SAT II Literature : Overall Language or Specific Words, Phrases, or Sentences

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for SAT II Literature

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Example Questions

Example Question #3 : Interpreting Excerpts

Adapted from Act 1, Scene 1, ln. 78-119 of The Tragical History of Dr. Faustus by Christopher Marlowe (1604) in Vol. XIX, Part 2 of The Harvard Classics (1909-1914)

 

FAUSTUS: How am I glutted with conceit of this!

Shall I make spirits fetch me what I please,

Resolve me of all ambiguities,

Perform what desperate enterprise I will?

I’ll have them fly to India for gold,

Ransack the ocean for orient pearl,

And search all corners of the new-found world

For pleasant fruits and princely delicates;

I’ll have them read me strange philosophy

And tell the secrets of all foreign kings;

I’ll have them wall all Germany with brass,

And make swift Rhine circle fair Wittenberg;

I’ll have them fill the public schools with silk,

Wherewith the students shall be bravely clad;

I’ll levy soldiers with the coin they bring,

And chase the Prince of Parma from our land,

And reign sole king of all the provinces;

Yea, stranger engines for the brunt of war

Than was the fiery keel at Antwerp’s bridge,

I’ll make my servile spirits to invent.

[Enter VALDES and CORNELIUS]

Come, German Valdes and Cornelius,

And make me blest with your sage conference.

Valdes, sweet Valdes, and Cornelius,

Know that your words have won me at the last

To practice magic and concealed arts:

Yet not your words only, but mine own fantasy

That will receive no object, for my head

But ruminates on necromantic skill.

Philosophy is odious and obscure,

Both law and physic are for petty wits;

Divinity is basest of the three,

Unpleasant, harsh, contemptible, and vile:

’Tis magic, magic, that hath ravish’d me.

Then, gentle friends, aid me in this attempt;

And I that have with concise syllogisms

Gravell’d the pastors of the German church,

And made the flowering pride of Wittenberg

Swarm to my problems, as the infernal spirits

On sweet Musaeigus, when he came to hell,

Will be as cunning as Agrippa was,

Whose shadows made all Europe honor him.

In context, the underlined and bolded phrase "glutted with conceit" most closely means what?

Possible Answers:

Confused by the notion

Fooled by deceit

Overwhelmed by information

Filled with the idea

Filled with pride

Correct answer:

Filled with the idea

Explanation:

In context, the phrase "glutted with conceit" most closely means "filled with the idea." In this context, "conceit" would most closely be said to mean "idea", "notion," or "concept". Faustus is stating that he is filled (with feeling) at the idea of having necromantic powers, and of possibly having the spirits do his bidding. The voluminous imagining of what he might do with his powers is evidence of his being "full with the idea" of these powers.

"Conceit" can be used in reference to deceit, but it is important to remember that Faustus is the speaker, and as evidenced by his speech that follows, he does not believe that anyone is deceiving him. He does not express confusion, nor does he seem particularly overwhelmed. While Faustus is obviously filled with pride and arrogance in his speech, the term "conceit" does not refer to pride in this context, as the rest of his speech focuses on the idea or notion or his powers, not his own self-conscious pride.

Example Question #2 : Summarizing, Describing, Or Paraphrasing Excerpts

Adapted from Act 1, Scene 1, ln. 78-119 of The Tragical History of Dr. Faustus by Christopher Marlowe (1604) in Vol. XIX, Part 2 of The Harvard Classics (1909-1914)

 

FAUSTUS: How am I glutted with conceit of this!

Shall I make spirits fetch me what I please,

Resolve me of all ambiguities,

Perform what desperate enterprise I will?

