SAT II Literature : Characterization and Motivation: Poetry
Study concepts, example questions & explanations for SAT II Literature
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Example Questions
Example Question #61 : Literary Analysis
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 __________.
his fear of God with his love of God
spirituality with governance
love of the sacred and love of the earthly
his reason with his lack of sentiment
violence with erotic love
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 #11 : Characterization And Motivation: Poetry
To what purpose, April, do you return again?
Beauty is not enough.
You can no longer quiet me with the redness
Of little leaves opening stickily.
I know what I know.
The sun is hot on my neck as I observe
The spikes of the crocus.
The smell of the earth is good.
It is apparent that there is no death.
But what does that signify?
Not only under the ground are the brains of men
Eaten by maggots,
Is nothing,
An empty cup, a flight of uncarpeted stairs.
It is not enough that yearly, down this hill,
April
Comes like an idiot, babbling and strewing flowers.
(1921)
Which line best exemplifies how April is characterized in the poem?
"It is apparent that there is no death"
"Not only under ground are the brains of men"
Comes like an idiot, babbling and strewing flowers
"Beauty is not enough"
"The smell of the earth is good"
Comes like an idiot, babbling and strewing flowers
The only line in which April is referred to directly is, as opposed to being asked a question, is the final line: "Comes like an idiot, babbling and strewing flowers."
Passage adapted from Edna St. Vincent Milay's "Spring" (1921).
Example Question #102 : Content
Based on the description of "Tim the ostler" in the fourth stanza, which of the following emotions will likely motivate his actions in the remainder of the poem?
Jealousy
Pity
Despondency
Love
Indignation
Jealousy
Although it is stated that Tim does love the landlord's daughter, it is clear from the description provided that that love is not returned. He is described as "white and peaked" with eyes that are "hollows of madness" and "hair like mouldy hay." The descriptions highlight the ugliness (inside and out) of this character, hinting that it will be an ugly emotion (jealousy) and not a positive one (love) that will motivate his actions. Jealousy is further suggested by the fact that Tim is watching the landlord's daughter kiss the highwayman, and by the contrast between the highwayman's glittering appearance and Tim's ugly one. There is no evidence in the provided text that pity, despondency, or indignation will motivate his actions.
Passage adapted from Alfred Noyes' "The Highwayman" (1906)
Example Question #12 : Characterization And Motivation: Poetry
- One day I wrote her name upon the strand,
- But came the waves and washed it away:
- Again I wrote it with a second hand,
- But came the tide, and made my pains his prey.
- Vain man, said she, that doest in vain assay
- A mortal thing so to immortalize,
- For I myself shall like to this decay,
- And eek my name be wiped out likewise.
- Not so (quoth I), let baser things devise
- To die in dust, but you shall live by fame:
- My verse your virtues rare shall eternize,
- And in the heavens write your glorious name.
- Where whenas Death shall all the world subdue,
- Our love shall live, and later life renew.
It is reasonable to infer that the person to whom the poet is speaking believes _____________.
The poet’s verses are not as powerful as he thinks
There’s no such thing as immortality
Death is frightening
The poet is untrustworthy
No love lasts forever
There’s no such thing as immortality
The beloved, watching the waves erase her name written in the sand, tells the poet that he and his efforts are both “vain.” There’s no point in continuing to write her name, because the sea will always erase it, just as time erases every living thing: no one is immortal, including her. She says nothing to suggest that she fears death, that she distrusts the poet, or that she sees her erased name as a symbol of the impermanence of love. She might believe that the poet’s verses are not as powerful as he thinks, but the poem ends before she has a chance to say so.
Passage adapted from Edmund Spenser's "Sonnet 75" (1594)
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