SAT II Literature : Genre, Style, Tone, Mood, and Other Literary Features

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for SAT II Literature

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Example Questions

Example Question #18 : Summarizing, Describing, Or Paraphrasing Excerpts

Adapted from Life and Remains of John Clare "The Northamptonshire Peasant Poet" by John Clare (1872, ed. J. L. Cherry)

I am! Yet what I am who cares, or knows?
My friends forsake me, like a memory lost.
I am the self-consumer of my woes,
They rise and vanish, an oblivious host,
Shadows of life, whose very soul is lost.
And yet I am—I live—though I am toss'd

Into the nothingness of scorn and noise.
Into the living sea of waking dream,
Where there is neither sense of life, nor joys,
But the huge shipwreck of my own esteem
And all that's dear. Even those I loved the best
Are strange—nay, they are stranger than the rest.

I long for scenes where man has never trod—
For scenes where woman never smiled or wept—
There to abide with my Creator, God,
And sleep as I in childhood sweetly slept,
Full of high thoughts, unborn. So let me lie,
The grass below; above, the vaulted sky.

The author's tone in the first stanza can best be described as __________.

Possible Answers:

mocking

melancholy

conclusive

modest

impetuous

Correct answer:

melancholy

Explanation:

The tone in the first stanza is largely sad or “melancholy,” as the narrator mentions his or her “woes.” We can see that the narrator feels abandoned by his or her companions and that he or she is overcome by the “shadows of life.” It is not a "mocking" tone, as there is no derision or humor in it. One cannot say it is "conclusive," as there does not seem to be any conclusion or theory drawn. Likewise, we might say it is "modest," yet the modesty comes from the sadness.

Example Question #13 : Summarizing, Describing, Or Paraphrasing Excerpts

Adapted from A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift (1729)

The number of souls in this kingdom being usually reckoned one million and a half, of these I calculate there may be about two hundred thousand couple whose wives are breeders; from which number I subtract thirty thousand couples who are able to maintain their own children, although I apprehend there cannot be so many, under the present distresses of the kingdom; but this being granted, there will remain an hundred and seventy thousand breeders. I again subtract fifty thousand for those women who miscarry, or whose children die by accident or disease within the year. There only remains one hundred and twenty thousand children of poor parents annually born. The question therefore is, how this number shall be reared and provided for, which, as I have already said, under the present situation of affairs, is utterly impossible by all the methods hitherto proposed. For we can neither employ them in handicraft or agriculture; we neither build houses (I mean in the country) nor cultivate land: they can very seldom pick up a livelihood by stealing, till they arrive at six years old, except where they are of towardly parts, although I confess they learn the rudiments much earlier, during which time, they can however be properly looked upon only as probationers, as I have been informed by a principal gentleman in the county of Cavan, who protested to me that he never knew above one or two instances under the age of six, even in a part of the kingdom so renowned for the quickest proficiency in that art.

I am assured by our merchants, that a boy or a girl before twelve years old is no salable commodity; and even when they come to this age they will not yield above three pounds, or three pounds and half-a-crown at most on the exchange; which cannot turn to account either to the parents or kingdom, the charge of nutriment and rags having been at least four times that value.

I shall now therefore humbly propose my own thoughts, which I hope will not be liable to the least objection.

I have been assured by a very knowing American of my acquaintance in London, that a young healthy child well nursed is at a year old a most delicious, nourishing, and wholesome food, whether stewed, roasted, baked, or boiled; and I make no doubt that it will equally serve in a fricassee or a ragout.

I do therefore humbly offer it to public consideration that of the hundred and twenty thousand children already computed, twenty thousand may be reserved for breed, whereof only one-fourth part to be males; which is more than we allow to sheep, black cattle or swine; and my reason is, that these children are seldom the fruits of marriage, a circumstance not much regarded by our savages, therefore one male will be sufficient to serve four females. That the remaining hundred thousand may, at a year old, be offered in the sale to the persons of quality and fortune through the kingdom; always advising the mother to let them suck plentifully in the last month, so as to render them plump and fat for a good table. A child will make two dishes at an entertainment for friends; and when the family dines alone, the fore or hind quarter will make a reasonable dish, and seasoned with a little pepper or salt will be very good boiled on the fourth day, especially in winter.