I’ll have them fly to India for gold,

Ransack the ocean for orient pearl,

And search all corners of the new-found world

For pleasant fruits and princely delicates;

I’ll have them read me strange philosophy

And tell the secrets of all foreign kings;

I’ll have them wall all Germany with brass,

And make swift Rhine circle fair Wittenberg;

I’ll have them fill the public schools with silk,

Wherewith the students shall be bravely clad;

I’ll levy soldiers with the coin they bring,

And chase the Prince of Parma from our land,

And reign sole king of all the provinces;

Yea, stranger engines for the brunt of war

Than was the fiery keel at Antwerp’s bridge,

I’ll make my servile spirits to invent.

[Enter VALDES and CORNELIUS]

Come, German Valdes and Cornelius,

And make me blest with your sage conference.

Valdes, sweet Valdes, and Cornelius,

Know that your words have won me at the last

To practice magic and concealed arts:

Yet not your words only, but mine own fantasy

That will receive no object, for my head

But ruminates on necromantic skill.

Philosophy is odious and obscure,

Both law and physic are for petty wits;

Divinity is basest of the three,

Unpleasant, harsh, contemptible, and vile:

’Tis magic, magic, that hath ravish’d me.

Then, gentle friends, aid me in this attempt;

And I that have with concise syllogisms

Gravell’d the pastors of the German church,

And made the flowering pride of Wittenberg

Swarm to my problems, as the infernal spirits

On sweet Musaeigus, when he came to hell,

Will be as cunning as Agrippa was,

Whose shadows made all Europe honor him.

In the underlined and bolded section of the passage, Faustus makes which of the following arguments?

Possible Answers:

He argues that because he is interested in occult practices he must resign his academic position.

He argues that conventional divinity is misapplied, and asks for his listeners in correcting practices of that discipline.

He argues that conventional divinity can be defeated by argument, and that the occult cannot.

He argues that doctors, priests, and lawyers are beneath pure academics, and that only scholars should he entitled to help in mastering the occult.

He argues that earthly academic pursuits are beneath him, and his listeners should aid him in mastering his new interest, the occult.

Correct answer:

He argues that earthly academic pursuits are beneath him, and his listeners should aid him in mastering his new interest, the occult.

Explanation:

In the underlined and bolded section of the passage, Faustus argues that earthly academic pursuits—"philosophy", law and physic, and "divinity"—are all "base," "odious," etc., and that his listeners should help him ("gentle friends aid me in this attempt") master his new interest the occult (which he claims has "ravished" him).

He includes academics with doctors and lawyers in his dismissal of conventional, earthly learning. He makes no mention of his academic position, nor of resigning. While he later claims to have defeated "pastors" with "syllogism," he does not mention that in the indicated section, nor does he specifically claim that the occult cannot also be defeated in this manner (although that is implied). While he feels divinity is the "basest" of academic disciplines, he does not ask his listeners for any help in correcting it.

Example Question #1 : Meaning Of Specified Text: Drama

Adapted from Richard III by William Shakespeare, I.i.1-42

Now is the winter of our discontent
Made glorious summer by this sun of York;
And all the clouds that lour'd upon our house
In the deep bosom of the ocean buried.
Now are our brows bound with victorious wreaths;
Our bruised arms hung up for monuments;
Our stern alarums changed to merry meetings,
Our dreadful marches to delightful measures.
Grim-visaged war hath smooth'd his wrinkled front;
And now, instead of mounting barded steeds
To fright the souls of fearful adversaries,
He capers nimbly in a lady's chamber
To the lascivious pleasing of a lute.
But I, that am not shaped for sportive tricks,
Nor made to court an amorous looking-glass;
I, that am rudely stamp'd, and want love's majesty
To strut before a wanton ambling nymph;
I, that am curtail'd of this fair proportion,
Cheated of feature by dissembling nature,
Deformed, unfinish'd, sent before my time
Into this breathing world, scarce half made up,
And that so lamely and unfashionable
That dogs bark at me as I halt by them;
Why, I, in this weak piping time of peace,
Have no delight to pass away the time,
Unless to spy my shadow in the sun
And descant on mine own deformity:
And therefore, since I cannot prove a lover,
To entertain these fair well-spoken days,
I am determined to prove a villain
And hate the idle pleasures of these days.
Plots have I laid, inductions dangerous,
By drunken prophecies, libels and dreams,
To set my brother Clarence and the king
In deadly hate the one against the other:
And if King Edward be as true and just
As I am subtle, false and treacherous,
This day should Clarence closely be mew'd up,
About a prophecy, which says that 'G'
Of Edward's heirs the murderer shall be.
Dive, thoughts, down to my soul: here
Clarence comes.

