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SAT II Literature : Form, Structure, Grammar, and Syntax

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for SAT II Literature

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Example Questions

Example Question #22 : Structure And Form

Tyger! Tyger! burning bright,

In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

In what distant deeps or skies
Burnt the fire of thine eyes?
On what wings dare he aspire?
What the hand dare sieze the fire?

And what shoulder, & what art,
Could twist the sinews of thy heart?
And when thy heart began to beat,
What dread hand? & what dread feet?

What the hammer? what the chain?
In what furnace was thy brain?
What the anvil? what dread grasp
Dare its deadly terrors clasp?

When the stars threw down their spears,
And water'd heaven with their tears,
Did he smile his work to see?
Did he who made the Lamb make thee?

Tyger! Tyger! burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?

(1794)

Which of the following best describes the form of the poem?

Possible Answers:

A sestina

6 stanzas with end rhyme

A sonnet

A villanelle

A free verse poem

Correct answer:

6 stanzas with end rhyme

Explanation:

The poem has a specific structure, with lines that end in rhyme. The poem is not a sonnet, villanelle, or sestina, as it does not contain the repetition of certain words or phrases. The poem is also divided into 6 stanzas.

Passage adapted from William Blake's "The Tyger" (1794)

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Example Question #23 : Structure And Form

When my mother died I was very young,

And my father sold me while yet my tongue

Could scarcely cry " 'weep! 'weep! 'weep! 'weep!"

So your chimneys I sweep & in soot I sleep.

There's little Tom Dacre, who cried when his head

That curled like a lamb's back, was shaved, so I said,

"Hush, Tom! never mind it, for when your head's bare,

You know that the soot cannot spoil your white hair."

And so he was quiet, & that very night,

As Tom was a-sleeping he had such a sight!

That thousands of sweepers, Dick, Joe, Ned, & Jack,

Were all of them locked up in coffins of black;

And by came an Angel who had a bright key,

And he opened the coffins & set them all free;

Then down a green plain, leaping, laughing they run,

And wash in a river and shine in the Sun.

Then naked & white, all their bags left behind,

They rise upon clouds, and sport in the wind.

And the Angel told Tom, if he'd be a good boy,

He'd have God for his father & never want joy.

And so Tom awoke; and we rose in the dark

And got with our bags & our brushes to work.

Though the morning was cold, Tom was happy & warm;

So if all do their duty, they need not fear harm.

(1789)

What is the effect of the rhyme structure of the poem?

Possible Answers:

It illustrates that the children enjoy their work and treat it like it's playtime

None of these

It juxtaposes the harsh work of child chimney-sweepers with the innocent sound of a children's nursery rhyme

It symbolizes that the children are going to heaven

It draws a parallel between angelic songs and the work of the chimney-sweepers

Correct answer:

It juxtaposes the harsh work of child chimney-sweepers with the innocent sound of a children's nursery rhyme

Explanation:

This is the correct answer because the actual content of the poem is very dark- children laboring as chimney sweepers- but the fact that the harsh work is being done by children is juxtaposed with the reality that they're still only old enough to be learning nursery rhymes.

Passage adapted from William Blake's Songs of Innocence (1789).

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Example Question #23 : Structure And Form: Poetry

I wonder, by my troth, what thou and I

Did, till we loved? Were we not weaned till then?
But sucked on country pleasures, childishly?
Or snorted we in the Seven Sleepers’ den?
’Twas so; but this, all pleasures fancies be.
If ever any beauty I did see,
Which I desired, and got, ’twas but a dream of thee.

And now good-morrow to our waking souls,
Which watch not one another out of fear;
For love, all love of other sights controls,
And makes one little room an everywhere.
Let sea-discoverers to new worlds have gone,
Let maps to other, worlds on worlds have shown,
Let us possess one world, each hath one, and is one.

My face in thine eye, thine in mine appears,
And true plain hearts do in the faces rest;
Where can we find two better hemispheres,
Without sharp north, without declining west?
Whatever dies, was not mixed equally;
If our two loves be one, or, thou and I
Love so alike, that none do slacken, none can die.

(1633)

The meter used in these lines is __________.

Possible Answers:

None of these

Iambic pentameter

Iambic hexameter

Syllabic

Trochaic pentameter

Correct answer:

Iambic pentameter

Explanation:

And now good-morrow to our waking souls,
Which watch not one another out of fear;
For love, all love of other sights controls,
And makes one little room an everywhere.

The meter is stressed-unstressed (iambic), and each line contains five feet (pentameter).

Passage adapted from John Donne's "The Good Morrow" (1633).

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Example Question #23 : Structure And Form: Poetry

1 Thou still unravish'd bride of quietness,

Thou foster-child of silence and slow time,

Sylvan historian, who canst thus express

A flowery tale more sweetly than our rhyme:

5 What leaf-fring'd legend haunts about thy shape

Of deities or mortals, or of both,

In Tempe or the dales of Arcady?

What men or gods are these? What maidens loth?

