SAT II Literature : Content
Study concepts, example questions & explanations for SAT II Literature
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Example Questions
Example Question #11 : Other Content Analysis Questions: Poetry
1 Those lines that I before have writ do lie,
Even those that said I could not love you dearer;
Yet then my judgment knew no reason why
My most full flame should afterwards burn clearer.
5 But reckoning Time, whose million'd accidents
Creep in 'twixt vows and change decrees of kings,
Tan sacred beauty, blunt the sharp'st intents,
Divert strong minds to the course of altering things;
9 Alas, why, fearing of Time's tyranny,
Might I not then say 'Now I love you best,'
When I was certain o'er incertainty,
Crowning the present, doubting of the rest?
13 Love is a babe; then might I not say so,
To give full growth to that which still doth grow?
(1609)
Which of the following is NOT listed as a consequence of the passage of time?
Rulers alter their own laws
People change their minds
Old poetry becomes obsolete
People break their vows
Physical beauty fades
Old poetry becomes obsolete
The idea that "old poetry becomes obsolete" is never posited as an effect of the passage of time in this poem. The speaker says his former poems did "lie," but spends the whole rest of the poem defending those former statements as still good and relevant. In fact, the entire poem, especially lines 9-14, is an argument that despite the passage of time and the increase of his love, his earlier love poetry remains justified and true.
On the other hand, "people break their vows," "physical beauty fades," "people change their minds," and "rulers alter their own laws" are all listed as effects of the passage of time in lines 5-8 of the poem.
Passage adapted from Shakespeare's "Sonnet 115" (1609)
Example Question #511 : Sat Subject Test In Literature
Of arms I sing, and of the man, whom Fate
First drove from Troy to the Lavinian shore.
Full many an evil, through the mindful hate
Of cruel Juno, from the gods he bore,
Much tost on earth and ocean, yea, and more (5)
In war enduring, ere he built a home,
And his loved household-deities brought o’er
To Latium, whence the Latin people come,
Whence rose the Alban sires, and walls of lofty Rome.
Based on this excerpt, the passage primarily concerns what kind of story?
Revenge
Comedy of errors
Exodus
Religious conversion
Marriage
Exodus
These opening lines provide a summary for the rest of the epic poem, which concerns the hero Aeneas’s journey in exile to Italy. In the end of the passage, we have an allusion to Aeneas’s founding of Rome; in the beginning, we have a description of Aeneas fleeing Troy. While religion and marriage do later play roles in this epic, they are not key themes emphasized in this passage.
Passage adapted from Virgil’s Aeneid, trans. E. Fairfax Taylor. (1907)
Example Question #13 : Other Content Analysis Questions: Poetry
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,(5)
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;(10)
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.
What idea is the author espousing here?
Quid pro quo
Cogito ergo sum
None of these other choices
Amor vincit omnia
Sic transit gloria mundi
Sic transit gloria mundi
Sic transit gloria ("worldly glory fades") is the idea expressed in the poem’s portrayal of a once-great, now-forgotten kingdom. Cogito ergo sum ("I think, therefore I am") would better fit a poem about contemplation and thought. Amor vincit omnia ("love conquers all") would be better suited to a love poem, and quid pro quo ("something for something") would work best with a poem in which favors are traded for mutual benefit.
Passage adapted from Percy Bysshe Shelley’s “Ozymandias” (1818)
Example Question #71 : Interpreting Words
Adapted from "The Mouse’s Petition" in Poems by Anna Letitia Barbauld (1773)
Found in the trap where he had been confined all night by Dr. Priestley, for the sake of making experiments with different kinds of air
“To spare the humbled, and to tame in war the proud.” - Virgil
OH! hear a pensive captive's prayer,
For liberty that sighs;
And never let thine heart be shut
Against the prisoner's cries.
For here forlorn and sad I sit,
Within the wiry grate;
And tremble at th' approaching morn,
Which brings impending fate.
If e'er thy breast with freedom glow'd,
And spurn'd a tyrant's chain,
Let not thy strong oppressive force
A free-born mouse detain.
Oh! do not stain with guiltless blood
Thy hospitable hearth;
Nor triumph that thy wiles betray'd
A prize so little worth.
The scatter'd gleanings of a feast
My scanty meals supply;
But if thine unrelenting heart
That slender boon deny,
The cheerful light, the vital air,
Are blessings widely given;
Let nature's commoners enjoy
The common gifts of heaven.
