SAT II Literature : Overall Language or Specific Words, Phrases, or Sentences
Study concepts, example questions & explanations for SAT II Literature
All SAT II Literature Resources
Example Questions
Example Question #1 : Effect Of Specified Text: Prose
The fundamental source of all your errors, sophisms, and false reasonings, is a total ignorance of the natural rights of mankind. Were you once to become acquainted with these, you could never entertain a thought, that all men are not, by nature, entitled to a parity of privileges. You would be convinced that natural liberty is a gift of the beneficent Creator to the whole human race, and that civil liberty is founded in that, and cannot be wrested from any people without the most manifest violation of justice. Civil liberty is only natural liberty, modified and secured by the sanctions of civil society. It is not a thing, in its own nature, precarious and dependent on human will and caprice, but it is conformable to the constitution of man, as well as necessary to the well-being of society.
....
Thus Sir, I have taken a pretty general survey of the American Charters; and proved to the satisfaction of every unbiassed person, that they are intirely, discordant with that sovereignty of parliament, for which you are an advocate. The disingenuity of your extracts (to give it no harsher name) merits the severest censure; and will no doubt serve to discredit all your former, as well as future labours, in your favourite cause of despotism.
It is true, that New-York has no Charter. But, if it could support it’s claim to liberty in no other way, it might, with justice, plead the common principles of colonization: for, it would be unreasonable, to seclude one colony, from the enjoyment of the most important privileges of the rest. There is no need, however, of this plea: The sacred rights of mankind are not to be rummaged for, among old parchments, or musty records. They are written, as with a sun beam, in the whole volume of human nature, by the hand of the divinity itself; and can never be erased or obscured by mortal power.
(1775)
In which of the following phrases from the passage is the tone sarcastic?
"as with a sun beam"
"errors, sophisms, and false reasonings"
"Were you once to become acquainted with these"
"have taken a pretty general survey"
"in your favourite cause of despotism"
"in your favourite cause of despotism"
Sarcasm is a tone that consists of a disdainful or insulting attack on someone else. It is stronger than irony, and more harsh than mere humor. While the tone of this passage is critical throughout, the only one of the answers that is actually hostile enough to be called sarcasm is "in your favourite cause of despotism." No one would readily admit that despotism was a "favourite cause" of theirs, so this accusation, made casually and disdainfully, is a good example of sarcasm.
Passage adapted from Alexander Hamilton's The Farmer Refuted (1775).
Example Question #201 : Overall Language Or Specific Words, Phrases, Or Sentences
“Now, what I want is, Facts. Teach these boys and girls nothing but Facts. Facts alone are wanted in life. Plant nothing else, and root out everything else. You can only form the minds of reasoning animals upon Facts: nothing else will ever be of any service to them. This is the principle on which I bring up my own children, and this is the principle on which I bring up these children. Stick to Facts, sir!”
… The speaker, and the schoolmaster, and the third grown person present, all backed a little, and swept with their eyes the inclined plane of little vessels then and there arranged in order, ready to have imperial gallons of facts poured into them until they were full to the brim.
What is the author’s primary reason for capitalizing “Facts”?
To denote a specific kind of scientific fact
To provide clarity for the reader
None of these
To show that the speaker worships them
To emphasize their importance to the reader
To show that the speaker worships them
Capitalizing “Facts” may emphasize their importance to the speaker but not to the reader, as the passage is clearly designed to criticize the speaker’s opinions. Capitalizing “Facts” shows that they are paramount in the speaker’s mind. (Consider the capitalization of deities’ names, for example.)
Passage adapted from Charles Dickens’s Hard Times (1854)
Example Question #31 : Effect Of Specified Text
1 Thirty years ago, Marseilles lay burning in the sun, one day.
2 A blazing sun upon a fierce August day was no greater rarity in southern France then, than at any other time, before or since. 3 Everything in Marseilles, and about Marseilles, had stared at the fervid sky, and been stared at in return, until a staring habit had become universal there. 4 Strangers were stared out of countenance by staring white houses, staring white walls, staring white streets, staring tracts of arid road, staring hills from which verdure was burnt away. 5 The only things to be seen not fixedly staring and glaring were the vines drooping under their load of grapes. 6 These did occasionally wink a little, as the hot air barely moved their faint leaves.
… 7 The churches were the freest from [the stare]. 8 To come out of the twilight of pillars and arches—dreamily dotted with winking lamps, dreamily peopled with ugly old shadows piously dozing, spitting, and begging—was to plunge into a fiery river, and swim for life to the nearest strip of shade. 9 So, with people lounging and lying wherever shade was, with but little hum of tongues or barking of dogs, with occasional jangling of discordant church bells and rattling of vicious drums, Marseilles, a fact to be strongly smelt and tasted, lay broiling in the sun one day.
