Understanding Terminology That Describes Poetry
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CLEP Humanities › Understanding Terminology That Describes Poetry
Which of the following writers is NOT a modernist poet?
William Wordsworth
T. S. Eliot
Ezra Pound
Wallace Stevens
E. E. Cummings
Explanation
Modernism was a movement that spread through many different forms of art in the last decade of the nineteenth century. Modernism rejected what the artists saw as outdated modes. In poetry, the movement was summed up by Ezra Pound's advice to "Make it new!" and Wallace Stevens' use of blank verse, along with T. S. Eliot's writing lengthy epics of mundane life, and E.E. Cummings' reshaping the physical look of poetry. Many modernists were intentionally rejecting the romantic poets like William Wordsworth.
Which of the following writers is NOT a modernist poet?
William Wordsworth
T. S. Eliot
Ezra Pound
Wallace Stevens
E. E. Cummings
Explanation
Modernism was a movement that spread through many different forms of art in the last decade of the nineteenth century. Modernism rejected what the artists saw as outdated modes. In poetry, the movement was summed up by Ezra Pound's advice to "Make it new!" and Wallace Stevens' use of blank verse, along with T. S. Eliot's writing lengthy epics of mundane life, and E.E. Cummings' reshaping the physical look of poetry. Many modernists were intentionally rejecting the romantic poets like William Wordsworth.
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,
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 my self almost despising,
Haply I think on thee, and then my state,
(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.
What is the rhyme scheme of the given passage?
a b a b
c d c d
e f e f
g g
a b a b
c d c d
e f e f
a b
a b a b
c d c d
e f e f
e f
a b a b
c d c d
e f e f
c d
a b a b
c d c d
e f e f
b b
Explanation
The poem is Sonnet 29 by William Shakespeare. The rhyme scheme is four quatrains and an ending couplet. The couplet, or last two lines, rhyme with each other, but not with other lines earlier in the poem.
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,
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 my self almost despising,
Haply I think on thee, and then my state,
(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.
What is the rhyme scheme of the given passage?
a b a b
c d c d
e f e f
g g
a b a b
c d c d
e f e f
a b
a b a b
c d c d
e f e f
e f
a b a b
c d c d
e f e f
c d
a b a b
c d c d
e f e f
b b
Explanation
The poem is Sonnet 29 by William Shakespeare. The rhyme scheme is four quatrains and an ending couplet. The couplet, or last two lines, rhyme with each other, but not with other lines earlier in the poem.
A poem that is a lamentation for the dead is called .
an elegy
an epic
a haiku
a limerick
an allegory
Explanation
One of the oldest and most consistently written kinds of poem is an elegy, a work that is dedicated to the memory of a recently deceased person. An elegy can take on almost any poetic form, such as a sonnet, a cinquain, or any other specific kind of poem. Elegies were written by the ancient Greeks and Romans and continue to be written by modern poets.
A poem that is a lamentation for the dead is called .
an elegy
an epic
a haiku
a limerick
an allegory
Explanation
One of the oldest and most consistently written kinds of poem is an elegy, a work that is dedicated to the memory of a recently deceased person. An elegy can take on almost any poetic form, such as a sonnet, a cinquain, or any other specific kind of poem. Elegies were written by the ancient Greeks and Romans and continue to be written by modern poets.
Which modernist poet is famous for his admonition to "Make it new?"
Ezra Pound
T.S. Eliot
Wallace Stevens
James Joyce
William Carlos Williams
Explanation
Ezra Pound was an American who made his career in literature in England in the years before World War I, both in his own work and by helping edit and encourage many other poets. His motto was "Make it new," encouraging his fellow poets to create new forms, new modes of descriptions, and new concepts. Pound was a controversial figure, alienating those close to him in his personal life and finding an enthusiasm for Fascism in the 1930s.
Which modernist poet is famous for his admonition to "Make it new?"
Ezra Pound
T.S. Eliot
Wallace Stevens
James Joyce
William Carlos Williams
Explanation
Ezra Pound was an American who made his career in literature in England in the years before World War I, both in his own work and by helping edit and encourage many other poets. His motto was "Make it new," encouraging his fellow poets to create new forms, new modes of descriptions, and new concepts. Pound was a controversial figure, alienating those close to him in his personal life and finding an enthusiasm for Fascism in the 1930s.
The poetic technique known as alliteration refers to .
the repetitive use of words with the same initial sound or syllable
an internal rhyme inside of a sentence
the use of homonyms to create wordplay
the sequential use of each letter of the alphabet as the first letter of a word
an poetic structure in which the number of syllables in each line of a poem gradually increase
Explanation
Alliteration is a poetic strategy that intentionally repeats the same initial sound or syllable in multiple words in a line or lines of poetry. Alliteration can help create a unique rhythm or special structure. While developed in poetry, alliteration is also widely used in prose writing.
What kinds of poems are made up of fourteen lines, iambic pentameter, and end in a rhyming couplet?
Sonnets
Haikus
Odes
Aubades
Poems written in common meter
Explanation
"Sonnet" is the correct answer, as sonnets utilize iambic pentameter and a concluding couplet and are usually made up of fourteen lines. The most famous writer of English sonnets is William Shakespeare, who wrote one hundred and fifty-four sonnets during his lifetime.