the mirror. According to these lines, what is an elegy's role? A. An elegy's role is to help mourners get over their loss. B. An elegy's role is to hold on to memories of the deceased. C. An elegy's role is to hide away the mourners' true feelings.

C

Read these lines from Robert Herrick's "To the Virgins": Gather ye rosebuds while ye may, Old Time is still a-flying: And this same flower that smiles to-day To-morrow will be dying. What does the "flower that smiles" mean? A. the joy one can find in nature in early spring B. the happy person who lives in the present C. someone who is still in the prime of life

C

What is the effect of Lord Byron's use of contrasting words like "shade" and "ray" and "dark" and "bright" in his poem "She Walks in Beauty"? A. It emphasizes the woman's external beauty and her internal darkness. B. It conveys the woman's strikingly dark hair against her light skin. C. It shows that the woman has a perfect balance of beauty and virtue.

C

Which is a necessary element of an effective close analysis of a poem? A. a close observation of how the poem uses traditional rhyme schemes B. an evaluation of the effectiveness of a poem's rhythmic structure C. an integration of observations of form with conclusions about meaning

C

Why are different rivers listed in this stanza from Langston Hughes's "The Negro Speaks of Rivers"? I bathed in the Euphrates when dawns were young. I built my hut near the Congo and it lulled me to sleep. I looked upon the Nile and raised the pyramids above it. I heard the singing of the Mississippi when Abe Lincoln went down to New Orleans... A. Listing different rivers from Biblical times, Lincoln's time, and current times helps establish that people are differentiated by race, religion, and region. B. Listing different rivers in America and Africa, and mentioning Abraham Lincoln helps establish the African American identity. C. Listing different rivers throughout the world and across time helps to establish the connection between Africans and African-Americans.

C

Why is it significant that Elizabeth Barrett Browning's poem "How Do I Love Thee?" compares the speaker's love to justice? A. The speaker's love is of great dimension and is blind, like justice. B. Like an ideal system of justice, the speaker's love is pure and ethical. C. This is one of many abstract ideas the speaker's love is compared to. D. With each declaration of love, the speaker swears she will keep her "oath."

C

In the poem "Crossing Brooklyn Ferry," how does Walt Whitman describe the ferry ride between Brooklyn and Manhattan? A. as superior to using the Brooklyn Bridge B. as a symbol of freedom from England C. as an impressive feat of engineering D. as an example of human camaraderie

D

What do these lines from Wordsworth's "Tintern Abbey" express? ... The sounding cataract Haunted me like a passion: the tall rock, The mountain, and the deep and gloomy wood, Their colours and their forms, were then to me An appetite; A. the speaker's sadness at having lost his youthful passion B. the speaker's inability to be thoughtful when he was younger C. the speaker's fear when facing nature's great gloominess D. the speaker's sensual response to nature in his younger days

D

In these lines from "To His Coy Mistress," why does the speaker compare his beloved to morning dew? Now therefore, while the youthful hue Sits on thy skin like morning dew, A. because, like morning dew, his beloved has a fresh glow B. because his beloved's beauty is as transient as the morning dew C. because he thinks his beloved is as beautiful as the dawn

Not A

What perspective does A.E. Housman offer in his poem "To An Athlete Dying Young?" A. There is no greater tragedy than the death of a strong and healthy youth who has not reached their full potential. B. When a person dies young, they escape the experience of youth and vigor fading in old age. C. The athlete who dies young has won the race against life's greatest competitor-death.

Not A

Which metaphor is used in Randall Jarrell's poem "The Death of a Ball Turret Gunner"? A. The gunner is compared to a beast that has no shelter and is left shivering and wet out in the cold. B. The gunner is compared to a mother who has to abandon her child before he is ready to be out on his own. C. The gunner is compared to a premature baby who has been enlisted before he's had a chance to fully develop.

Not A

William Wordsworth and Matthew Arnold saw nature differently. How is this reflected in their poems "Tintern Abbey" and "Dover Beach"? A. Arnold used free verse to show nature as unrestricted, while Wordsworth used blank verse to show that nature is mysterious. B. Arnold attributed human traits to objects in nature, while Wordsworth reflected on ways that nature changes over time. C. Wordsworth wrote about the restorative powers of nature, while for Arnold nature is unable to provide peace.

