Post by ernesto thaddeus m solmerano on Feb 6, 2010 22:01:23 GMT -5
Lit 2: The Literatures of the World
::)Midterm Examination
:'(Prof. ETM Solmerano
:-*Poetry Analysis Test
Read the following poems very carefully and then answer the questions that follow as briefly as possible - with a letter, word or phrase.
To W.P.
By George Santayana
Calm was the sea to which your course you kept,
Oh, how much calmer than all southern seas!
Many your nameless mates, whom the keen breeze
Wafted from mothers that of old have wept.
All souls of children taken as they slept
Are your companions, partners of your ease,
And the green souls of all these autumn trees
Are with you through the silent spaces swept.
Your virgin body gave its gentle breath
Untainted to the gods. Why should we grieve,
But that we merit not your holy death?
We shall not loiter long, your friends and I;
Living you made it goodlier to live,
Dead you will make it easier to die.
1. Is the poem lyric, narrative or dramatic?
2. Who is speaking in the poem?
3. The lines are addressed to “W.P.” who was:
a. the poet’s mother who left
b. a young child who died
c. the poet’s wife
d. the poet’s mistress
4. The answer to #3 is suggested in:
a. lines 3 and 4
b. lines 5 and 6
c. line 9
d. line 12
5. Is the sea mentioned in the first line a literal sea or a figurative one?
6. What adjective is used to describe this sea in the first line?
7. The description of the sea in the opening lines:
a. is used for contrast and irony
b. reveals the condition of the speaker
c. serves as a clue to the symbolic meaning of the lines
d. is for the sake of vividness only
8. The second line amplifies the figurative meaning of the first line; the sea signifies:
a. peace of mind
b. a deep body of water
c. death
d. sleep
9. In the first line, sea is:
a. a metaphor
b. a simile
c. an irony
d. a personification
10. That which the sea signifies in line 1 is signified by another figure of speech:
a. green souls
b. keen breeze
c. virgin body
d. gentle breath
11. The answer to #10 is:
a. a simile
b. a metaphor
c. a personification
d. a paradox
12. A personification is found in:
a. line 4
b. line 6
c. line 7
d. line 9
13. In line 8, the expression, silent spaces refers to:
a. sleep
b. the world of dreams
c. the realm of death
d. a figment of imagination
14. The speaker here:
a. is afraid to die
b. envies W.P.
c. does not care about what happened to W.P.
d. is making a mockery of W.P.
15. It is quite clear that the speaker’s feeling for W.P. is one of:
a. dislike
b. affection
c. pity
d. apathy
16. The speaker feels sorry for:
a. himself
b. W.P.
c. children
d. the readers
17. The speaker, in the last two lines:
a. pays a compliment to W.P.
b. insults W.P.
c. shows that he has no regard for W.P.
d. all of these answers are correct
18. The tone of the poem is one of:
a. gentle resignation and quiet awe
b. pessimism
c. irony
d. profound grief
19. This poem:
a. is figurative throughout
b. moves from being literal in the beginning to being figurative at the end
c. moves from being figurative in the beginning to being literal at the end
d. is literal throughout
20. Does the poet make use of erotic images in the poem?
21. Point out the alliteration in line 12.
22. What recurring sound effect is found in this poem? This sound effect is particularly noticeable in lines 2,3,6,7,8:
a. s-s-s-s
b. t-t-t-t
c. r-r-r-r
d. x-x-x-x
23. This sound effect is used to:
a. recreate the roar of the sea
b. strengthen the idea of silence, sleep and death
c. suggest noise and confusion
d. for ornamentation effect only
24. In form or structure, this poem is:
a. a ballad
b. a simple lyric
c. a sonnet
d. an ode
25. “To W.P.” is significant as a poem because:
a. in expressing a human emotion, it gives us aesthetic pleasure
b. it conveys a moral
c. it gives us information, knowledge
d. all of the above
::)Midterm Examination
:'(Prof. ETM Solmerano
:-*Poetry Analysis Test
Read the following poems very carefully and then answer the questions that follow as briefly as possible - with a letter, word or phrase.
To W.P.
By George Santayana
Calm was the sea to which your course you kept,
Oh, how much calmer than all southern seas!
Many your nameless mates, whom the keen breeze
Wafted from mothers that of old have wept.
All souls of children taken as they slept
Are your companions, partners of your ease,
And the green souls of all these autumn trees
Are with you through the silent spaces swept.
Your virgin body gave its gentle breath
Untainted to the gods. Why should we grieve,
But that we merit not your holy death?
We shall not loiter long, your friends and I;
Living you made it goodlier to live,
Dead you will make it easier to die.
1. Is the poem lyric, narrative or dramatic?
2. Who is speaking in the poem?
3. The lines are addressed to “W.P.” who was:
a. the poet’s mother who left
b. a young child who died
c. the poet’s wife
d. the poet’s mistress
4. The answer to #3 is suggested in:
a. lines 3 and 4
b. lines 5 and 6
c. line 9
d. line 12
5. Is the sea mentioned in the first line a literal sea or a figurative one?
6. What adjective is used to describe this sea in the first line?
7. The description of the sea in the opening lines:
a. is used for contrast and irony
b. reveals the condition of the speaker
c. serves as a clue to the symbolic meaning of the lines
d. is for the sake of vividness only
8. The second line amplifies the figurative meaning of the first line; the sea signifies:
a. peace of mind
b. a deep body of water
c. death
d. sleep
9. In the first line, sea is:
a. a metaphor
b. a simile
c. an irony
d. a personification
10. That which the sea signifies in line 1 is signified by another figure of speech:
a. green souls
b. keen breeze
c. virgin body
d. gentle breath
11. The answer to #10 is:
a. a simile
b. a metaphor
c. a personification
d. a paradox
12. A personification is found in:
a. line 4
b. line 6
c. line 7
d. line 9
13. In line 8, the expression, silent spaces refers to:
a. sleep
b. the world of dreams
c. the realm of death
d. a figment of imagination
14. The speaker here:
a. is afraid to die
b. envies W.P.
c. does not care about what happened to W.P.
d. is making a mockery of W.P.
15. It is quite clear that the speaker’s feeling for W.P. is one of:
a. dislike
b. affection
c. pity
d. apathy
16. The speaker feels sorry for:
a. himself
b. W.P.
c. children
d. the readers
17. The speaker, in the last two lines:
a. pays a compliment to W.P.
b. insults W.P.
c. shows that he has no regard for W.P.
d. all of these answers are correct
18. The tone of the poem is one of:
a. gentle resignation and quiet awe
b. pessimism
c. irony
d. profound grief
19. This poem:
a. is figurative throughout
b. moves from being literal in the beginning to being figurative at the end
c. moves from being figurative in the beginning to being literal at the end
d. is literal throughout
20. Does the poet make use of erotic images in the poem?
21. Point out the alliteration in line 12.
22. What recurring sound effect is found in this poem? This sound effect is particularly noticeable in lines 2,3,6,7,8:
a. s-s-s-s
b. t-t-t-t
c. r-r-r-r
d. x-x-x-x
23. This sound effect is used to:
a. recreate the roar of the sea
b. strengthen the idea of silence, sleep and death
c. suggest noise and confusion
d. for ornamentation effect only
24. In form or structure, this poem is:
a. a ballad
b. a simple lyric
c. a sonnet
d. an ode
25. “To W.P.” is significant as a poem because:
a. in expressing a human emotion, it gives us aesthetic pleasure
b. it conveys a moral
c. it gives us information, knowledge
d. all of the above