What is the primary purpose of this passage?
To make the reader empathize with the characters
To call into question a central tenet of the readers’ faith
To establish setting
To provide contradictory tones
To showcase the author’s use of imagery
To establish setting
The tone of the passage does not change or contradict itself, and the only characters here are nameless townspeople and strangers. While the passage does contain vivid imagery, that is not its only purpose. The passage is mainly establishing the details of the city in the midst of a summer heat wave: in other words, it is establishing setting.
Passage adapted from Charles Dickens’ Little Dorrit (1857)
Example Question #203 : Overall Language Or Specific Words, Phrases, Or Sentences
There are days which occur in this climate, at almost any season of the year, wherein the world reaches its perfection, when the air, the heavenly bodies, and the earth, make a harmony, as if nature would indulge her offspring; when, in these bleak upper sides of the planet, nothing is to desire that we have heard of the happiest latitudes, and we bask in the shining hours of Florida and Cuba; when everything that has life gives sign of satisfaction, and the cattle that lie on the ground seem to have great and tranquil thoughts. 2. These halcyons may be looked for with a little more assurance in that pure October weather, which we distinguish by the name of the Indian Summer. 3. The day, immeasurably long, sleeps over the broad hills and warm wide fields. 4. To have lived through all its sunny hours, seems longevity enough. 5. The solitary places do not seem quite lonely. 6. At the gates of the forest, the surprised man of the world is forced to leave his city estimates of great and small, wise and foolish. 7. The knapsack of custom falls off his back with the first step he makes into these precincts. 8. Here is sanctity which shames our religions, and reality which discredits our heroes. 9. Here we find nature to be the circumstance which dwarfs every other circumstance, and judges like a god all men that come to her. 10. We have crept out of our close and crowded houses into the night and morning, and we see what majestic beauties daily wrap us in their bosom. 11. How willingly we would escape the barriers which render them comparatively impotent, escape the sophistication and second thought, and suffer nature to intrance us. 12. The tempered light of the woods is like a perpetual morning, and is stimulating and heroic. 13. The anciently reported spells of these places creep on us. 14. The stems of pines, hemlocks, and oaks, almost gleam like iron on the excited eye. 15. The incommunicable trees begin to persuade us to live with them, and quit our life of solemn trifles. 16. Here no history, or church, or state, is interpolated on the divine sky and the immortal year. 17. How easily we might walk onward into the opening landscape, absorbed by new pictures, and by thoughts fast succeeding each other, until by degrees the recollection of home was crowded out of the mind, all memory obliterated by the tyranny of the present, and we were led in triumph by nature.
The author’s syntax suggests _________________.
profound loneliness
climbing a high mountain
the gradual dawning of awareness
a confused pathway through life
spacious periods of uninterrupted thought
spacious periods of uninterrupted thought
The sentences in this passage are complex, with many comprising several clauses. They create a leisurely cadence that suggests that the author enjoys spacious periods of uninterrupted thought.
Though the author is talking about strong emotion, his syntax does not suggest urgency, confusion, or loneliness. His sentences do not "build" to a climax, but keep the same controlled tempo from beginning to end. This emphasizes his solitude in nature, and the freedom that it gives him to develop his ideas at leisure.
Passage adapted from Ralph Waldo Emerson's "Essay VI, Nature" (1836)
Example Question #12 : Effect Of Specified Text: Prose
All that day the heat was terrible. The wind blew close to the ground; it rooted among the tussock grass, slithered along the road, so that the white pumice dust swirled in our faces, settled and sifted over us and was like a dry-skin itching for growth on our bodies. The horses stumbled along, coughing and chuffing. The pack horse was sick -- with a big open sore rubbed under the belly. Now and again she stopped short, threw back her head, looked at us as though she were going to cry, and whinnied. Hundreds of larks shrilled; the sky was slate colour, and the sound of the larks reminded me of slate pencils scraping over its surface. There was nothing to be seen but wave after wave of tussock grass, patched with purple orchids and manuka bushes covered with thick spider webs.
Jo rode ahead. He wore a blue galatea shirt, corduroy trousers and riding boots. A white handkerchief, spotted with red -- it looked as though his nose had been bleeding on it -- was knotted round his throat. Wisps of white hair straggled from under his wideawake -- his moustache and eyebrows were called white -- he slouched in the saddle, grunting. Not once that day had he sung "I don't care, for don't you see, My wife' mother was in front of me!... ” It was the first day we had been without it for a month, and now there seemed something uncanny in his silence. Hin rode beside me, white as a clown; his black eyes glittered, and he kept shooting out his tongue and moistening his lips. He was dressed in a Jaeger vest, and a pair of blue duck trousers, fastened round the waist with a plaited leather belt. We had hardly spoken since dawn. At noon we had lunched off fly biscuits and apricots by the side of a swampy creek.
