AP English Literature : Connotation and Implication
Study concepts, example questions & explanations for AP English Literature
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Example Questions
Example Question #61 : Interpreting Words
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)
What is the "ghost" in line 9 referring to?
A mythical spirit that inhabits the sky
The soul of someone who has died
A malevolent spirit summoned by magic
Someone being revived from death
The spirit of a dead person appearing in visible form
The soul of someone who has died
Context reveals that the "ghost" mentioned in line 9 refers to the soul of someone who has died. This is particularly clear from the mention of the "confusion of the death-bed" (line 10). The speaker is so impressed by the size and brightness of the sky that it makes him reflect on death and his uncertainty concerning the afterlife.
Passage adapted from William Butler Yeats' "The Cold Heaven" (1916)
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