The well-taught philosophic mind
To all compassion gives;
Casts round the world an equal eye,
And feels for all that lives.
If mind, as ancient sages taught,
A never dying flame,
Still shifts thro' matter's varying forms,
In every form the same,
Beware, lest in the worm you crush
A brother's soul you find;
And tremble lest thy luckless hand
Dislodge a kindred mind.
Or, if this transient gleam of day
Be all of life we share,
Let pity plead within thy breast,
That little all to spare.
So may thy hospitable board
With health and peace be crown'd;
And every charm of heartfelt ease
Beneath thy roof be found.
So when unseen destruction lurks,
Which men like mice may share,
May some kind angel clear thy path,
And break the hidden snare.
In the underlined lines, "to all compassion gives" most closely means which of the following?
"The well-taught mind" is consumed by passion.
The "well-taught philosophic mind" gives all of its consideration to compassion.
The "well-taught philosophic mind" gives in to every compassionate impulse.
The "well-taught philosophic mind" is compassionate towards everyone.
All philosophers are, by their very nature, compassionate.
The "well-taught philosophic mind" is compassionate towards everyone.
In this context, "The well-taught philosophic mind / to all compassion gives" most closely means that such a mind is compassionate towards everyone. "All" in this context refers to all sentient beings, not the compassion. While it stands to reason that the speaker would think that all good philosophers would be, by nature, compassionate, not all philosophers are held to be good, and not all "well-taught philosophic mind[s]" are philosophers by trade.
Example Question #2 : Summarizing, Describing, Or Paraphrasing Excerpts
Adapted from "The Mouse’s Petition" in Poems by Anna Letitia Barbauld (1773)
Found in the trap where he had been confined all night by Dr. Priestley, for the sake of making experiments with different kinds of air
“To spare the humbled, and to tame in war the proud.” - Virgil
OH! hear a pensive captive's prayer,
For liberty that sighs;
And never let thine heart be shut
Against the prisoner's cries.
For here forlorn and sad I sit,
Within the wiry grate;
And tremble at th' approaching morn,
Which brings impending fate.
If e'er thy breast with freedom glow'd,
And spurn'd a tyrant's chain,
Let not thy strong oppressive force
A free-born mouse detain.
Oh! do not stain with guiltless blood
Thy hospitable hearth;
Nor triumph that thy wiles betray'd
A prize so little worth.
The scatter'd gleanings of a feast
My scanty meals supply;
But if thine unrelenting heart
That slender boon deny,
The cheerful light, the vital air,
Are blessings widely given;
Let nature's commoners enjoy
The common gifts of heaven.
The well-taught philosophic mind
To all compassion gives;
Casts round the world an equal eye,
And feels for all that lives.
If mind, as ancient sages taught,
A never dying flame,
Still shifts thro' matter's varying forms,
In every form the same,
Beware, lest in the worm you crush
A brother's soul you find;
And tremble lest thy luckless hand
Dislodge a kindred mind.
Or, if this transient gleam of day
Be all of life we share,
Let pity plead within thy breast,
That little all to spare.
So may thy hospitable board
With health and peace be crown'd;
And every charm of heartfelt ease
Beneath thy roof be found.
So when unseen destruction lurks,
Which men like mice may share,
May some kind angel clear thy path,
And break the hidden snare.
Which of the following is a reasonable paraphrase of the underlined stanza?
Do not waste your time, and risk ruining your home, by experimenting on such lowly creatures in it.
Do not tarnish the moral stature of science by shedding the blood of innocent, powerless creatures.
Do not tarnish your home by killing an innocent being in it, and do not take pride in your power over a lowly, powerless creature.
Do not risk the integrity of your home, and do not take pride in an endeavor as lowly and unspiritual as scientific experimentation.
Do not tarnish your home by killing an innocent being in it; to do so would be to betray a creature who has shared your home for a long time.
Do not tarnish your home by killing an innocent being in it, and do not take pride in your power over a lowly, powerless creature.
The most accurate paraphrase of the highlighted expert is "Do not tarnish your home by killing an innocent being in it, and do not take pride in your power over a lowly, powerless creature." In this context, the "hospitable hearth" is the addressee's home, the "stain[ing]" of this home is most likely to be a metaphorical tarnishing. In this context "triumph" most closely means "take pride."