(1912)
The narrator's comparison of the sky to slate and the larks to slate pencils emphasizes __________________.
That a storm is imminent
The narrator's fear of open spaces
The narrator's fear of birds
The harsh sound of the birds' cries
The beauty of the birds' songs
The harsh sound of the birds' cries
The narrator compares the sky to slate and the birds to slate pencils, emphasizing the fact that the birds' cries are harsh, not beautiful, sort of like nails on a chalkboard. We know before this comparison that the narrator does not find the bird sounds pleasant, because of the line, "hundreds of larks shrilled." The use of the word "shrilled," rather than "sang" or "called" tells us that their sound is unpleasant. There is no evidence in the passage that the narrator fears birds or open spaces. Although we know that the characters are not traveling under blue skies, there is no direct reference to a storm.
Passage adapted from Katherine Mansfield's "The Woman at the Store" (1912)
Example Question #1 : Effect Of Specified Text: Drama
And when, after a long while, this storm had passed, the maid was seen; and she cried aloud with the sharp cry of a bird in its bitterness,-even as when, within the empty nest, it sees the bed stripped of its nestlings. So she also, when she saw the corpse bare, lifted up a voice of wailing, and called down curses on the doers of that deed.
(Fifth century BCE)
In the passage, the author uses a submerged simile to compare the maid to a suffering bird in order to __________.
help describe the girl's surprise at not being able to save the life of a loved one
help describe the girl's dismay at the destruction of nature
help describe the girl's regret that all her work had amounted to nothing
help describe the girl's fear of death
help describe the maid's anguish upon returning to find her work undone
help describe the maid's anguish upon returning to find her work undone
The bird is "crying bitterly" at returning to its nest to find it stripped, just as the maid is upset at returning to find the bare corpse (her work undone).
(Adapted from the R. C. Jebb translation of Antigone by Sophocles 462-469, Fifth century BCE)
Example Question #1 : Inferring Author Intent, Opinion, And Bias
Adapted from Titus Andronicus by William Shakespeare, III.i.1126-1185 (1623)
Enter Judges, Senators and Tribunes, with MARTIUS and QUINTUS, bound, passing on to the place of execution; TITUS going before, pleading
Titus Andronicus: Hear me, grave fathers! noble tribunes, stay!
For pity of mine age, whose youth was spent
In dangerous wars, whilst you securely slept;
For all my blood in Rome's great quarrel shed;
For all the frosty nights that I have watch'd;
And for these bitter tears, which now you see
Filling the aged wrinkles in my cheeks;
Be pitiful to my condemned sons,
Whose souls are not corrupted as 'tis thought.
For two and twenty sons I never wept,
Because they died in honor's lofty bed.
[Lieth down; the Judges, &c., pass by him, and Exeunt]
For these, these, tribunes, in the dust I write
My heart's deep languor and my soul's sad tears:
Let my tears stanch the earth's dry appetite;
My sons' sweet blood will make it shame and blush.
O earth, I will befriend thee more with rain,
That shall distill from these two ancient urns,
Than youthful April shall with all his showers:
In summer's drought I'll drop upon thee still;
In winter with warm tears I'll melt the snow
And keep eternal spring-time on thy face,
So thou refuse to drink my dear sons' blood.
[Enter LUCIUS, with his sword drawn]
O reverend tribunes! O gentle, aged men!
Unbind my sons, reverse the doom of death;
And let me say, that never wept before,
My tears are now prevailing orators.
Lucius: O noble father, you lament in vain:
The tribunes hear you not; no man is by;
And you recount your sorrows to a stone.
Titus Andronicus: Ah, Lucius, for thy brothers let me plead.
Grave tribunes, once more I entreat of you,—
Lucius: My gracious lord, no tribune hears you speak.
Titus Andronicus: Why, tis no matter, man; if they did hear,
They would not mark me, or if they did mark,
They would not pity me, yet plead I must;
And bootless unto them [—]
Therefore I tell my sorrows to the stones;
Who, though they cannot answer my distress,
Yet in some sort they are better than the tribunes,
For that they will not intercept my tale:
When I do weep, they humbly at my feet
Receive my tears and seem to weep with me;
And, were they but attired in grave weeds,
Rome could afford no tribune like to these.