I have reckoned upon a medium that a child just born will weigh 12 pounds, and in a solar year, if tolerably nursed, increaseth to 28 pounds.

I grant this food will be somewhat dear, and therefore very proper for landlords, who, as they have already devoured most of the parents, seem to have the best title to the children.

Which of the following best describes the tone of the underlined sentence?

Possible Answers:

Sympathetic

Respectful

Earnest

Humble

Sarcastic

Correct answer:

Sarcastic

Explanation:

The best description of the tone is sarcastic, or ironic. Swift demonstrates skillful sarcasm when he "humbly offers" that a hundred thousand children be offered for sale "plump and fat for a good table." His offer is not meant to be humble or practical, but rather outrageous and ironic.

Example Question #14 : Tone, Style, And Mood: Poetry

1 Infer the wilds which next pertain. 

2 Though travel here be still a walk,

3 Small heart was theirs for easy talk.

4 Oblivious of the bridle-rein

5 Rolfe fell to Lethe altogether,

6 Bewitched by that uncanny weather

7 Of sultry cloud. And home-sick grew

8 The banker. In his reverie blue

9 The cigarette, a summer friend,

10 Went out between his teeth—could lend

11 No solace, soothe him nor engage.

12 And now disrelished he each word

13 Of sprightly, harmless persiflage

14 Wherewith young Glaucon here would fain

15 Evince a jaunty disregard.

16 But hush betimes o’ertook the twain—

17 The more impressive, it may be,

18 For that the senior, somewhat spent,

19 Florid overmuch and corpulent,

20 Labored in lungs, and audibly. 

 

(1876)

In lines 17-20 the tone is __________________.

Possible Answers:

elegiac

allegorical

didactic

bombastic

humorous

Correct answer:

humorous

Explanation:

The last four lines of this passage take on a distinctly humorous or comic tone. The poet here describes how the elder of the two travelers is out of shape and therefore huffing and puffing as they go along. The way this is presented is humorous in part because the poet lists this as a reason why it is surprising the two could be silent. It also appears comic because of how much it contrasts with the more serious, even dreary, preceding lines.

Passage adapted from Herman Melville's epic poem Clarel (1876).

Example Question #11 : Tone, Style, And Mood: Poetry

Passage adapted from "Ozymandias" by Percy Bysshe Shelley (1818)
 
I met a traveller from an antique land,
Who said—Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. . . . Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed;
And on the pedestal, these words appear:
"My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!"
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.

How does the author create a tone of irony in this poem?

Possible Answers:

The statue of Ozymandias was designed to immortalize the king and give him credit for the kingdom after death, but all that remains of the kingdom is his crumbled statue

There is no example of irony in this poem

Ozymandias believed he was greater than god

The "traveler" in the poem's first line is actually Ozymandias

Correct answer:

The statue of Ozymandias was designed to immortalize the king and give him credit for the kingdom after death, but all that remains of the kingdom is his crumbled statue

Explanation:

Shelley creates irony in "Ozymandias" by riffing on the king's arrogance. Ozymandias believes his kingdom will exist forever, so he builds a statue to ensure he earns credit for his work long after death. In the present, the kingdom is nowhere to be found and all that remains is the wreckage of his statue, essentially giving Ozymandias credit for a kingdom that did not stand the test of time; exactly the opposite of his intent.