When he speaks of “dissembling nature,” underlined in the passage, the speaker is referring to __________.

Possible Answers:

taking apart nature’s features systematically in order to better understand the natural world

a personification of nature

his own personality

the tendency of all people to lie under pressure

tricking nature

Correct answer:

a personification of nature

Explanation:

While it may be tempting to pick the answer choice “his own personality” given that the narrator describes himself as “subtle, false and treacherous,” it is important to consider the context of the underlined phrase. “Dissembling nature” appears in the context of the lines, “I, that am curtail'd of this fair proportion / Cheated of feature by dissembling nature, / Deformed, unfinish'd, sent before my time / Into this breathing world . . . “ By considering the context, you can see that the narrator is not describing “his own personality,” “tricking nature,” “the tendency of all people to lie under pressure,” or “taking apart nature’s features systematically in order to better understand the natural world”; he is instead referring to “a personification of nature.”

Example Question #7 : Meaning Of Specified Text: Drama

PROSPERO:

  1.     Ye elves of hills, brooks, standing lakes and groves,
  2.     And ye that on the sands with printless foot
  3.     Do chase the ebbing Neptune and do fly him
  4.     When he comes back; you demi-puppets that
  5.     By moonshine do the green sour ringlets make,
  6.     Whereof the ewe not bites, and you whose pastime
  7.     Is to make midnight mushrooms, that rejoice
  8.     To hear the solemn curfew; by whose aid,
  9.     Weak masters though ye be, I have bedimm'd
  10.     The noontide sun, call'd forth the mutinous winds,
  11.     And 'twixt the green sea and the azured vault
  12.     Set roaring war: to the dread rattling thunder
  13.     Have I given fire and rifted Jove's stout oak
  14.     With his own bolt; the strong-based promontory
  15.     Have I made shake and by the spurs pluck'd up
  16.     The pine and cedar: graves at my command
  17.     Have waked their sleepers, oped, and let 'em forth
  18.     By my so potent art. But this rough magic
  19.     I here abjure, and, when I have required
  20.     Some heavenly music, which even now I do,
  21.     To work mine end upon their senses that
  22.     This airy charm is for, I'll break my staff,
  23.     Bury it certain fathoms in the earth,
  24.     And deeper than did ever plummet sound
  25.     I'll drown my book.

In the context of the passage, “ebbing Neptune” (line 3) most likely means _________________.

Possible Answers:

the turning of the tide

the depths of the sea

waves on the beach

a mythical sea creature

the king of the underworld

Correct answer:

waves on the beach

Explanation:

Prospero is addressing supernatural beings who dart across the sand without leaving footprints, chasing the waves as they recede and then running away when they come crashing onto the beach. “Ebbing” means “receding”, and Neptune is the Roman god of the sea: here a metaphorical term for the ocean. The correct answer is "waves on the beach."

The depths of the sea do not ebb and “come back”, so it’s clear that’s not what Prospero is talking about. We usually associate the word “ebb” with tides, but Prospero says nothing here about that. Nor does he mention mythical sea creatures. The king of the underworld (Hades/Pluto) is unrelated to anything in this speech.