The stanza focuses on the lowly, powerless innocence of the mouse, not the fact that he has shared the home (unwillingly as a prisoner). There is no real concern for the moral standing of science in general, only for the addressee's morality.
Example Question #12 : Content
Adapted from "The Mouse’s Petition" in Poems by Anna Letitia Barbauld (1773)
Found in the trap where he had been confined all night by Dr. Priestley, for the sake of making experiments with different kinds of air
“To spare the humbled, and to tame in war the proud.” - Virgil
OH! hear a pensive captive's prayer,
For liberty that sighs;
And never let thine heart be shut
Against the prisoner's cries.
For here forlorn and sad I sit,
Within the wiry grate;
And tremble at th' approaching morn,
Which brings impending fate.
If e'er thy breast with freedom glow'd,
And spurn'd a tyrant's chain,
Let not thy strong oppressive force
A free-born mouse detain.
Oh! do not stain with guiltless blood
Thy hospitable hearth;
Nor triumph that thy wiles betray'd
A prize so little worth.
The scatter'd gleanings of a feast
My scanty meals supply;
But if thine unrelenting heart
That slender boon deny,
The cheerful light, the vital air,
Are blessings widely given;
Let nature's commoners enjoy
The common gifts of heaven.
The well-taught philosophic mind
To all compassion gives;
Casts round the world an equal eye,
And feels for all that lives.
If mind, as ancient sages taught,
A never dying flame,
Still shifts thro' matter's varying forms,
In every form the same,
Beware, lest in the worm you crush
A brother's soul you find;
And tremble lest thy luckless hand
Dislodge a kindred mind.
Or, if this transient gleam of day
Be all of life we share,
Let pity plead within thy breast,
That little all to spare.
So may thy hospitable board
With health and peace be crown'd;
And every charm of heartfelt ease
Beneath thy roof be found.
So when unseen destruction lurks,
Which men like mice may share,
May some kind angel clear thy path,
And break the hidden snare.
The underlined lines in the last stanza can most accurately be characterized as which of the following?
A threat from the speaker to the addressee
A warning against an imminent danger
An attempt to illustrate the obliviousness of humans to their potential destruction of the animal kingdom, of which they are a part
A reminder of the power of a vengeful deity
An attempt to illustrate the shared elements of existence between humans and animals
An attempt to illustrate the shared elements of existence between humans and animals
The highlighted excerpt is most accurately characterized as an attempt to illustrate the shared elements of existence between humans and animals. The reference to "destruction lurk[ing] unseen" is intended to draw a parallel between humans and mice (or any mortal creature); it is not a threat (since there is no demand made in exchange for the aversion of the "destruction"), and it is not a warning of a specific impending catastrophe. While such a reference certainly has resonances with the wrath of a vengeful deity, in the context of the reference of the poem, this reference is clearly intended to draw on similarities between humans and other mortal creatures. The potential destruction is "unseen" and therefore difficult to attribute to humans directly in this context.
Example Question #1 : Word Choice And Effect
Adapted from “Solitary Death, make me thine own” in Underneath the Bough: A Book of Verses by Michael Field (pseudonym of Katherine Bradley and Edith Cooper) (1893)
Solitary Death, make me thine own,
And let us wander the bare fields together;
Yea, thou and I alone
Roving in unembittered unison forever.
I will not harry thy treasure-graves,
I do not ask thy still hands a lover;
My heart within me craves
To travel till we twain Time’s wilderness discover.
To sojourn with thee my soul was bred,
And I, the courtly sights of life refusing,
To the wide shadows fled,
And mused upon thee often as I fell a-musing.
Escaped from chaos, thy mother Night,
In her maiden breast a burthen that awed her,
By cavern waters white
Drew thee her first-born, her unfathered off-spring toward her.
On dewey plats, near twilight dingle,
She oft, to still thee from men’s sobs and curses
In thine ears a-tingle,
Pours her cool charms, her weird, reviving chaunt rehearses.
Though mortals menace thee or elude,
And from thy confines break in swift transgression.
Thou for thyself art sued
Of me, I claim thy cloudy purlieus my possession.
