Name: Date: Graded Assignment Unit Quiz: Turn-of-the-Century Literature Questions 1-5 are based on the following passage from "Heart of Darkness": "The yarns of a seamen have a direct simplicity, the meaning of which lies within the shell of a cracked nut. But Marlow was not typical (if his propensity to spin yarns be excepted), and to him the meaning of an episode was not inside like a kernel but outside, enveloping the tale which brought it out only as a glow brings out a haze, in the likeness of one of these misty halos that sometimes are made visible by the special illumination of moonshine." 1. How is Marlow like the other seamen? A. He tells complicated tales. B. He tells simple tales. C. He tells tales. D. He feels at home in the moonshine. E. He only tells stories at night. 2. The point of the metaphor of the "cracked nut" is to emphasize: A. Marlow's intelligence. B. the indirect quality in seamen's stories. C. the simplicity of Marlow's stories. D. the simplicity of the seamen's stories. E. the sea itself. 3. This passage occurs: A. at the beginning of the story. B. at the end of the story. C. in the middle of the story. D. right before Marlow describes Africa. E. right after Marlow describes Kurtz.
4. In the phrase, "brought it out only as a glow brings out a haze," "it" refers to: A. Marlow. B. the tale. C. the meaning of a tale. D. a kernel. E. a misty halo. 5. Which type of figurative language is used in this passage? A. Personification B. Irony C. Simile D. Apostrophe E. Allusion 6. Colonies of settlement refer to: A. colonies that did not attract large numbers of European settlers. B. colonies that did attract large numbers of European settlers. C. colonies such as the one depicted in "Heart of Darkness." D. colonies such as those in India. E. colonies where Europeans were primarily military officers or plantation owners. 7. In "Heart of Darkness," Conrad uses all of the following stylistic devices, except: A. frame narration. B. impressionistic writing. C. complicated syntax. D. detailed physical descriptions. E. objective narration. 8. At the end of "Heart of Darkness," Marlow tells Kurtz's fiancée that Kurtz's final words were: A. her name. B. "A voice! A voice!" C. "Exterminate the brutes." D. "The horror! The horror!" E. "Do I not?"
Questions 9-12 are based on the following passage from "Heart of Darkness": "But his soul was mad. Being alone in the wilderness, it had looked within itself, and, by heavens! I tell you, it had gone mad. I had for my sins, I suppose to go through the ordeal of looking into it myself. No eloquence could have been so withering to one's belief in mankind as his final burst of sincerity. He struggled with himself, too. I saw it I heard it. I saw the inconceivable mystery of a soul that knew no restraint, no faith, and no fear, yet struggling blindly with itself." 9. Which of the following best describes the "inconceivable mystery" referred to in this passage? A. The mystery of why Europeans colonized Africa B. The mystery of why Marlow is attracted to Kurtz C. The mystery of why Kurtz went insane D. The mystery of why the wilderness has such an effect on people E. The mystery of Kurtz's eloquence 10. This scene occurs: A. near the end of Marlow's story. B. at the beginning of his story. C. before Marlow leaves Europe for Africa in his story. D. upon Marlow's return to Europe from Africa in his story. E. as the final commentary of his story. 11. In the phrase, "I had for my sins, I suppose to go through the ordeal of looking into it myself," "it" refers to: A. the soul of the wilderness. B. an African's soul. C. mankind's soul. D. Marlow's soul. E. Kurtz's soul. 12. Marlow's feelings are best described as: A. gratitude and awe. B. despair and amazement. C. faith and hope. D. cynicism and fear. E. disgust and hatred. 13. In "The Yellow Wallpaper," the narrator's husband treats her with: A. endless respect. B. patronizing control. C. unconcealed hatred. D. understanding. E. helpful sympathy.
14. At the end of "The Yellow Wallpaper," all of the following occurs, except: A. the narrator's husband faints. B. the narrator rips off the wallpaper. C. the narrator thinks she is the woman in the wallpaper. D. the narrator runs away. E. the narrator creeps around the room.
Questions 15-18 are based on the following passage from "The Yellow Wallpaper": "That paper looks to me as if it knew what a vicious influence it had. There is a recurrent spot where the pattern lolls like a broken neck and two bulbous eyes stare at you upside down. I get positively angry with the impertinence of it and the everlastingness. Up and down and sideways they crawl, and those absurd, unblinking eyes are everywhere. There is one place where two breadths didn't match, and the eyes go all up and down the line, one a little higher than the other." 15. This passage employs which types of figurative language? A. Personification and simile B. Simile and oxymoron C. Paradox and metaphor D. Anaphora and understatement E. Synecdoche and anaphora 16. The eyes in the wallpaper most likely represent: A. the sense that the narrator's husband is trapped. B. the sense that the narrator is watching everyone else. C. the sense that the narrator is being watched. D. the sense that the narrator's husband is trying to kill her. E. the sense that the narrator is angry. 17. The broken neck in the wallpaper most likely represents: A. the narrator's sense of being strangled by conventions. B. the narrator's husband's sense that his wife is crazy. C. the narrator's husband's attempts to drive his wife crazy. D. the narrator's feelings of control. E. the narrator's feelings of power. 18. The tone of this description is one of: A. happiness and contentment. B. sorrow and mourning. C. disgust and revenge. D. revolt and rebellion. E. fear and anger.
Questions 19 and 20 are based on the following passage from "The Yellow Wallpaper": "I did write for a while in spite of them; but it does exhaust me a good deal having to be so sly about it, or else meet with heavy opposition. I sometimes fancy that in my condition if I had less opposition and more society and stimulus but John says the very worst thing I can do is to think about my condition, and I confess it always makes me feel bad." 19. This passage reveals: A. the narrator's love for her husband. B. the narrator's distrust of her husband's intentions. C. the narrator's husband's hatred for her. D. the narrator's happiness. E. the narrator's morbid fantasies. 20. The narrator tone is best described as: A. cynical yet hopeful. B. melancholy but sincere. C. slightly rebellious but mostly resigned. D. happy and content. E. mean and hostile.
Name: Date: Answer Sheet 1. 11. 2. 12. 3. 13. 4. 14. 5. 15. 6. 16. 7. 17. 8. 18. 9. 19. 10. 20.
Name: Date: Answer the following question: Read the following passage from "Heart of Darkness" carefully. Then, in a well-organized essay, analyze how this description indicates the narrator's ambivalent feelings about Kurtz. You may want to consider such literary elements as point of view, tone, diction, and paradoxes. "Kurtz discoursed. A voice! a voice! It rang deep to the very last. It survived his strength to hide in the magnificent folds of eloquence the barren darkness of his heart. Oh, he struggled! he struggled! The wastes of his weary brain were haunted by shadowy images now images of wealth and fame revolving obsequiously round his unextinguishable gift of noble and lofty expression. My Intended, my station, my career, my ideas these were the subjects for the occasional utterances of elevated sentiments. The shade of the original Kurtz frequented the bedside of the hollow sham, whose fate it was to be buried presently in the mould of primeval earth. But both the diabolic love and the unearthly hate of the mysteries it had penetrated fought for the possession of that soul satiated with primitive emotions, avid of lying fame, of sham distinction, of all the appearances of success and power."
Name: Date:
Name: Date: