GRE Subject Test: Literature in English : Literary Analysis of British Poetry
Study concepts, example questions & explanations for GRE Subject Test: Literature in English
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Example Questions
Example Question #11 : Literary Analysis Of Poetry
Of Man's first disobedience, and the fruit
Of that forbidden tree, whose mortal taste
Brought death into the world, and all our woe,
With loss of Eden, till one greater Man
Restore us, and regain the blissful seat,
Sing, heavenly Muse, that on the secret top
Of Oreb, or of Sinai, didst inspire
That Shepherd, who first taught the chosen seed,
In the beginning, how the Heavens and Earth
Rose out of Chaos: or if Sion hill
Delight thee more, and Siloa's brook that flow'd
Fast by the oracle of God: I thence
Invoke thy aid to my adventrous song,
That with no middle flight intends to soar
Above the Aonian mount, while it pursues
Things unattempted yet in prose or rhyme.
(John Milton, Paradise Lost, Book I.)
Which of the following terms best describes the style of verse in which the above excerpt was written?
Blank Verse
Terza rima
Sprung Rhythm
Sonnet
Free Verse
Blank Verse
Milton's Paradise Lost (the source of the above quotation) is entirely in blank verse: a form with a fixed meter (usually iambic pentameter) but without a prescribed rhyme structure.
This should not be confused with free verse, which has neither a regular meter nor a pattern of end-stopped rhymes.
Terza rima is a form written in three-line stanzas composed of three interlocking ending rhymes.
Sprung rhythm is a pattern of verse in which only stressed syllables are counted, but the number of stresses is consistent from line to line.
A sonnet is a poem of fourteen lines of consistent length and one of several conventional rhyming patterns.
Adapted from Paradise Lost: A Poem, in Twelve Books (London: J. & H. Richter, 1794): 1-2 by John Milton
Example Question #1 : Literary Analysis Of British Poetry To 1660
The reference to Philomel in line 7 serves primarily to __________.
give an example of a woman spurned
give an example of the changing of seasons
show the psychological toll that an affair with the shepherd might take on the speaker
express a concern that the shepherd may harm the speaker
show the effects of the passage of time
express a concern that the shepherd may harm the speaker
Philomela is a character from Greek mythology. In Ovid's Metamorphoses, Philomela is raped by her sister's husband, who also removes her tongue and hands so that she can not tell anyone of his crime. In the myth, she is then transformed into a nightingale.
Passage adapted from "The Nymph's Reply to the Shepherd" by Sir Walter Raleigh (1596)
Example Question #1 : Figurative Language
Batter my heart (Holy Sonnet 14)
1 Batter my heart, three-person'd God; for you
2 As yet but knock, breathe, shine, and seek to mend;
3 That I may rise, and stand, o'erthrow me, and bend
4 Your force, to break, blow, burn, and make me new.
5 I, like an usurp'd town, to another due,
6 Labour to admit you, but O, to no end.
7 Reason, your viceroy in me, me should defend,
8 But is captived, and proves weak or untrue.
9 Yet dearly I love you, and would be loved fain,
10 But am betroth'd unto your enemy;
11 Divorce me, untie, or break that knot again,
12 Take me to you, imprison me, for I,
13 Except you enthrall me, never shall be free,
14 Nor ever chaste, except you ravish me.
The only simile throughout this sonnet is .
"Reason, your viceroy in me," (line 7)
"Divorce me, untie, or break that knot again," (line 11)
"like an usurp'd town" (line 5)
"Batter my heart, three-person'd God;" (line 1)
"betroth'd unto your enemy;" (line 10)
"like an usurp'd town" (line 5)
"like an usurp'd town" (line 5) is the only simile throughout this sonnet, as it makes a direct comparison between two apparently unlike things—the poet and an usurp'd town—with the word "like." When constructing similes, the word "as" is also used.
Example Question #1 : Theme: Poetry
Batter my heart (Holy Sonnet 14)
1 Batter my heart, three-person'd God; for you
2 As yet but knock, breathe, shine, and seek to mend;
3 That I may rise, and stand, o'erthrow me, and bend
4 Your force, to break, blow, burn, and make me new.
5 I, like an usurp'd town, to another due,
6 Labour to admit you, but O, to no end.
7 Reason, your viceroy in me, me should defend,
8 But is captived, and proves weak or untrue.
9 Yet dearly I love you, and would be loved fain,
10 But am betroth'd unto your enemy;
11 Divorce me, untie, or break that knot again,
12 Take me to you, imprison me, for I,
13 Except you enthrall me, never shall be free,
14 Nor ever chaste, except you ravish me.
At its most basic level, the theme of this poem is .
reason
erotic love
religion
warfare
romantic love
religion
At its most basic level, the theme of this sonnet is religion (that is, the poet's wish for God's more forceful intervention in his life).
Example Question #1 : Effect Of Specified Text
Batter my heart (Holy Sonnet 14)
1 Batter my heart, three-person'd God; for you
2 As yet but knock, breathe, shine, and seek to mend;
3 That I may rise, and stand, o'erthrow me, and bend
4 Your force, to break, blow, burn, and make me new.
5 I, like an usurp'd town, to another due,
6 Labour to admit you, but O, to no end.
7 Reason, your viceroy in me, me should defend,
8 But is captived, and proves weak or untrue.
9 Yet dearly I love you, and would be loved fain,
10 But am betroth'd unto your enemy;
11 Divorce me, untie, or break that knot again,
12 Take me to you, imprison me, for I,
13 Except you enthrall me, never shall be free,
14 Nor ever chaste, except you ravish me.
Which of the following excerpts represents for the poet God's more gentle, yet insufficient, manifestations of love?
"Divorce me, untie, or break that knot again," (line 11)
"o'erthrow me" (line 3)
"Your force, to break, blow, burn, and make me new." (line 4)
"for you/As yet but knock, breathe, shine, and seek to mend;" (line 1 & 2)
"imprison me" (line 12)
"for you/As yet but knock, breathe, shine, and seek to mend;" (line 1 & 2)
For the poet, God's "as yet" (line 2) knocking, shining, breathing, and mending are not sufficiently extreme to "Batter" (line 1) his heart, as a battering ram would.
Example Question #1 : Literary Analysis Of British Poetry To 1660
Batter my heart (Holy Sonnet 14)
1 Batter my heart, three-person'd God; for you
2 As yet but knock, breathe, shine, and seek to mend;
3 That I may rise, and stand, o'erthrow me, and bend
4 Your force, to break, blow, burn, and make me new.
5 I, like an usurp'd town, to another due,
6 Labour to admit you, but O, to no end.
7 Reason, your viceroy in me, me should defend,
8 But is captived, and proves weak or untrue.
9 Yet dearly I love you, and would be loved fain,
10 But am betroth'd unto your enemy;
11 Divorce me, untie, or break that knot again,
12 Take me to you, imprison me, for I,
13 Except you enthrall me, never shall be free,
14 Nor ever chaste, except you ravish me.
The major extended metaphor of the sonnet is the poet representing himself as .
a viceroy
an exhausted laborer
a captured city
an unwilling bride
a prisoner
a captured city
The major extended metaphor of the sonnet is the poet representing himself as a captured city, as he is "like an usurp'd town" (line 5), until the typical sonnet turn in line 9.
Example Question #1 : Other Content Analysis Questions
Batter my heart (Holy Sonnet 14)
1 Batter my heart, three-person'd God; for you
2 As yet but knock, breathe, shine, and seek to mend;
3 That I may rise, and stand, o'erthrow me, and bend
4 Your force, to break, blow, burn, and make me new.
5 I, like an usurp'd town, to another due,
6 Labour to admit you, but O, to no end.
7 Reason, your viceroy in me, me should defend,
8 But is captived, and proves weak or untrue.
9 Yet dearly I love you, and would be loved fain,
10 But am betroth'd unto your enemy;
11 Divorce me, untie, or break that knot again,
12 Take me to you, imprison me, for I,
13 Except you enthrall me, never shall be free,
14 Nor ever chaste, except you ravish me.
The metaphysical conceit of the "usurp'd town" (line 5) turns at line 9 to .
the metaphor of the knot
the metaphor of an imprisoned criminal
the metaphor of the chaste lover
the metaphor of an already engaged lover
the metaphor of the "three-person'd God" (line 1)
the metaphor of an already engaged lover
The metaphysical conceit of the "usurp'd town" (line 5) turns at line 9 to the metaphor of an already engaged lover "betroth'd unto your enemy" (line 10). A metaphysical conceit is simply an extended metaphor with rather complex logic.
