Literary Analysis of American Poetry
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AP English Literature and Composition › Literary Analysis of American Poetry
A Late Walk
1 When I go up through the mowing field,
2 The headless aftermath,
3 Smooth-laid like thatch with the heavy dew,
4 Half closes the garden path.
5 And when I come to the garden ground,
6 The whir of sober birds
7 Up from the tangle of withered weeds
8 Is sadder than any words
9 A tree beside the wall stands bare,
10 But a leaf that lingered brown,
11 Disturbed, I doubt not, by my thought,
12 Comes softly rattling down.
13 I end not far from my going forth
14 By picking the faded blue
15 Of the last remaining aster flower
16 To carry again to you.
In line 14, the adjective "faded" contributes to what?
The elegiac style of the poem
The lightheartedness of the poem
The pastoral character of the poem
The abundance of nature imagery in the poem
The speaker's symbolic rebirth
Explanation
The "faded blue" of line 14 contributes to the poems overall elegiac style (that is, its mournful design). For the speaker, even the blue of the aster flower has been dulled.
A Late Walk
1 When I go up through the mowing field,
2 The headless aftermath,
3 Smooth-laid like thatch with the heavy dew,
4 Half closes the garden path.
5 And when I come to the garden ground,
6 The whir of sober birds
7 Up from the tangle of withered weeds
8 Is sadder than any words
9 A tree beside the wall stands bare,
10 But a leaf that lingered brown,
11 Disturbed, I doubt not, by my thought,
12 Comes softly rattling down.
13 I end not far from my going forth
14 By picking the faded blue
15 Of the last remaining aster flower
16 To carry again to you.
In line 14, the adjective "faded" contributes to what?
The elegiac style of the poem
The lightheartedness of the poem
The pastoral character of the poem
The abundance of nature imagery in the poem
The speaker's symbolic rebirth
Explanation
The "faded blue" of line 14 contributes to the poems overall elegiac style (that is, its mournful design). For the speaker, even the blue of the aster flower has been dulled.
A Late Walk
1 When I go up through the mowing field,
2 The headless aftermath,
3 Smooth-laid like thatch with the heavy dew,
4 Half closes the garden path.
5 And when I come to the garden ground,
6 The whir of sober birds
7 Up from the tangle of withered weeds
8 Is sadder than any words
9 A tree beside the wall stands bare,
10 But a leaf that lingered brown,
11 Disturbed, I doubt not, by my thought,
12 Comes softly rattling down.
13 I end not far from my going forth
14 By picking the faded blue
15 Of the last remaining aster flower
16 To carry again to you.
Which of the following is a simile?
"Smooth-laid like thatch" (line 3)
"sadder than any words" (line 8)
"the wall stands bare," (line 9)
"The headless aftermath," (line 2)
"the tangle of withered weeds" (line 7)
Explanation
"Smooth-laid like thatch" (line 3) is the simile; a simile is a figure pf speech in which two seemingly unlike things are compared using "like" or "as." Usually the words indicate two things that have some similar quality, however, although this may not be immediately evident. In this instance, the "mowing field" (line 1) is like "thatch" (line 3).
A Late Walk
1 When I go up through the mowing field,
2 The headless aftermath,
3 Smooth-laid like thatch with the heavy dew,
4 Half closes the garden path.
5 And when I come to the garden ground,
6 The whir of sober birds
7 Up from the tangle of withered weeds
8 Is sadder than any words
9 A tree beside the wall stands bare,
10 But a leaf that lingered brown,
11 Disturbed, I doubt not, by my thought,
12 Comes softly rattling down.
13 I end not far from my going forth
14 By picking the faded blue
15 Of the last remaining aster flower
16 To carry again to you.
Which of the following is a simile?
"Smooth-laid like thatch" (line 3)
"sadder than any words" (line 8)
"the wall stands bare," (line 9)
"The headless aftermath," (line 2)
"the tangle of withered weeds" (line 7)
Explanation
"Smooth-laid like thatch" (line 3) is the simile; a simile is a figure pf speech in which two seemingly unlike things are compared using "like" or "as." Usually the words indicate two things that have some similar quality, however, although this may not be immediately evident. In this instance, the "mowing field" (line 1) is like "thatch" (line 3).
Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore,---
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of someone gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
"'Tis some visitor," I muttered, "tapping at my chamber door:
Only this, and nothing more."
Oh! distinctly I remember, it was in the bleak December,
And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.
Eagerly I wished the morrow;--- vainly I had sought to borrow
From my books surcease of sorrow,--- sorrow for the lost Lenore,---
For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels named Lenore,---
Nameless here forever more.
Name the dominant metrical pattern of the above lines.
Trochaic Octameter
Iambic Pentameter
Anapestic Tetrameter
Dactylic Hexameter
Spondaic Trimeter
Explanation
The above lines (excerpted from "The Raven," by Edgar Allen Poe) are written in Trochaic Octameter -- 8 metrical feet per line, with each foot consisting of 1 stressed followed by 1 unstressed syllable, e.g.:
"ONCE u-PON a MID-night DREA-ry, WHILE i PON-dered WEAK and WEA-ry..."
Metrical patterns are described in terms of the kind and number of metrical feet that make up each regular line. Metrical feet are units of stressed and unstressed syllables. Different kinds of metrical feet combine stresses and unstresses in different combinations. For instance, an iamb is one unstressed syllable followed by one stressed syllable (da DUM), and a trochee is one stressed syllable followed by one unstressed syllable (DUM da). The number of feet per line is indicated by words with latinate prefixes followed by the word "meter." P entameter, for instance, indicates that each line contains five feet. Hence, iambic pentameter describes a rhythm in which each line is made up of five iambic feet, and trochaic octameter (the correct answer) describes a pattern in which each standard line is made up of eight trochees.