Example Question #15 : Tone, Style, And Mood: Poetry

Passage adapted from Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice (1813)

"Elizabeth listened in silence, but was not convinced ; their behavior at the assembly had not been calculated to please in general ; and with more quickness of observation and less pliancy of temper than her sister, and with a judgement too unassailed by any attention to herself, she was very little disposed to approve them. They were in fact very fine ladies ; not deficient in good humour when they were pleased, nor in the power of being agreeable where they chose it ; but proud and conceited. They were rather handsome, had been educated in one of the first private seminaries in town, had a fortune of twenty thousand pounds, were in the habit of spending more than they ought, and of associating with people of rank ; and were therefore in every respect entitled to think well of themselves, and meanly of others. They were of a respectable family in the north of England ; a circumstance more deeply impressed on their memories than that their brother’s fortune and their own had been acquired by trade."

This passage is an example of what type of narration? 

Possible Answers:

Third Person Omniscient

Free Indirect Discourse

Third Person Limited

Stream-of-consciousness

First Person

Correct answer:

Free Indirect Discourse

Explanation:

The answer is free indirect discourse. Jane Austen was the first to formalize this type of narration and its conception remains a significant part of her legacy. FID is a special kind of third-person narration where the narrator moves back and forth between omniscient narration and a character's subjective point of view without making this clear in the text. An example from this passage is the phrase : "and [they] were therefore in every respect entitled to think well of themselves." This is the perspective of a character within the story that the narrator is detailing, yet the reader is informed as if the narrator held this belief themselves.

Example Question #16 : Tone, Style, And Mood: Poetry

On thy stupendous summit, rock sublime! 

That o’er the channel reared, half way at sea 
The mariner at early morning hails, 
I would recline; while Fancy should go forth, 
And represent the strange and awful hour                                        5
Of vast concussion; when the Omnipotent 
Stretched forth his arm, and rent the solid hills, 
Bidding the impetuous main flood rush between 
The rifted shores, and from the continent 
Eternally divided this green isle.                                                     10
Imperial lord of the high southern coast! 
From thy projecting head-land I would mark 
Far in the east the shades of night disperse, 
Melting and thinned, as from the dark blue wave 
Emerging, brilliant rays of arrowy light                                            15
Dart from the horizon; when the glorious sun 
Just lifts above it his resplendent orb. 
Advances now, with feathery silver touched, 
The rippling tide of flood; glisten the sands, 
While, inmates of the chalky clefts that scar                                    20
Thy sides precipitous, with shrill harsh cry, 
Their white wings glancing in the level beam, 
The terns, and gulls, and tarrocks, seek their food, 
And thy rough hollows echo to the voice 
Of the gray choughs, and ever restless daws,                                  25
With clamor, not unlike the chiding hounds, 
While the lone shepherd, and his baying dog, 
Drive to thy turfy crest his bleating flock. 
 
The high meridian of the day is past,                                              
And Ocean now, reflecting the calm Heaven,                                  30
Is of cerulean hue; and murmurs low 
The tide of ebb, upon the level sands. 
The sloop, her angular canvas shifting still, 
Catches the light and variable airs                                                 
That but a little crisp the summer sea,                                           35
Dimpling its tranquil surface. 

The mood of the final eight lines, following the break after line 28, can best be described as __________________.

Possible Answers:

Light-hearted and amused

Lonely and distressed 

Melancholy and regretful 

Optimistic and ebullient 

Tranquil and reflective 

Correct answer:

Tranquil and reflective 

Explanation:

The two words that best describe the mood of the final eight lines are tranquil and reflective. After a series of lines devoted to describing a noisy scene of birds and dogs, the speaker notes that "the high meridian of the day is past." The final eight lines contain words suggesting calmness: the ocean "reflects the calm Heaven" and "murmurs low"; a sailboat "catches the light and variable airs" and dimples the sea's "tranquil surface." These phrases suggest a tranquil and reflective mood, certainly not one that is melancholy and regretful or lonely and distressed. The speaker is alone but not lonely. The speaker is also not light-hearted and amused, nor ebullient and optimistic. The lines are entirely focused on reflecting quietly on the present moment.

Passage adapted from Charlotte Smith's "Beach Head" (1807)

Example Question #1 : 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.

The tone of the poem can best be described as                      .

