CHAPTER 2 American Poetry Passage 1. Anne Bradstreet, The Author to Her Book Thou ill-form d offspring of my feeble brain, Who after birth did st by my side remain, Till snatcht from thence by friends, less wise than true, Who thee abroad exposed to public view, Made thee in rags, halting to th press to trudge, Where errors were not lessened (all may judge). At thy return my blushing was not small, My rambling brat (in print) should mother call. I cast thee by as one unfit for light, The visage was so irksome in my sight, Yet being mine own, at length affection would Thy blemishes amend, if so I could. I washed thy face, but more defects I saw, And rubbing off a spot, still made a flaw. I stretcht thy joints to make thee even feet, Yet still thou run st more hobbling than is meet. In better dress to trim thee was my mind, But nought save home-spun cloth, i th house I find. In this array, mongst vulgars may st thou roam. In critics hands, beware thou dost not come, And take thy way where yet thou are not known. If for thy father askt, say, thou hadst none; And for thy mother, she alas is poor, Which caused her thus to send thee out of door. 10 1 20 71. The poem is developed mainly through (A) rhyme (B) iambic pentameter (C) simile (D) metaphor (E) conceit 17
18 00 AP English Literature Questions to Know by Test Day 72. The word Thou in line 1 indicates (A) the poem is a letter (B) the poem is an invocation (C) the speaker is employing apostrophe (D) the speaker uses arcane vocabulary to make a point (E) the poem is outdated 73. The poem contains all of the following devices except (A) enjambment (B) imagery (C) personification (D) explicit metaphor (E) exact rhyme 74. The words trudge () and judge (6) are examples of (A) internal rhyme (B) feminine rhyme (C) slant rhyme (D) masculine rhyme (E) iambs 7. The speaker implies her book is all of the following except (A) inchoate (B) disseminated prematurely (C) fallible (D) irreparable (E) polemical 76. Who is the subject of the verb Made ()? (A) the press (B) friends (C) the speaker (D) the book (E) the offspring 77. The tone of the poem is (A) mournful (B) nurturing (C) self-deprecating (D) vengeful (E) acerbic
American Poetry 19 78. The poem s rhythm is composed of I. iambic pentameter II. terza rima III. heroic couplets (A) I only (B) I and II only (C) II and III only (D) I and III only (E) I, II, and III 79. The relationship between the speaker and her addressee is most similar to the relationship between (A) a teacher and a student (B) a nurturing father and a child (C) a boss and an employee (D) a fastidious artist and her painting (E) a director and an actor 80. The main topic of the poem is (A) an artist s relationship with her work (B) an artist s dislike for her work (C) the need for editing before publication (D) unreasonable critics (E) the hardships of motherhood Passage 2. Emily Dickinson, Success is counted sweetest... Success is counted sweetest By those who ne er succeed. To comprehend a nectar Requires sorest need. Not one of all the purple host Who took the flag to-day Can tell the definition, So clear, of victory, As he, defeated, dying, On whose forbidden ear The distant strains of triumph Break, agonized and clear! 10
20 00 AP English Literature Questions to Know by Test Day 81. The alliteration in the first stanza serves to (A) soothe the reader (B) highlight the envious tone (C) complement the assonance in the first stanza (D) contrast the consonance in the second stanza (E) emphasize the appeal of success by creating an appealing sound 82. The rhythm and beat of the poem as a whole can best be described as consisting of (A) three to four feet of iambs (B) iambic pentameter (C) iambic trimeter (D) three to four feet of trochees (E) trochaic tetrameter 83. Line is an example of what type of measured beat? (A) iambic tetrameter (B) iambic trimeter (C) trochaic tetrameter (D) iambic pentameter (E) trochaic trimeter 84. The poem s language can be described as consisting of all of the following except (A) aphorisms (B) homilies (C) epigrams (D) axioms (E) chiasmus 8. The poem s rhyme scheme is (A) abcb defe ghih (B) abab abab abab (C) abcb abcb abcb (D) abcd efgh ijkl (E) aabb ccdd eeff 86. The word comprehend in line 3 most likely means (A) to eat (B) to figure out (C) to determine (D) to analyze (E) to truly know
87. The words day (6) and victory (8) provide an example of (A) feminine rhyme (B) slant rhyme (C) double entendre (D) oxymoron (E) antithesis American Poetry 21 88. The structure of the poem consists of (A) a hypothesis, reasoning, and a solution (B) a proposition and evidence (C) one axiomatic sentence and two sentences with images demonstrating the axiom (D) a theory and examples (E) a question answered by hypothetical situations 89. The overall tone of the poem is (A) pedantic (B) didactic (C) moralistic (D) adagelike (E) envious 90. The poem can be summarized by which of the following sentences? (A) Only those who have achieved success understand its sweetness. (B) Success comes only to those who risk and persevere. (C) Success is best won through hard work. (D) Only those who have not achieved success understand its sweetness. (E) The victor is always better off. Passage 3. T. S. Eliot, Morning at the Window They are rattling breakfast plates in basement kitchens, And along the trampled edges of the street I am aware of the damp souls of housemaids Sprouting despondently at area gates. The brown waves of fog toss up to me Twisted faces from the bottom of the street, And tear from a passer-by with muddy skirts An aimless smile that hovers in the air And vanishes along the level of the roofs.