QUESTIONS
Roxy is helping her teacher get ready for an after-school workshop on poetry. She is writing a glossary of poetry terms for the students.
Which definition should she use for “poetic form”?
A.
The lines and stanzas of a poem
B.
The pattern of rhyming sounds in a poem
C.
The rules that determine a poem’s structure
D.
The way a poem’s various pieces are arranged
Colin is comparing a pair of sonnets for a paper he’s writing. He is looking at the following sections:
…Never did sun more beautifully steep
In his first splendour, valley, rock, or hill;
Ne'er saw I, never felt, a calm so deep!
The river glideth at his own sweet will…
“Composed upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802”
-William Wordsworth
Much have I traveled in the realms of gold,
And many goodly states and kingdoms seen;
Round many western islands have I been
Which bards in fealty to Apollo hold…
“On First Looking into Chapman’s Homer”
-John Keats
Which sentence correctly describes the two sections?
A.
The two sections have different rhyme schemes and different meters.
B.
The two sections have different rhyme schemes and the same meter.
C.
The two sections have the same rhyme scheme and the same meter.
D.
The two sections have the same rhyme scheme and different meters.
Gayatri is composing a sonnet to read aloud at her sister’s track and field awards ceremony. So far, she has written the following lines:
My sister Priya soars around the track A
At our fair school, as though her feet had wings; B
Behind her flies a ponytail of black, A
And on the ground the sound of her tread sings. B
What should the rhyme scheme of the next stanza be?
A.
CDCD
B.
ABBA
C.
ABAB
D.
AABB
Deandra is trying to explain the major effect of the volta in line 9 of this sonnet:
When, in disgrace with Fortune and men's eyes,
I all alone beweep my outcast state,
And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries,
And look upon myself and curse my fate,
Wishing me like to one more rich in hope, line 5
Featured like him, like him with friends possessed,
Desiring this man's art and that man's scope,
With what I most enjoy contented least;
Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising,
Haply I think on thee, and then my state, line 10
(Like to the lark at break of day arising
From sullen earth) sings hymns at heaven's gate;
For thy sweet love remembered such wealth brings
That then I scorn to change my state with kings.
–William Shakespeare, “Sonnet 29”
Which of the following explanations should she use?
A.
The volta signals a change in the rhyme scheme and meter.
B.
The volta summarizes the ideas introduced in the octave of the sonnet.
C.
The volta introduces a new idea that indicates a shift in tone from the octave of the sonnet.
D.
The volta introduces a new speaker who answers the speaker from the octave of the sonnet.
Ted is analyzing the sonnet “Composed upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802.” As you read the sonnet, notice what the author says about urban and rural settings.
Earth has not anything to show more fair:
Dull would he be of soul who could pass by
A sight so touching in its majesty:
This City now doth, like a garment, wear
The beauty of the morning; silent, bare,
Ships, towers, domes, theatres, and temples lie
Open unto the fields, and to the sky;
All bright and glittering in the smokeless air.
Never did sun more beautifully steep
In his first splendour, valley, rock, or hill;
Ne'er saw I, never felt, a calm so deep!
The river glideth at his own sweet will:
Dear God! the very houses seem asleep;
And all that mighty heart is lying still!
How does the poem’s form contribute to its meaning?
A.
The rhyme scheme emphasizes the beauty and natural elements of the city.
B.
The octave creates an image of the city, while the sestet gives the speaker’s awed reaction.
C.
The octave introduces the speaker’s opinions about cities, while the sestet contradicts those opinions.
D.
The meter, iambic pentameter, mimics the sounds of natural elements while the lines describe an urban scene.