Possible Answers:

lighthearted

nostalgic

optimistic

irreverant

cavalier

Correct answer:

nostalgic

Explanation:

The elegiac style of the poem, as it is literally about the passing of a growing season and the coming of winter, depicts nostalgia.

Example Question #11 : Tone, Style, And Mood: Poetry

… It is morning. I stand by the mirror 

And tie my tie once more. 

While waves far off in a pale rose twilight  

Crash on a white sand shore. 

I stand by a mirror and comb my hair:(5) 

How small and white my face!— 

The green earth tilts through a sphere of air 

And bathes in a flame of space.  

There are houses hanging above the stars 

And stars hung under a sea...     (10)

And a sun far off in a shell of silence 

Dapples my walls for me....

(1919)

How could the tone of this passage best be described?

Possible Answers:

Reverent

Sycophantic

Sycophantic

Jaded

Sardonic

Correct answer:

Reverent

Explanation:

The passage shows a quiet, solemn respect for the narrator’s surroundings and lends itself to a reverent tone. The passage is neither jaded (cynical) nor sardonic (sarcastic). It is also not sycophantic (obsequious, flattering) or allusive (referential).

Passage adapted from Conrad Aiken’s “Morning Song From ‘Senlin.’” Modern American Poetry, ed.Louis Untermeyer. (1919)

Example Question #41 : Interpreting The Passage

1 Suddenly I saw the cold and rook-delighting Heaven

2 That seemed as though ice burned and was but the more ice,

3 And thereupon imagination and heart were driven

4 So wild that every casual thought of that and this

5 Vanished, and left but memories, that should be out of season

6 With the hot blood of youth, of love crossed long ago;

7 And I took all the blame out of all sense and reason,

8 Until I cried and trembled and rocked to and fro,

9 Riddled with light. Ah! when the ghost begins to quicken,

10 Confusion of the death-bed over, is it sent

11 Out naked on the roads, as the books say, and stricken

12 By the injustice of the skies for punishment?

(1916)

The speaker's tone could be described as one of ______________________.

Possible Answers:

awe and fear

disgust and amazement

penitence and regret

admiration and joy

bitterness and cowardice

Correct answer:

awe and fear

Explanation:

Awe and fear are two adequate descriptors for this poem's tone. Awe is a state of amazement or wonder at something beautiful, vast, or in some way beyond one's own comprehension. Towards the end of the poem, especially when the speaker is wondering if the afterlife will be as harsh and cold as the sky looks, the poem also takes on a definitive tone of fear.

There is little in the poem that creates a tone of disgust, joy, bitterness and cowardice, or regret.

Passage adapted from William Butler Yeats' "The Cold Heaven" (1916)

Example Question #21 : Tone, Style, And Mood: Poetry

Passage adapted from "Piano" by D.H. Lawrence (1918)

Softly, in the dusk, a woman is singing to me;
Taking me back down the vista of years, till I see
A child sitting under the piano, in the boom of the tingling strings
And pressing the small, poised feet of a mother who smiles as she sings.

 

In spite of myself, the insidious mastery of song
Betrays me back, till the heart of me weeps to belong
To the old Sunday evenings at home, with winter outside
And hymns in the cosy parlour, the tinkling piano our guide.

 

So now it is vain for the singer to burst into clamour
With the great black piano appassionato. The glamour
Of childish days is upon me, my manhood is cast
Down in the flood of remembrance, I weep like a child for the past.

Which word best describes the overall tone of this poem?

Possible Answers:

Melancholy

Disillusionment

Nostalgia

Betrayal

Correct answer:

Nostalgia

Explanation:

While several of these words describe feelings the speaker experiences throughout the poem, "Nostalgia" is the poem's most persistent mood. The speaker's feeling of sadness and grief for loss of the past is rooted in memories of his mother playing the piano, of which he is reminded when he hears the woman singing in the first line. Without reminiscing on the past, the speaker would feel no "melancholy," "disillusionment," or "betrayal," for its passing.

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