Example Question #1 : Literary Analysis Of British Poetry To 1660
Batter my heart (Holy Sonnet 14)
1 Batter my heart, three-person'd God; for you
2 As yet but knock, breathe, shine, and seek to mend;
3 That I may rise, and stand, o'erthrow me, and bend
4 Your force, to break, blow, burn, and make me new.
5 I, like an usurp'd town, to another due,
6 Labour to admit you, but O, to no end.
7 Reason, your viceroy in me, me should defend,
8 But is captived, and proves weak or untrue.
9 Yet dearly I love you, and would be loved fain,
10 But am betroth'd unto your enemy;
11 Divorce me, untie, or break that knot again,
12 Take me to you, imprison me, for I,
13 Except you enthrall me, never shall be free,
14 Nor ever chaste, except you ravish me.
Throughout the poem, the poet seemingly demonstrates his interest in combining __________.
spirituality with governance
love of the sacred and love of the earthly
his reason with his lack of sentiment
violence with erotic love
his fear of God with his love of God
love of the sacred and love of the earthly
Throughout the poem, the poet seemingly demonstrates his interest in combining love of the sacred and love of the earthly, as he petitions God "Take me to you, imprison me, for I,/ Except you enthrall me, never shall be free,/ Nor ever chaste, except you ravish me" (line 12 - 14).
Example Question #1 : Literary Analysis Of British Poetry To 1660
Batter my heart (Holy Sonnet 14)
1 Batter my heart, three-person'd God; for you
2 As yet but knock, breathe, shine, and seek to mend;
3 That I may rise, and stand, o'erthrow me, and bend
4 Your force, to break, blow, burn, and make me new.
5 I, like an usurp'd town, to another due,
6 Labour to admit you, but O, to no end.
7 Reason, your viceroy in me, me should defend,
8 But is captived, and proves weak or untrue.
9 Yet dearly I love you, and would be loved fain,
10 But am betroth'd unto your enemy;
11 Divorce me, untie, or break that knot again,
12 Take me to you, imprison me, for I,
13 Except you enthrall me, never shall be free,
14 Nor ever chaste, except you ravish me.
The only example of alliteration throughout this sonnet is .
"Divorce me, untie, or break that knot again," (line 11)
"break, blow, burn," (line 4)
"like an usurp'd town" (line 5)
"Batter my heart, three-person'd God;" (line 1)
"Nor ever chaste, except you ravish me." (line 14)
"break, blow, burn," (line 4)
"break, blow, burn," (line 4) is the only example of alliteration throughout this sonnet, as each word has the same sound at its beginning.
Example Question #1 : Inferences: Poetry
Batter my heart (Holy Sonnet 14)
1 Batter my heart, three-person'd God; for you
2 As yet but knock, breathe, shine, and seek to mend;
3 That I may rise, and stand, o'erthrow me, and bend
4 Your force, to break, blow, burn, and make me new.
5 I, like an usurp'd town, to another due,
6 Labour to admit you, but O, to no end.
7 Reason, your viceroy in me, me should defend,
8 But is captived, and proves weak or untrue.
9 Yet dearly I love you, and would be loved fain,
10 But am betroth'd unto your enemy;
11 Divorce me, untie, or break that knot again,
12 Take me to you, imprison me, for I,
13 Except you enthrall me, never shall be free,
14 Nor ever chaste, except you ravish me.
The "enemy" of line 10 is very probably .
the government
the church
chastity
reason
the devil
the devil
As the poet is addressing the Christians' God, the "three-person'd God" (line 1), the "enemy" of line 10 is very likely the devil who would be, according to Christians, the enemy of God.
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