9 What mad pursuit? What struggle to escape?

What pipes and timbrels? What wild ecstasy?

11 Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard

Are sweeter; therefore, ye soft pipes, play on;

Not to the sensual ear, but, more endear'd,

Pipe to the spirit ditties of no tone:

15 Fair youth, beneath the trees, thou canst not leave

Thy song, nor ever can those trees be bare;

Bold Lover, never, never canst thou kiss,

18 Though winning near the goal yet, do not grieve;

She cannot fade, though thou hast not thy bliss,

For ever wilt thou love, and she be fair!

21 Ah, happy, happy boughs! that cannot shed

Your leaves, nor ever bid the Spring adieu;

And, happy melodist, unwearied,

For ever piping songs for ever new;

25 More happy love! more happy, happy love!

For ever warm and still to be enjoy'd,

For ever panting, and for ever young;

28 All breathing human passion far above,

That leaves a heart high-sorrowful and cloy'd,

A burning forehead, and a parching tongue.

31 Who are these coming to the sacrifice?

To what green altar, O mysterious priest,

Lead'st thou that heifer lowing at the skies,

And all her silken flanks with garlands drest?

35 What little town by river or sea shore,

Or mountain-built with peaceful citadel,

Is emptied of this folk, this pious morn?

38 And, little town, thy streets for evermore

Will silent be; and not a soul to tell

Why thou art desolate, can e'er return.

41 O Attic shape! Fair attitude! with brede

Of marble men and maidens overwrought,

With forest branches and the trodden weed;

Thou, silent form, dost tease us out of thought

45 As doth eternity: Cold Pastoral!

When old age shall this generation waste,

Thou shalt remain, in midst of other woe

48 Than ours, a friend to man, to whom thou say'st,

"Beauty is truth, truth beauty,—that is all

Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know."

(1819)

This type of poem is a(n) ________________.

Possible Answers:

parody

ode

sonnet

Petrarchan sonnet

ballad

Correct answer:

ode

Explanation:

The form and content of this poem reveal it to be an ode. The form of an ode is a lyric poem of considerable length. The content of an ode is usually praise of something delivered in a serious and elevated tone.

Passage adapted from John Keats' "Ode on a Grecian Urn" (1819)

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Example Question #31 : Structure And Form: Poetry

I wake and feel the fell of dark, not day.
What hours, O what black hours we have spent
This night! what sights you, heart, saw; ways you went!
And more must, in yet longer light's delay.
With witness I speak this. But where I say
Hours I mean years, mean life. And my lament
Is cries countless, cries like dead letters sent
To dearest him that lives alas! away.

I am gall, I am heartburn. God's most deep decree
Bitter would have me taste: my taste was me;
Bones built in me, flesh filled, blood brimmed the curse.
Selfyeast of spirit a dull dough sours. I see
The lost are like this, and their scourge to be
As I am mine, their sweating selves; but worse.

(1918)

The form of this poem most closely resembles that of __________.

Possible Answers:

An elegy

A lament

A sonnet

A melancholic ode

None of these

Correct answer:

A sonnet

Explanation:

The 14-line structure with a turn in the last two lines should tip the reader off that this is a sonnet.

While the word "lament" (line 6) might make this answer tempting, laments are usually more explicitly about grief for something lost. The same goes for an elegy, which is a lament in a lyric tradition. Finally, while there's certainly a lot of melancholia in the poem, it isn't an ode.

Passage adapted from "[I wake and feel the fell of dark, not day]" (1918) by Gerald Manley Hopkins.

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Example Question #32 : Structure And Form: Poetry

The highlighted line offers an example of which meter?

Possible Answers:

Iambic pentameter

Natural speech

Irregular iambs

Sprung rhythm

None of these

Correct answer:

Iambic pentameter

Explanation:

Hopkins was famous for coining the term "sprung rhythm": an irregular metrical form designed to more closely mimic natural speech. In this poem, however, he relies more on tradition meters. The opening line of the poem is a basic iambic pentameter.

Passage adapted from "[I wake and feel the fell of dark, not day]" (1918) by Gerald Manley Hopkins

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Example Question #33 : Structure And Form: Poetry

Which of the following most accurately represents the poem's rhyme scheme?

Possible Answers:

abbaabba
aabaab

None of these

abaaabaa
ccdccd

abbaabba
ccdccd

abaababb
cddcdd

Correct answer:

abbaabba
ccdccd

Explanation:

I wake and feel the fell of dark, not day. (A)
What hours, O what black hours we have spent (B)
This night! what sights you, heart, saw; ways you went! (B)
And more must, in yet longer light's delay. (A)
With witness I speak this. But where I say (A)
Hours I mean years, mean life. And my lament (B)
Is cries countless, cries like dead letters sent (B)
To dearest him that lives alas! away. (A)

I am gall, I am heartburn. God's most deep decree (C)
Bitter would have me taste: my taste was me; (C)
Bones built in me, flesh filled, blood brimmed the curse. (D)
Selfyeast of spirit a dull dough sours. I see (C)
The lost are like this, and their scourge to be (C)
As I am mine, their sweating selves; but worse. (D)

Passage adapted from "[I wake and feel the fell of dark, not day]" (1918) by Gerald Manley Hopkins.

