All SAT II Literature Resources
Example Questions
Example Question #101 : Literary Terminology Describing Poetry
O, then I see Queen Mab hath been with you.
She is the fairies' midwife, and she comes
In shape no bigger than an agate stone
On the forefinger of an alderman,
Drawn with a team of little atomies 5
Over men's noses as they lie asleep;
Her wagon spokes made of long spinners' legs,
The cover, of the wings of grasshoppers;
Her traces, of the smallest spider web;
Her collars, of the moonshine's wat'ry beams; 10
Her whip, of cricket's bone; the lash, of film;
Her wagoner, a small grey-coated gnat,
Not half so big as a round little worm
Pricked from the lazy finger of a maid;
Her chariot is an empty hazelnut, 15
Made by the joiner squirrel or old grub,
Time out o' mind the fairies' coachmakers.
And in this state she gallops night by night
Through lovers' brains, and then they dream of love;
O'er courtiers' knees, that dream on curtsies straight; 20
O'er lawyers' fingers, who straight dream on fees;
O'er ladies' lips, who straight on kisses dream,
Which oft the angry Mab with blisters plagues,
Because their breaths with sweetmeats tainted are.
(1597)
Which literary device is most heavily relied upon in this excerpt?
Allegory
Alliteration
Metaphor
Apostrophe
Imagery
Imagery
This excerpt is made up almost entirely of a string of images. There is no indication that the reader is supposed to find some deeper meaning in these images or to not interpret them literally, which rules out allegory as an answer. The images do not serve as comparisons, and so are not metaphors. The first line of the poem could be an example of apostrophe but it is not a device relied on throughout the excerpt. Alliteration is used sparingly and is not a dominant feature of this excerpt.
Passage adapted from William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet (1597).
Example Question #101 : Sat Subject Test In Literature
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)
Line three makes use of __________.
Directionality
All of these
Apostrophe
Metonymy
Indirect Address
Apostrophe
An apostrophe is the address of someone or something not directly present in the scene. In this case, the speaker addresses the line in the second person ("you") to his heart.
In a different context, this line might have offered an example of metonymy had "heart" been used as a stand-in for "love." Since that's not the case, there's no metonymy here.
Passage adapted from "[I wake and feel the fell of dark, not day]" (1918) by Gerald Manley Hopkins.
Example Question #103 : Sat Subject Test In Literature
Lines 1, 3, 5, and 7 each contain _______________.
a metaphor
a simile
a symbol
onomatopoeia
a hyperbolic statement
a simile
A simile is a comparison between two things that uses the comparative words "like" or "as." It is differentiated from the metaphor in that a metaphor does not use "like" or "as." There is a simile in each of lines 1, 3, 5, and 7. In line 1, for instance, the Assyrian is compared to a wolf in this simile: "like the wolf on the fold." The simile is line 3 is "like stars on the sea"--and so on.
Passage adapted from Lord Byron's "The Destruction of Sennacherib" (1815)
Example Question #104 : Sat Subject Test In Literature
The beginnings of lines 5 and 7 form an example of ______________.
synecdoche
apostrophe
anaphora
anastrophe
metonymy
anaphora
Lines 5 and 7 both begin with "Like the leaves of the forest..." This is an example of anaphora. Anaphora is a term used to describe a specific type of repetition in poetry. It refers to the repetition, twice or more times, of the same word, phrase, or clause at the beginning of sentences.
Passage adapted from Lord Byron's "The Destruction of Sennacherib" (1815)
Example Question #105 : Sat Subject Test In Literature
What metrical foot is primarily used in this poem?
Trochee
Iamb
Anapest
Dactyl
Spondee
Anapest
This poem is written in anapestic tetrameter, and so is almost completely composed of anapests.
An anapest is a metrical foot composed of two unstressed syllables followed by one stressed syllable. Examples of words that are, themselves, examples of anapests include "engineer" and "entertain."
Here is line 21 of the poem divided into its four anapests, with stressed syllables in bold: "And the wi / dows of A / shur are loud / in their wail." Each combination of two unstressed syllables followed by a stressed syllable is an anapest.
Passage adapted from Lord Byron's "The Destruction of Sennacherib" (1815)
Example Question #106 : Sat Subject Test In Literature
On thy stupendous summit, rock sublime!
The first line of this poem is an example of which of the following literary devices?
Personification
Allusion
Metaphor
Simile
Apostrophe
Apostrophe
The first line of this poem is an example of apostrophe. It is an exclamatory statement addressing an inanimate object (although apostrophe can also be a change in address towards another individual or an abstract concept). The speaker in this instance is addressing a rock, praising its stupendous summit. This is not an example of personification because no human qualities are attributed to the rock. It is not metaphor or simile because no comparisons are made, and it is not allusion because no reference is made to anything outside of the poem.
Passage adapted from Charlotte Smith's "Beach Head" (1807)
Example Question #101 : Sat Subject Test In Literature
- 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 contains all of these elements EXCEPT ________________.
Symbolism
Alliteration
Quoted speech
Analogy
Reported speech
Reported speech
Analogy, alliteration, symbolism, and quoted speech all occur in the poem. Reported speech does not.
Though the poet doesn’t use quotation marks, the dialogue in the poem is all quoted speech. Reported speech would show altered syntax and pronouns: “For I myself shall like to this decay” would appear as, “She said that she herself would like to that decay.”
Passage adapted from Edmund Spenser's "Sonnet 75" (1594)
Example Question #108 : Sat Subject Test In Literature
- 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.
Line 4 is an example of which rhetorical strategy?
Hyperbole
Allegory
Simile
Personification
Irony
Personification
Line 4 (“But came the tide, and made my pains his prey”) is an example of personification: describing inanimate objects or abstract concepts as if they were living beings.
Personification can sometimes seem close to simile: here, it’s another way of saying, “The tide was like a predator.” But though the two devices may create similar effects, they have very different forms.
Passage adapted from Edmund Spenser's "Sonnet 75" (1594)
Example Question #103 : Literary Terminology Describing 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.
The poem as a whole can be seen as an example of ________________.
Pastiche
Elegy
Satire
Anecdote
Epigram
Anecdote
The whole sonnet is an anecdote: a brief recounting of an event. We’re shown the setting, the two characters, and the actions and dialogue that occur between them.
An epigram is a short, witty statement about the nature of life. (For example, William Wordsworth’s observation, “The child is the father of the man.”) An elegy is a formal poem lamenting a death. Satire aims to point out hypocrisy in people’s behavior (e.g., Jonathan Swift’s A Modest Proposal.) It does not usually explore or express genuine emotion (except maybe outrage.) Pastiche is a form that imitates the styles or mannerisms of a previous era.
Passage adapted from Edmund Spenser's "Sonnet 75" (1594)
Example Question #101 : Literary Terminology And Devices
1. Better to see your cheek grown hollow,
2. Better to see your temple worn,
3. Than to forget to follow, follow,
4. After the sound of a silver horn.
5. Better to bind your brow with willow
6. And follow, follow until you die,
7. Than to sleep with your head on a golden pillow,
8. Nor lift it up when the hunt goes by.
9. Better to see your cheek grow sallow
10. And your hair grown gray, so soon, so soon,
11. Than to forget to hallo, hallo,
12. After the milk-white hounds of the moon.
Which of the following is NOT used in the poem?
Onomatopoesis
Metaphor
Personification
Antithesis
Assonance
Personification
Personification is not used in the poem: the poet does not ascribe human qualities to a non-human object or animal.
Passage adapted from Eleanor Wylie's "A Madman's Song" (1921)