To a long freshwater, where the sea
Stirs the silver flux of the reeds and willows,
Come thou, and beckon me
To lie in the lull of the sand-sequestered billows:
Then take the life I have called my own
And to the liquid universe deliver;
Loosening my spirit’s zone,
Wrap round me as thy limbs the wind, the light, the river.
In context, the use of the underlined and bolded word “unembittered” serves which purpose?
It helps alert the reader to the unconventionally positive characterization of “solitary death” in the rest of the poem.
By being used in the phrase “roving in unembittered unison,” it hints at the romantic relationship between the speaker and the personified “solitary death” discussed throughout the rest of the poem.
It helps alert the reader to a pre-existing negative relationship between the speaker and the personified “solitary death” that will be explored later in the poem.
It helps alert the reader to the speaker’s status as an immortal observer of “solitary death” rather than a being who is subject to it.
By being addressed to “solitary death,” “unembittered” creates irony and sets the reader up to view the personified “solitary death” negatively throughout the rest of the poem.
It helps alert the reader to the unconventionally positive characterization of “solitary death” in the rest of the poem.
In this context, “unembittered” serves as a signpost alerting the reader to how the poem characterizes death as a companion instead using a more conventional negative characterization. As such, “unembittered” is intended to be read sincerely, rather than ironically. The relationship between death and the speaker is specifically not characterized as romantic. The speaker is not presented as an immortal observer of death, but an invested and curious potential participant.
Example Question #12 : Other Content Analysis Questions
Adapted from “Solitary Death, make me thine own” in Underneath the Bough: A Book of Verses by Michael Field (pseudonym of Katherine Bradley and Edith Cooper) (1893)
Solitary Death, make me thine own,
And let us wander the bare fields together;
Yea, thou and I alone
Roving in unembittered unison forever.
I will not harry thy treasure-graves,
I do not ask thy still hands a lover;
My heart within me craves
To travel till we twain Time’s wilderness discover.
To sojourn with thee my soul was bred,
And I, the courtly sights of life refusing,
To the wide shadows fled,
And mused upon thee often as I fell a-musing.
Escaped from chaos, thy mother Night,
In her maiden breast a burthen that awed her,
By cavern waters white
Drew thee her first-born, her unfathered off-spring toward her.
On dewey plats, near twilight dingle,
She oft, to still thee from men’s sobs and curses
In thine ears a-tingle,
Pours her cool charms, her weird, reviving chaunt rehearses.
Though mortals menace thee or elude,
And from thy confines break in swift transgression.
Thou for thyself art sued
Of me, I claim thy cloudy purlieus my possession.
To a long freshwater, where the sea
Stirs the silver flux of the reeds and willows,
Come thou, and beckon me
To lie in the lull of the sand-sequestered billows:
Then take the life I have called my own
And to the liquid universe deliver;
Loosening my spirit’s zone,
Wrap round me as thy limbs the wind, the light, the river.
The underlined and bolded excerpt is most accurately paraphrased by which of the following?
The speaker is making promises and assurances about his or her own demands of Death, in hopes that Death will visit him or her and bestow its wisdom and power upon him or her.
The speaker is explaining why he or she wishes to travel with Death, and is making Death assurances that he or she will not steal from him or her or demand romantic love.
The speaker is explaining the parameters of the relationship he or she would ask of Death, and in so doing is demonstrating his or her fear and ambivalence about Death’s embrace.
The speaker is defiantly rejecting Death’s advances, proclaiming him- or herself neither a lover of Death, nor a beneficiary of Death’s gifts.
The speaker is explaining the parameters of the relationship he or she would ask of “Death,” and in so, doing is expressing his or her belief that true friendship is a companionship, rather than a relationship based on exchange or romantic desire.
The speaker is explaining the parameters of the relationship he or she would ask of “Death,” and in so, doing is expressing his or her belief that true friendship is a companionship, rather than a relationship based on exchange or romantic desire.
The speaker is here explaining the parameters of the relationship he or she would like with death, and through this is demonstrating his or her beliefs about true, platonic friendship. His or her statement that he or she “will not harry [Death’s] treasure-graves” suggests that the speaker is not looking for death’s rewards, power, or wisdom. He or she is not explaining why he or she wishes to travel, merely asserting that he or she “craves” to do so" and making assurances about the parameter of the companion relationship. The speaker does not demonstrate either fear or ambivalence, and is actively asking for Death’s companionship, not rejecting Death’s advances.