Passage adapted from William Shakespeare's The Tempest (1611)

Example Question #3 : Meaning Of Specified Text: Drama

PROSPERO:

  1.     Ye elves of hills, brooks, standing lakes and groves,
  2.     And ye that on the sands with printless foot
  3.     Do chase the ebbing Neptune and do fly him
  4.     When he comes back; you demi-puppets that
  5.     By moonshine do the green sour ringlets make,
  6.     Whereof the ewe not bites, and you whose pastime
  7.     Is to make midnight mushrooms, that rejoice
  8.     To hear the solemn curfew; by whose aid,
  9.     Weak masters though ye be, I have bedimm'd
  10.     The noontide sun, call'd forth the mutinous winds,
  11.     And 'twixt the green sea and the azured vault
  12.     Set roaring war: to the dread rattling thunder
  13.     Have I given fire and rifted Jove's stout oak
  14.     With his own bolt; the strong-based promontory
  15.     Have I made shake and by the spurs pluck'd up
  16.     The pine and cedar: graves at my command
  17.     Have waked their sleepers, oped, and let 'em forth
  18.     By my so potent art. But this rough magic
  19.     I here abjure, and, when I have required
  20.     Some heavenly music, which even now I do,
  21.     To work mine end upon their senses that
  22.     This airy charm is for, I'll break my staff,
  23.     Bury it certain fathoms in the earth,
  24.     And deeper than did ever plummet sound
  25.     I'll drown my book.

In the context of the passage, the word “bolt” (line 14) means _________________.

Possible Answers:

a lock

a bonfire

an iron bar

an axe

lightning

Correct answer:

lightning

Explanation:

Prospero states that he has created a storm at sea, and has added lightning (“fire”) to the “rattling thunder”. He then took the lightning and used it to split an oak tree. (Jove was the Roman god of lightning, and the oak was sacred to him, so Prospero is using one of the god’s symbols to destroy another one.) Once we see how the storm/thunder/lightning idea is developed, it’s clear that “bolt” in this context has nothing to do with bars, locks, or axes. “Bonfire” can be eliminated because it has nothing to do with thunder and lightning.

Passage adapted from William Shakespeare's The Tempest (1611)

Example Question #31 : Meaning Of Specified Text

PROSPERO:

  1.     Ye elves of hills, brooks, standing lakes and groves,
  2.     And ye that on the sands with printless foot
  3.     Do chase the ebbing Neptune and do fly him
  4.     When he comes back; you demi-puppets that
  5.     By moonshine do the green sour ringlets make,
  6.     Whereof the ewe not bites, and you whose pastime
  7.     Is to make midnight mushrooms, that rejoice
  8.     To hear the solemn curfew; by whose aid,
  9.     Weak masters though ye be, I have bedimm'd
  10.     The noontide sun, call'd forth the mutinous winds,
  11.     And 'twixt the green sea and the azured vault
  12.     Set roaring war: to the dread rattling thunder
  13.     Have I given fire and rifted Jove's stout oak
  14.     With his own bolt; the strong-based promontory
  15.     Have I made shake and by the spurs pluck'd up
  16.     The pine and cedar: graves at my command
  17.     Have waked their sleepers, oped, and let 'em forth
  18.     By my so potent art. But this rough magic
  19.     I here abjure, and, when I have required
  20.     Some heavenly music, which even now I do,
  21.     To work mine end upon their senses that
  22.     This airy charm is for, I'll break my staff,
  23.     Bury it certain fathoms in the earth,
  24.     And deeper than did ever plummet sound
  25.     I'll drown my book.

In line 18, the word “art” most nearly means __________________.

Possible Answers:

intoxicating potion

creative design

demonic contract

magical power

ascetic self-discipline

Correct answer:

magical power

Explanation:

Prospero gives us a list of his incredible accomplishments, ending the sentence with, “…By my most potent art.” “My most potent art” is the means by which he’s achieved everything he just described: i.e., his magical power. In this context “art” suggests “power” or “skill” rather than anything related to visual design. The speech mentions “elves” — small supernatural spirits of various kinds — but there’s nothing here about demons or a contract. There’s also no mention of a potion. And while Prospero may practice ascetic self-discipline, that’s not what he’s discussing in this speech.

Passage adapted from William Shakespeare's The Tempest (1611)

Example Question #10 : Meaning Of Specified Text: Drama

PROSPERO:

  1.     Ye elves of hills, brooks, standing lakes and groves,
  2.     And ye that on the sands with printless foot
  3.     Do chase the ebbing Neptune and do fly him
  4.     When he comes back; you demi-puppets that
  5.     By moonshine do the green sour ringlets make,
  6.     Whereof the ewe not bites, and you whose pastime
  7.     Is to make midnight mushrooms, that rejoice
  8.     To hear the solemn curfew; by whose aid,
  9.     Weak masters though ye be, I have bedimm'd
  10.     The noontide sun, call'd forth the mutinous winds,
  11.     And 'twixt the green sea and the azured vault
  12.     Set roaring war: to the dread rattling thunder
  13.     Have I given fire and rifted Jove's stout oak
  14.     With his own bolt; the strong-based promontory
  15.     Have I made shake and by the spurs pluck'd up
  16.     The pine and cedar: graves at my command
  17.     Have waked their sleepers, oped, and let 'em forth
  18.     By my so potent art. But this rough magic
  19.     I here abjure, and, when I have required
  20.     Some heavenly music, which even now I do,
  21.     To work mine end upon their senses that
  22.     This airy charm is for, I'll break my staff,
  23.     Bury it certain fathoms in the earth,
  24.     And deeper than did ever plummet sound
  25.     I'll drown my book.

“The azured vault” (line 26) most likely means ________________.

Possible Answers:

the shoreline

a burial chamber

the sky

the blue sea

a battlefield

Correct answer:

the sky

Explanation:

In lines 9-12, Prospero describes how he has used magic to cause a solar eclipse, raise the winds, and create a huge storm (“roaring war”) at sea. (This is the eponymous tempest.) The storm fills the space between ocean and sky: the “azure vault”, with “vault” used in the architectural sense of a high, arched structure covering something else.

Prospero does mention the sea (line 11), but if we plug that in as the meaning of “azured vault”, we can see that a storm blowing “'twixt the green sea and the sea” doesn’t make sense. The same is true of a storm “'twixt the green sea and the shoreline.” There is nothing in the speech about a battlefield or a burial chamber.

Passage adapted from William Shakespeare's The Tempest (1611)

Example Question #11 : Meaning Of Specified Text: Drama

PROSPERO:

  1.     Ye elves of hills, brooks, standing lakes and groves,
  2.     And ye that on the sands with printless foot
  3.     Do chase the ebbing Neptune and do fly him
  4.     When he comes back; you demi-puppets that
  5.     By moonshine do the green sour ringlets make,
  6.     Whereof the ewe not bites, and you whose pastime
  7.     Is to make midnight mushrooms, that rejoice
  8.     To hear the solemn curfew; by whose aid,
  9.     Weak masters though ye be, I have bedimm'd
  10.     The noontide sun, call'd forth the mutinous winds,
  11.     And 'twixt the green sea and the azured vault
  12.     Set roaring war: to the dread rattling thunder
  13.     Have I given fire and rifted Jove's stout oak
  14.     With his own bolt; the strong-based promontory
  15.     Have I made shake and by the spurs pluck'd up
  16.     The pine and cedar: graves at my command
  17.     Have waked their sleepers, oped, and let 'em forth
  18.     By my so potent art. But this rough magic
  19.     I here abjure, and, when I have required
  20.     Some heavenly music, which even now I do,
  21.     To work mine end upon their senses that
  22.     This airy charm is for, I'll break my staff,
  23.     Bury it certain fathoms in the earth,
  24.     And deeper than did ever plummet sound
  25.     I'll drown my book.

The turning point in the speech occurs when Prospero announces his plan to _______________.