Passage adapted from The Raven (Boston: Richard G. Badger & Co., 1898): I-IV by Edgar Allen Poe
Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore,---
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of someone gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
"'Tis some visitor," I muttered, "tapping at my chamber door:
Only this, and nothing more."
Oh! distinctly I remember, it was in the bleak December,
And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.
Eagerly I wished the morrow;--- vainly I had sought to borrow
From my books surcease of sorrow,--- sorrow for the lost Lenore,---
For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels named Lenore,---
Nameless here forever more.
Name the dominant metrical pattern of the above lines.
Trochaic Octameter
Iambic Pentameter
Anapestic Tetrameter
Dactylic Hexameter
Spondaic Trimeter
Explanation
The above lines (excerpted from "The Raven," by Edgar Allen Poe) are written in Trochaic Octameter -- 8 metrical feet per line, with each foot consisting of 1 stressed followed by 1 unstressed syllable, e.g.:
"ONCE u-PON a MID-night DREA-ry, WHILE i PON-dered WEAK and WEA-ry..."
Metrical patterns are described in terms of the kind and number of metrical feet that make up each regular line. Metrical feet are units of stressed and unstressed syllables. Different kinds of metrical feet combine stresses and unstresses in different combinations. For instance, an iamb is one unstressed syllable followed by one stressed syllable (da DUM), and a trochee is one stressed syllable followed by one unstressed syllable (DUM da). The number of feet per line is indicated by words with latinate prefixes followed by the word "meter." P entameter, for instance, indicates that each line contains five feet. Hence, iambic pentameter describes a rhythm in which each line is made up of five iambic feet, and trochaic octameter (the correct answer) describes a pattern in which each standard line is made up of eight trochees.
Passage adapted from The Raven (Boston: Richard G. Badger & Co., 1898): I-IV by Edgar Allen Poe
This poet, recognized as a New World Poet, was a Puritan who wrote about his or her struggles, the role of women, and mortality. In "Microcosmographia" (1615), this author writes:
What gripes of wind my infancy did pain,
What tortures I in breeding teeth sustain?
What crudityes my stomach cold has bred,
Whence vomits, flux, and worms have issued?
Anne Bradstreet
Emily Dickinson
Harriet Beecher Stowe
Washington Irving
Jack London
Explanation
Anne Bradstreet was declared the first female New World Poet for her works. She was born in England in 1612 to an affluent family. Both her father and husband would be Governors of Massachusetts after they arrived in America in 1630. Some of her most famous works include A Dialogue Between Old England and New, A Letter to Her Husband, Absent Upon Public Employment, and Contemplation.
Although Bradstreet did not have a very pleasant life, most of her poems were hopeful and positive, with a hint of sarcasm.
Passage adapted from "Microcosmographia" by Anne Bradstreet (1615)
This poet, recognized as a New World Poet, was a Puritan who wrote about his or her struggles, the role of women, and mortality. In "Microcosmographia" (1615), this author writes:
What gripes of wind my infancy did pain,
What tortures I in breeding teeth sustain?
What crudityes my stomach cold has bred,
Whence vomits, flux, and worms have issued?
Anne Bradstreet
Emily Dickinson
Harriet Beecher Stowe
Washington Irving
Jack London
Explanation
Anne Bradstreet was declared the first female New World Poet for her works. She was born in England in 1612 to an affluent family. Both her father and husband would be Governors of Massachusetts after they arrived in America in 1630. Some of her most famous works include A Dialogue Between Old England and New, A Letter to Her Husband, Absent Upon Public Employment, and Contemplation.
Although Bradstreet did not have a very pleasant life, most of her poems were hopeful and positive, with a hint of sarcasm.
Passage adapted from "Microcosmographia" by Anne Bradstreet (1615)
A Late Walk
1 When I go up through the mowing field,
2 The headless aftermath,
3 Smooth-laid like thatch with the heavy dew,
4 Half closes the garden path.
5 And when I come to the garden ground,
6 The whir of sober birds
7 Up from the tangle of withered weeds
8 Is sadder than any words
9 A tree beside the wall stands bare,
10 But a leaf that lingered brown,
11 Disturbed, I doubt not, by my thought,
12 Comes softly rattling down.
13 I end not far from my going forth
14 By picking the faded blue
15 Of the last remaining aster flower
16 To carry again to you.
The phrase "sober birds" (line 6) implies that even the birds are .
serious and sad about the changing season
not intoxicated on drink
delusional about the encroaching severe weather
irresponsible about foraging
playful to a fault
Explanation
The "sober birds" (line 6) are serious and sad. The poet, Robert Frost, even calls their busy "whir" (line 6) "sadder than any words" (line 8). Their sobriety indicates a clarity of vision and purpose in the face of winter.
A Late Walk
1 When I go up through the mowing field,
2 The headless aftermath,
3 Smooth-laid like thatch with the heavy dew,
4 Half closes the garden path.
5 And when I come to the garden ground,
6 The whir of sober birds
7 Up from the tangle of withered weeds
8 Is sadder than any words
9 A tree beside the wall stands bare,
10 But a leaf that lingered brown,
11 Disturbed, I doubt not, by my thought,
12 Comes softly rattling down.
13 I end not far from my going forth
14 By picking the faded blue
15 Of the last remaining aster flower
16 To carry again to you.
The phrase "sober birds" (line 6) implies that even the birds are .
serious and sad about the changing season
not intoxicated on drink
delusional about the encroaching severe weather
irresponsible about foraging
playful to a fault
Explanation
The "sober birds" (line 6) are serious and sad. The poet, Robert Frost, even calls their busy "whir" (line 6) "sadder than any words" (line 8). Their sobriety indicates a clarity of vision and purpose in the face of winter.