SAT II Literature : Other Content Analysis Questions: Poetry
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Example Question #31 : Other Content Analysis Questions: 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 of the following best describes the change that occurs between line 17 and line 18?
A shift from the past tense to the present tense
A shift in tone from wonder to fear
A shift from describing positive characteristics to describing negative ones
A shift from describing physical characteristics to describing actions
A shift in perspective from third-person to first-person
A shift from describing physical characteristics to describing actions
The first 17 lines of this excerpt are devoted to describing the physical characteristics of Queen Mab. At the beginning of line 18 the speaker switches to describing her behavior ("she gallops night by night..."). There is a switch in perspective (from first-person to third-person) but this occurs between line 1 and line 2. There is no shift in tone or tense between line 17 and line 18.
Passage adapted from William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet (1597).
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