Possible Answers:

give up his magical powers

take revenge on his enemies

become a hermit in the wilderness

destroy the spirits who have served him

go willingly to his death

Correct answer:

give up his magical powers

Explanation:

Prospero describes his magical feats at great length. Then he suddenly states: “But this rough magic I here abjure.” (lines 18-19.) He intends to finish one last spell, then say goodbye forever to his magician’s staff and book. “Give up his magical powers” is the correct answer. He says nothing about becoming a hermit, destroying his helper spirits, or going to his death. Though he’s casting a spell on his enemies, he is not planning to take revenge on them.

Passage adapted from William Shakespeare's The Tempest (1611)

Example Question #32 : Meaning Of Specified Text

PROSPERO:

  1.     Ye elves of hills, brooks, standing lakes and groves,
  2.     And ye that on the sands with printless foot
  3.     Do chase the ebbing Neptune and do fly him
  4.     When he comes back; you demi-puppets that
  5.     By moonshine do the green sour ringlets make,
  6.     Whereof the ewe not bites, and you whose pastime
  7.     Is to make midnight mushrooms, that rejoice
  8.     To hear the solemn curfew; by whose aid,
  9.     Weak masters though ye be, I have bedimm'd
  10.     The noontide sun, call'd forth the mutinous winds,
  11.     And 'twixt the green sea and the azured vault
  12.     Set roaring war: to the dread rattling thunder
  13.     Have I given fire and rifted Jove's stout oak
  14.     With his own bolt; the strong-based promontory
  15.     Have I made shake and by the spurs pluck'd up
  16.     The pine and cedar: graves at my command
  17.     Have waked their sleepers, oped, and let 'em forth
  18.     By my so potent art. But this rough magic
  19.     I here abjure, and, when I have required
  20.     Some heavenly music, which even now I do,
  21.     To work mine end upon their senses that
  22.     This airy charm is for, I'll break my staff,
  23.     Bury it certain fathoms in the earth,
  24.     And deeper than did ever plummet sound
  25.     I'll drown my book.

In the context of the passage, “spurs” (line 15) most nearly means ___________________.

Possible Answers:

branches

needles

tips

roots

heels

Correct answer:

roots

Explanation:

Prospero is talking about using magic to uproot pines and cedars. Once we know we’re talking about trees, we can eliminate “heels” as an answer choice. Clearly we’re not talking about literal spurs that are worn on boots. Instead, Prospero means something resembling spurs, and related to trees. Bare tree roots that have just been pulled out of the ground may be spur-shaped, and their location on the tree is analogous to the location of a spur on a human being. “Roots” is the correct answer.

Passage adapted from William Shakespeare's The Tempest (1611)

Example Question #11 : Meaning Of Specified Text: Drama

RAPHAEL
The Sun, in ancient guise, competing 
With brother spheres in rival song, 
With thunder-march, his orb completing, 
Moves his predestin'd course along; 
His aspect to the powers supernal 
Gives strength, though fathom him none may;
Transcending thought, the works eternal 
Are fair as on the primal day. 

GABRIEL
With speed, thought baffling, unabating,
Earth's splendour whirls in circling flight; 
Its Eden-brightness alternating 
With solemn, awe-inspiring night; 
Ocean's broad waves in wild commotion,
Against the rocks' deep base are hurled; 
And with the spheres, both rock and ocean 
Eternally are swiftly whirled.

MICHAEL
And tempests roar in emulation
From sea to land, from land to sea,
And raging form, without cessation,
A chain of wondrous agency,
Full in the thunder's path careering,
Flaring the swift destructions play;
But, Lord, Thy servants are revering
The mild procession of thy day.

(1808)

Which of these terms does not describe an characteristic of nature as described in the passage?

Possible Answers:

The ability to be mysterious to humans

The ability to appear in a different form

The ability to assist the powers of heaven

The ability to move about independently

The ability to outshine other planetary bodies

Correct answer:

The ability to move about independently

Explanation:

Since the sun is moving on a "predestind course," it cannot not choose its own course nor move independently.

Passage adapted from Johann von Goethe's Faust (1808)

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