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Example Question #34 : Structure And Form: Poetry

Passage adapted from Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand (1897)
Translated by Gladys Thomas and Mary F. Guillemard (in public domain)

[Cyrano speaks to Roxane.]

CYRANO:

Ay, true, the feeling
Which fills me, terrible and jealous, truly
Love,--which is ever sad amid its transports!
Love,--and yet, strangely, not a selfish passion!
I for your joy would gladly lay mine own down,
--E'en though you never were to know it,--never!
--If but at times I might--far off and lonely,--
Hear some gay echo of the joy I bought you!
Each glance of thine awakes in me a virtue,--
A novel, unknown valor. Dost begin, sweet,
To understand? So late, dost understand me?
Feel'st thou my soul, here, through the darkness mounting?
Too fair the night! Too fair, too fair the moment!
That I should speak thus, and that you should hearken!
Too fair! In moments when my hopes rose proudest,
I never hoped such guerdon. Naught is left me
But to die now! Have words of mine the power
To make you tremble,--throned there in the branches?
Ay, like a leaf among the leaves, you tremble!
You tremble! For I feel,--an if you will it,
Or will it not,--your hand's beloved trembling
Thrill through the branches, down your sprays of jasmine!

The meter of this speech is _________________.

Possible Answers:

Sprung rhythm

Blank verse

Iambic tetrameter

Free verse

Mixed meter

Correct answer:

Blank verse

Explanation:

The speech is written in blank verse: unrhymed lines of ten or eleven syllables each.

Blank verse is composed of feet called iambs (the ones that go da-DUM), but it is not iambic tetrameter. A line of iambic tetrameter contains only four iambs (“da-DUM, da-DUM, da-DUM, da-DUM”), while blank verse contains five (“da-DUM, da-DUM, da-DUM, da-DUM, da-DUM.”)

Free verse and sprung verse are both terms for poetry that lacks any consistent meter. Cyrano’s speech, in contrast, is rhythmically even. A mixed meter poem contains several different meters within one work. Again, Cyrano’s monologue is written in one consistent rhythm.

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Example Question #35 : Structure And Form

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.

There is a major shift at line 13 from ______________.

Possible Answers:

Images of solidity and permanence to images of ephemeralness and change

Descriptions of nature to descriptions of mankind

Entirely negative to entirely positive imagery

Imagery suggesting good to imagery suggesting evil

Literal descriptions to metaphorical descriptions

Correct answer:

Images of solidity and permanence to images of ephemeralness and change

Explanation:

At line 13 there is a major shift from images of solidity and permanence to images of ephemeralness and change. In the first 12 lines the speaker is describing solid, permanent-seeming things such as a rock with a "stupendous summit" and the shape of the landscape. The adjectives "solid" and "eternal" are used in this section of the poem. At line 13 the speaker switches to discussing more ephemeral and changing things, such as light, flying birds, and the tides. Compare the adjectives "solid" and "eternal" from the first 12 lines to the words that appear in the rest of the poem: "disperse," "meliting," "emerging," "restless," and "the tide of ebb, upon the level sands." There is no shift from negative to positive imagery, or from imagery suggesting good to imagery suggesting evil. The entire poem is primarily focused on nature, not humanity, and the poem contains a consistent amount of figurative language throughout.

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

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Example Question #36 : Structure And Form

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.

The poem comprises _________________.

I. 3 quatrains
II. 1 couplet
III. 1 sestet

Possible Answers:

I and II only

I only

I and III only

II and III only

I, II, and III only

Correct answer:

I and II only

Explanation:

Quatrains are groups of four lines held together by their rhyme scheme. Sestets are similar groups of six lines. (We usually associate sestets with Italian sonnets.) Couplets are pairs of successive rhyming lines. This poem comprises four quatrains followed by one couplet. (It’s a heroic couplet because it’s in iambic pentameter.) The overall rhyme scheme (ABAB BCBC CDCD EE) tells us that this poem is a Spenserian sonnet.

Passage adapted from Edmund Spenser's "Sonnet 75" (1594)

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SAT II Literature : Form, Structure, Grammar, and Syntax

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for SAT II Literature

All SAT II Literature Resources

Example Questions

Example Question #22 : Structure And Form

Example Question #23 : Structure And Form

Example Question #23 : Structure And Form: Poetry

Example Question #23 : Structure And Form: Poetry

Example Question #31 : Structure And Form: Poetry

Example Question #32 : Structure And Form: Poetry

Example Question #33 : Structure And Form: Poetry

Example Question #34 : Structure And Form: Poetry

Example Question #35 : Structure And Form

Example Question #36 : Structure And Form

All SAT II Literature Resources

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