SAT II Literature : Word Choice and Connotation
Study concepts, example questions & explanations for SAT II Literature
All SAT II Literature Resources
Example Questions
Example Question #1 : Literary Analysis Of American Poetry
A Late Walk
1 When I go up through the mowing field,
2 The headless aftermath,
3 Smooth-laid like thatch with the heavy dew,
4 Half closes the garden path.
5 And when I come to the garden ground,
6 The whir of sober birds
7 Up from the tangle of withered weeds
8 Is sadder than any words
9 A tree beside the wall stands bare,
10 But a leaf that lingered brown,
11 Disturbed, I doubt not, by my thought,
12 Comes softly rattling down.
13 I end not far from my going forth
14 By picking the faded blue
15 Of the last remaining aster flower
16 To carry again to you.
The following connotes the imagery of warfare:
"The whir of sober birds" (line 6)
"Disturbed, I doubt not, by my thought," (line 11)
"Comes softly rattling down." (line 12)
"the last remaining aster flower" (line 15)
"headless aftermath" (line 2)
"headless aftermath" (line 2)
An aftermath is the consequence of a disaster, like a war. The imagery of "headless aftermath" implies a farmer who has, in some way, defeated the fields.
Example Question #1 : Word Choice And Connotation
A Late Walk
1 When I go up through the mowing field,
2 The headless aftermath,
3 Smooth-laid like thatch with the heavy dew,
4 Half closes the garden path.
5 And when I come to the garden ground,
6 The whir of sober birds
7 Up from the tangle of withered weeds
8 Is sadder than any words
9 A tree beside the wall stands bare,
10 But a leaf that lingered brown,
11 Disturbed, I doubt not, by my thought,
12 Comes softly rattling down.
13 I end not far from my going forth
14 By picking the faded blue
15 Of the last remaining aster flower
16 To carry again to you.
The phrase "sober birds" (line 6) implies that even the birds are .
delusional about the encroaching severe weather
playful to a fault
serious and sad about the changing season
not intoxicated on drink
irresponsible about foraging
serious and sad about the changing season
The "sober birds" (line 6) are serious and sad. The poet, Robert Frost, even calls their busy "whir" (line 6) "sadder than any words" (line 8). Their sobriety indicates a clarity of vision and purpose in the face of winter.
Example Question #791 : Gre Subject Test: Literature In English
A Late Walk
1 When I go up through the mowing field,
2 The headless aftermath,
3 Smooth-laid like thatch with the heavy dew,
4 Half closes the garden path.
5 And when I come to the garden ground,
6 The whir of sober birds
7 Up from the tangle of withered weeds
8 Is sadder than any words
9 A tree beside the wall stands bare,
10 But a leaf that lingered brown,
11 Disturbed, I doubt not, by my thought,
12 Comes softly rattling down.
13 I end not far from my going forth
14 By picking the faded blue
15 Of the last remaining aster flower
16 To carry again to you.
In line 14, the adjective "faded" contributes to what?
The elegiac style of the poem
The lightheartedness of the poem
The abundance of nature imagery in the poem
The pastoral character of the poem
The speaker's symbolic rebirth
The elegiac style of the poem
The "faded blue" of line 14 contributes to the poems overall elegiac style (that is, its mournful design). For the speaker, even the blue of the aster flower has been dulled.
Example Question #1 : Word Choice And Connotation
My long two-pointed ladder's sticking through a tree
Toward heaven still,
And there's a barrel that I didn't fill
Beside it, and there may be two or three
Apples I didn't pick upon some bough.
But I am done with apple-picking now.
Essence of winter sleep is on the night,
The scent of apples: I am drowsing off.
Based on context, to what does “Essence of winter sleep” likely refer?
Wood smoke
Snow
Hypothermia
The coldest days of winter
The smell of winter
The smell of winter
Based on the context, some of these choices are too specific for the poem: snow, the coldest days of winter, hypothermia, and wood smoke are all more particular than the surrounding lines. Given the use of scent in the following line, the best answer to encapsulate the “essence” of winter nights is the smell of those nights.
Passage adapted from Robert Frost’s “After Apple-Picking.” North of Boston. (1915)
Example Question #1 : Word Choice And Effect
Adapted from Walt Whitman's "Crossing Brooklyn Ferry" in Leaves of Grass (1855)
Flood-tide below me! I see you face to face!
Clouds of the west—sun there half an hour high—I see you also face to face.
Crowds of men and women attired in the usual costumes, how curious you are to me!
On the ferry-boats the hundreds and hundreds that cross, returning home, are more curious to me than you suppose,
And you that shall cross from shore to shore years hence are more to me, and more in my meditations, than you might suppose.
2
The impalpable sustenance of me from all things at all hours of the day,
The simple, compact, well-join’d scheme, myself disintegrated, every one disintegrated yet part of the scheme,
The similitudes of the past and those of the future,
The glories strung like beads on my smallest sights and hearings, on the walk in the street and the passage over the river,
The current rushing so swiftly and swimming with me far away,
The others that are to follow me, the ties between me and them,
The certainty of others, the life, love, sight, hearing of others.