Not A

Read these lines from "Death Be Not Proud" by John Donne: Death be not proud, though some have called thee Mighty and dreadfull, for, thou art not soe, For, those, whom thou think'st, thou dost overthrow, Die not, poore death, nor yet canst thou kill mee. Which human traits have been attributed to death in these lines? A. ferociousness, power, superiority B. strength, humility, eccentricity C. conceit, pretence, inferiority

Not B

In John Donne's "Death Be Not Proud," why does the speaker compare dying to being asleep or resting? A. to show that death is pleasurable and nothing to be feared B. to show that death is as unavoidable as the need to rest C. to show that death is like permanently falling asleep

Not C

Read these lines from "As I Grew Older" by Langston Hughes: And then the wall rose, Rose slowly, Slowly, Between me and my dream. What poetic device has been used in these lines and to what effect? A. personification, where the wall is depicted as growing B. symbolism, where the wall is a symbol of racial prejudice C. repetition, where the wall is shown as coming up slowly D. all of the above

Not C

What do these lines from "All-American Girl" by Julia Alvarez tell you about the speaker? I wanted to look like an American girl; to speak my English so you couldn't tell I'd come from somewhere else. I locked myself In the bathroom, trying to match my face with words in my new language: grimace, leer, disgust, disdain-feelings I had yet to feelin English. (And would tristeza even feel the same as sadness with its Saxon sound? Would pity look as soulful as piedad?) A. She's struggling to mesh her Hispanic identity with her American identity. B. She's unsure how to say and feel words in English like she does in Spanish. C. She's ashamed of her Hispanic heritage and wants to look like an Anglo-American.

Not C

Which is an appropriate description of the conclusion of a close analysis of a poem? A. It reiterates the thesis statement from the essay's introduction. B. It summarizes the topic sentences in the body of the close analysis. C. It reinforces the thesis as it summarizes the main points of the analysis.

C

How does Shakespeare's "Sonnet 130" express the theme of love? A. It mocks the exaggerated views of love by other poets and expresses love simply. B. It shows the timelessness of love with a string of comparisons to eternal things. C. It argues that because love is fleeting and superficial most people are better off alone.

A

How does repetition in Gloria Anzaldua's "To Live in the Borderlands Means You ..." contribute to its theme? A. Repetition serves to tie an array of diverse things together, such as language, ethnicity and ethnic oppression, and dietary habits, especially as repeated lines appear in many forms and languages. B. The repetition of lines gives the poem the feel of a ballad, a form that is popular today in Mexican folk songs as the corrida, making it an example of a border-crossing poem. C. The use of repetition of words and lines helps to simplify the poem so that it maintains a folksy accessibility and so can more readily be memorized, as in the oral tradition.

A

Ben Johnson and Mary Jo Bang both write poems which use apostrophe. How does this poetic device affect the tone of these poems? A. It creates a sense of distance between the speaker and the events that take place around the death of the loved one. B. It increases the emotional tension in the poem by directly connecting the speaker to the person who died. C. It creates a sense of defiance by presenting arguments directly to death as though it were an entity.

B

What kind of love does E. E. Cummings's poem "i carry your heart with me" convey? A. an exaggerated, melancholy love B. an ideal, exuberant love C. a complex, abstract love D. a physical, lustful love

B

Which is an effective way to conclude a close analysis of a poem? A. Summarize the context of the poem in an insightful manner. B. Highlight the significance of the poetic devices used by the poet. C. Recap the key statements made in the essay in support of the thesis. D. Reinforce the central theme of the poem with striking evidence.

C

Which line from Andrew Marvell's poem "To His Coy Mistress" best reflects the Roman poet, Horace's idea of carpe diem? A. My vegetable love should grow B. Thou by the Indian Ganges' side C. Now let us sport us while we may D. And you should, if you please, refuse

C

Which of the following best paraphrases the meaning of the line "Though wise men at their end know dark is right," from Dylan Thomas's "Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night"? A. Wise men fight death till their last breath. B. Wise men realize the life has no meaning. C. Wise men accept the inevitability of death.

C

Which line from Seamus Heaney's poem "Mid-Term Break" best uses imagery to highlight the tragedy of the young child's death? A. In hers and coughed out angry tearless sighs. B. And candles soothed the bedside; I saw him C. Counting bells knelling classes to a close. D. He lay in the four foot box as in his cot.

D

Which pair of words best describe the shifting tone of Seamus Heaney's "Mid-Term Break"? A. angry, sorrowful B. casual, melancholic C. flippant, morbid D. neutral, tragic

D

Which quality is a strong sign of an effective close analysis of a poem? A. inclusion of as many quotations from the poem as possible B. repetition of the keywords of the thesis in each paragraph C. connections between events in the poet's life and the poem's structure D. analysis of how the poem's theme is interwoven with its form

D

Which is a key element of the introductory paragraph of a close analysis of poetry? A. an interesting and engaging explication of the poem's setting B. a clear glimpse of the direction in which the analysis will flow C. the poetic genre the poem belongs to and its literary significance D. useful background information for the reader's understanding

Not C