Example Question #13 : Other Content Analysis Questions: Poetry
Adapted from “Solitary Death, make me thine own” in Underneath the Bough: A Book of Verses by Michael Field (pseudonym of Katherine Bradley and Edith Cooper) (1893)
Solitary Death, make me thine own,
And let us wander the bare fields together;
Yea, thou and I alone
Roving in unembittered unison forever.
I will not harry thy treasure-graves,
I do not ask thy still hands a lover;
My heart within me craves
To travel till we twain Time’s wilderness discover.
To sojourn with thee my soul was bred,
And I, the courtly sights of life refusing,
To the wide shadows fled,
And mused upon thee often as I fell a-musing.
Escaped from chaos, thy mother Night,
In her maiden breast a burthen that awed her,
By cavern waters white
Drew thee her first-born, her unfathered off-spring toward her.
On dewey plats, near twilight dingle,
She oft, to still thee from men’s sobs and curses
In thine ears a-tingle,
Pours her cool charms, her weird, reviving chaunt rehearses.
Though mortals menace thee or elude,
And from thy confines break in swift transgression.
Thou for thyself art sued
Of me, I claim thy cloudy purlieus my possession.
To a long freshwater, where the sea
Stirs the silver flux of the reeds and willows,
Come thou, and beckon me
To lie in the lull of the sand-sequestered billows:
Then take the life I have called my own
And to the liquid universe deliver;
Loosening my spirit’s zone,
Wrap round me as thy limbs the wind, the light, the river.
The bolded and underlined phrase “Escaped from chaos” most likely refers to what?
The way the personified Night died
The personified Death’s origins
The speaker’s goal in suggesting a partnership with Death
The personified Night's origins
The action necessary to escape Death
The personified Night's origins
“Escaped from chaos" refers to the origins of the personified character of “mother Night." This sets up a basic order in which “Night” emerged from chaos, and gave “father-less” birth to “Death.”
The speaker is not concerned with escaping Death at all, and specifically suggests that her goal in seeking Death’s companionship is not escape but partnership and peace.
Example Question #13 : Other Content Analysis Questions
Adapted from “Solitary Death, make me thine own” in Underneath the Bough: A Book of Verses by Michael Field (pseudonym of Katherine Bradley and Edith Cooper) (1893)
Solitary Death, make me thine own,
And let us wander the bare fields together;
Yea, thou and I alone
Roving in unembittered unison forever.
I will not harry thy treasure-graves,
I do not ask thy still hands a lover;
My heart within me craves
To travel till we twain Time’s wilderness discover.
To sojourn with thee my soul was bred,
And I, the courtly sights of life refusing,
To the wide shadows fled,
And mused upon thee often as I fell a-musing.
Escaped from chaos, thy mother Night,
In her maiden breast a burthen that awed her,
By cavern waters white
Drew thee her first-born, her unfathered off-spring toward her.
On dewey plats, near twilight dingle,
She oft, to still thee from men’s sobs and curses
In thine ears a-tingle,
Pours her cool charms, her weird, reviving chaunt rehearses.
Though mortals menace thee or elude,
And from thy confines break in swift transgression.
Thou for thyself art sued
Of me, I claim thy cloudy purlieus my possession.
To a long freshwater, where the sea
Stirs the silver flux of the reeds and willows,
Come thou, and beckon me
To lie in the lull of the sand-sequestered billows:
Then take the life I have called my own
And to the liquid universe deliver;
Loosening my spirit’s zone,
Wrap round me as thy limbs the wind, the light, the river.
Which of the following is an important contrast at play in the poem?
Good and evil
Corporeal reality and abstract concepts
Corporeal reality and religious teachings
Light and dark
Nature and science
Corporeal reality and abstract concepts
The contrast of corporeal reality and an abstract view of the universe is an important contrast throughout this poem. The physical realm is attended to with imagery and an extended personification of abstract concepts (Night and Death, also the last stanza ties the personification of Death to the physicality of “the wind, the light, the river”), and with attention to the physical realities of death (“men’s sobs and curses”).
Moral judgments like “good and evil” are not at play in the work, nor is the question of nature and science. While darkness is an overriding theme, and light appears at the end of the poem, they are not directly contrasted. While one might expect a poem about death to have religious overtones, there are no overt religious overtones present in this poem.
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