Others will enter the gates of the ferry and cross from shore to shore,
Others will watch the run of the flood-tide,
Others will see the shipping of Manhattan north and west, and the heights of Brooklyn to the south and east,
Others will see the islands large and small;
Fifty years hence, others will see them as they cross, the sun half an hour high,
A hundred years hence, or ever so many hundred years hence, others will see them,
Will enjoy the sunset, the pouring-in of the flood-tide, the falling-back to the sea of the ebb-tide.
3
It avails not, time nor place—distance avails not,
I am with you, you men and women of a generation, or ever so many generations hence,
Just as you feel when you look on the river and sky, so I felt,
Just as any of you is one of a living crowd, I was one of a crowd,
Just as you are refresh’d by the gladness of the river and the bright flow, I was refresh’d,
Just as you stand and lean on the rail, yet hurry with the swift current, I stood yet was hurried,
Just as you look on the numberless masts of ships and the thick-stemm’d pipes of steamboats, I look’d.
I too many and many a time cross’d the river of old,
Watched the Twelfth-month sea-gulls, saw them high in the air floating with motionless wings, oscillating their bodies,
Saw how the glistening yellow lit up parts of their bodies and left the rest in strong shadow,
Saw the slow-wheeling circles and the gradual edging toward the south,
Saw the reflection of the summer sky in the water,
Had my eyes dazzled by the shimmering track of beams . . .
The use of the underlined phrase "usual costumes" in line 3 serves to highlight which of the following?
I. The normality of the scene
II. The contingent, nonessential nature of how people dress
III. The many notable clothing styles present
IV. How strange the scene seems to the speaker
I, II, and IV only
I, II, and III only
I and IV only
I, II, III, and IV
I and II only
I, II, and IV only
"Usual" highlights how common the scene is, and "costumes" suggests fashion is historically, culturally, and socially contingent. The juxtaposition of the two creates a sense of uncanniness. No emphasis is placed on the particulars of how people are dressed.
Example Question #61 : Interpreting Words And Excerpts
1 Suddenly I saw the cold and rook-delighting Heaven
2 That seemed as though ice burned and was but the more ice,
3 And thereupon imagination and heart were driven
4 So wild that every casual thought of that and this
5 Vanished, and left but memories, that should be out of season
6 With the hot blood of youth, of love crossed long ago;
7 And I took all the blame out of all sense and reason,
8 Until I cried and trembled and rocked to and fro,
9 Riddled with light. Ah! when the ghost begins to quicken,
10 Confusion of the death-bed over, is it sent
11 Out naked on the roads, as the books say, and stricken
12 By the injustice of the skies for punishment?
(1916)
What is the "ghost" in line 9 referring to?
A mythical spirit that inhabits the sky
The spirit of a dead person appearing in visible form
The soul of someone who has died
Someone being revived from death
A malevolent spirit summoned by magic
The soul of someone who has died
Context reveals that the "ghost" mentioned in line 9 refers to the soul of someone who has died. This is particularly clear from the mention of the "confusion of the death-bed" (line 10). The speaker is so impressed by the size and brightness of the sky that it makes him reflect on death and his uncertainty concerning the afterlife.
Passage adapted from William Butler Yeats' "The Cold Heaven" (1916)
Example Question #7 : Word Choice And Connotation
1 In silent night when rest I took,
2 For sorrow near I did not look,
3 I wakened was with thund’ring noise
4 And piteous shrieks of dreadful voice.
5 That fearful sound of “fire” and “fire,”
6 Let no man know is my Desire.
7 I, starting up, the light did spy,
8 And to my God my heart did cry
9 To straighten me in my Distress
10 And not to leave me succourless.
11 Then, coming out, behold a space
12 The flame consume my dwelling place.
13 And when I could no longer look,
14 I blest His name that gave and took,
15 That laid my goods now in the dust.
16 Yea, so it was, and so ‘twas just.
17 It was his own, it was not mine,
18 Far be it that I should repine;
19 He might of all justly bereft
20 But yet sufficient for us left.
21 When by the ruins oft I past
22 My sorrowing eyes aside did cast
23 And here and there the places spy
24 Where oft I sate and long did lie.
25 Here stood that trunk, and there that chest,
26 There lay that store I counted best.
27 My pleasant things in ashes lie
28 And them behold no more shall I.
29 Under thy roof no guest shall sit,
30 Nor at thy Table eat a bit.
31 No pleasant talk shall ‘ere be told
32 Nor things recounted done of old.
33 No Candle e'er shall shine in Thee,
34 Nor bridegroom’s voice e'er heard shall be.
35 In silence ever shalt thou lie,
36 Adieu, Adieu, all’s vanity.
37 Then straight I ‘gin my heart to chide,
38 And did thy wealth on earth abide?
39 Didst fix thy hope on mould'ring dust?
40 The arm of flesh didst make thy trust?
41 Raise up thy thoughts above the sky
42 That dunghill mists away may fly.
43 Thou hast a house on high erect
44 Framed by that mighty Architect,
45 With glory richly furnished,
46 Stands permanent though this be fled.
47 It’s purchased and paid for too
48 By Him who hath enough to do.
49 A price so vast as is unknown,
50 Yet by His gift is made thine own;
51 There’s wealth enough, I need no more,
52 Farewell, my pelf, farewell, my store.
53 The world no longer let me love,
54 My hope and treasure lies above.
(1666)
Lines 30-34 all begin with "No" or "Nor." What is the effect of this repetition?
It contributes to the doubting tone of the poem
It highlights the material amount lost by the speaker
It emphasizes the building anger within the speaker
It draws attention to the speaker's materialistic obsession
It shows how much the speaker valued her things for the memories they gave her
It highlights the material amount lost by the speaker
The content of these lines is essentially a list of the things she has lost; by beginning each line with a negation, the author is able to show the reader how much the speaker has lost in the fire.
Passage adapted from Anne Bradstreet's "Upon the Burning of our House" (1666)
Example Question #8 : Word Choice And Connotation
To the Dead in the Grave-Yard Under My Window
by Adelaide Crapsey (1878 - 1915)
- How can you lie so still? All day I watch
- And never a blade of all the green sod moves
- To show where restlessly you toss and turn,
- And fling a desperate arm or draw up knees
- Stiffened and aching from their long disuse;
- I watch all night and not one ghost comes forth
- To take its freedom of the midnight hour.
- Oh, have you no rebellion in your bones?
- The very worms must scorn you where you lie,
- A pallid mouldering acquiescent folk,
- Meek habitants of unresented graves.
- Why are you there in your straight row on row
- Where I must ever see you from my bed
- That in your mere dumb presence iterate
- The text so weary in my ears: “Lie still
- And rest; be patient and lie still and rest.”
- I’ll not be patient! I will not lie still!
The diction of the poem is most distinctly characterized by _________________.
romantic allusion
abundant metaphor
humorous contrast
arcane syntax
impassioned castigation
impassioned castigation
The speaker's diction is characterized by impassioned castigation of the dead to whom she's speaking. She does not speak metaphorically; her syntax is not especially arcane; she does not make romantic allusions to anything. You could argue that she is drawing a humorous contrast between the "acquiescent" stillness of the dead and her own enforced immobility. But it's not clear that this is intended to be funny. Also, the question is asking about her diction overall. The answer that best applies to the poem as a whole is clearly "impassioned castigation."
Example Question #9 : Word Choice And Connotation
(1789)
William Blake's diction shifts halfway through the poem. Which pair of words best describe the type of connotative diction in the beginning and in the end of the poem?
Tragic . . . Ominous
Melancholy . . . Pure
Religious . . . Cleansing
Frightening . . . Elated
Agoraphobic . . . Holy
Melancholy . . . Pure
This is the correct answer because Blake's diction is very dark and melancholy in the first part of the poem, using words such as "cried," "spoil," "locked," "coffins," and "black." He then goes on to use words with positive connotations reminiscent of purity and holiness, such as "Angel," "bright," "wash," "sun," "happy," and "warm."
Passage adapted from William Blake's Songs of Innocence (1789).
Example Question #10 : Word Choice And Connotation
. . . Suffering is one very long moment. We cannot divide it by seasons. We can only record its moods, and chronicle their return. With us time itself does not progress. It revolves. It seems to circle round one centre of pain. The paralysing immobility of a life every circumstance of which is regulated after an unchangeable pattern, so that we eat and drink and lie down and pray, or kneel at least for prayer, according to the inflexible laws of an iron formula: this immobile quality, that makes each dreadful day in the very minutest detail like its brother, seems to communicate itself to those external forces the very essence of whose existence is ceaseless change. Of seed-time or harvest, of the reapers bending over the corn, or the grape gatherers threading through the vines, of the grass in the orchard made white with broken blossoms or strewn with fallen fruit: of these we know nothing and can know nothing.
For us there is only one season, the season of sorrow. The very sun and moon seem taken from us. Outside, the day may be blue and gold, but the light that creeps down through the thickly-muffled glass of the small iron-barred window beneath which one sits is grey and niggard. It is always twilight in one’s cell, as it is always twilight in one’s heart. And in the sphere of thought, no less than in the sphere of time, motion is no more. The thing that you personally have long ago forgotten, or can easily forget, is happening to me now, and will happen to me again to-morrow. Remember this, and you will be able to understand a little of why I am writing, and in this manner writing. . . .
(1897)
What is the connotation of the word "iron" in the first paragraph ("...according to the inflexible laws of an iron formula...")?
Having to do with mining
Neutral
Negative
Uplifting
Positive
Negative
Connotation is the implied meaning of a word, often derived from context, which operates on the reader's mind in addition to the literal definition of the word.
The connotation of "iron" in the first paragraph of this passage is decidedly negative. The speaker is describing his repetitive, unchanging schedule as something that makes him miserable. "Iron," in this context, calls to mind iron manacles, chains, and bars--things that we would like to bend and break, but cannot, because iron is so strong. Rather than just a "formula," the speaker's repetitive daily life is described as an "iron formula," and this is a bad, a negative, thing.
Passage adapted from Oscar Wilde's De Profundis (1897).
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