A stone is soft as wax,—tribunes more hard than stones;
A stone is silent, and offendeth not,
And tribunes with their tongues doom men to death.
[Rises]
But wherefore stand'st thou with thy weapon drawn?
Lucius: To rescue my two brothers from their death:
For which attempt the judges have pronounced
My everlasting doom of banishment.
Titus Andronicus: O happy man! they have befriended thee.
Why, foolish Lucius, dost thou not perceive
That Rome is but a wilderness of tigers?
Tigers must prey, and Rome affords no prey
But me and mine: how happy art thou, then,
From these devourers to be banished!
Which of the following is NOT reasonable evidence of authorial bias against the tribunes and civil administrators in general in this passage?
The metaphorical characterization of the tribunes as "tigers"
The extended comparison of the tribunes to the rocks reflects more favorably on the rocks as listeners and empathetic beings than on the tribunes
The extended time given to Titus' complaints about the tribunes, as compared to their silent exit from the stage
The contrast between made between the sacrifices Titus has made, shedding his own blood and losing sons in battle, and the relatively secure position of the tribunes
The stereotypical physical depiction of the tribunes as feeble, elderly, and dependent on the assistance of others
The stereotypical physical depiction of the tribunes as feeble, elderly, and dependent on the assistance of others
The only of the answers that is NOT evidence of author bias (or preference) in favor of Titus and against the tribunes (and civil administrators in general) is the stereotypical depiction of the tribunes as feeble and elderly. Although Titus does reference their "securely [sleeping]" when Titus and his sons have been out fighting battles, there is no specific indication in the passage that the tribunes are old and frail, and there is no mention of helpers assisting them physically.
The tribunes' silence, unfavorable comparison to rocks, and characterization as vicious tigers are all evidence of authorial bias (or preference) in favor of Titus' position against their unfeeling political actions and way of operating, as is the contrast made between Titus' sacrifices and the tribunes' safe, judgmental position of power.
Example Question #1 : Effect Of Specified Text: Drama
Adapted from Titus Andronicus by William Shakespeare, III.i.1126-1185 (1623)
Enter Judges, Senators and Tribunes, with MARTIUS and QUINTUS, bound, passing on to the place of execution; TITUS going before, pleading
Titus Andronicus: Hear me, grave fathers! noble tribunes, stay!
For pity of mine age, whose youth was spent
In dangerous wars, whilst you securely slept;
For all my blood in Rome's great quarrel shed;
For all the frosty nights that I have watch'd;
And for these bitter tears, which now you see
Filling the aged wrinkles in my cheeks;
Be pitiful to my condemned sons,
Whose souls are not corrupted as 'tis thought.
For two and twenty sons I never wept,
Because they died in honor's lofty bed.
[Lieth down; the Judges, &c., pass by him, and Exeunt]
For these, these, tribunes, in the dust I write
My heart's deep languor and my soul's sad tears:
Let my tears stanch the earth's dry appetite;
My sons' sweet blood will make it shame and blush.
O earth, I will befriend thee more with rain,
That shall distill from these two ancient urns,
Than youthful April shall with all his showers:
In summer's drought I'll drop upon thee still;
In winter with warm tears I'll melt the snow
And keep eternal spring-time on thy face,
So thou refuse to drink my dear sons' blood.
[Enter LUCIUS, with his sword drawn]
O reverend tribunes! O gentle, aged men!
Unbind my sons, reverse the doom of death;
And let me say, that never wept before,
My tears are now prevailing orators.
Lucius: O noble father, you lament in vain:
The tribunes hear you not; no man is by;
And you recount your sorrows to a stone.
Titus Andronicus: Ah, Lucius, for thy brothers let me plead.
Grave tribunes, once more I entreat of you,—
Lucius: My gracious lord, no tribune hears you speak.
Titus Andronicus: Why, tis no matter, man; if they did hear,
They would not mark me, or if they did mark,
They would not pity me, yet plead I must;
And bootless unto them [—]
Therefore I tell my sorrows to the stones;
Who, though they cannot answer my distress,
Yet in some sort they are better than the tribunes,
For that they will not intercept my tale:
When I do weep, they humbly at my feet
Receive my tears and seem to weep with me;
And, were they but attired in grave weeds,
Rome could afford no tribune like to these.
A stone is soft as wax,—tribunes more hard than stones;
A stone is silent, and offendeth not,
And tribunes with their tongues doom men to death.
[Rises]
But wherefore stand'st thou with thy weapon drawn?
Lucius: To rescue my two brothers from their death:
For which attempt the judges have pronounced
My everlasting doom of banishment.
Titus Andronicus: O happy man! they have befriended thee.
Why, foolish Lucius, dost thou not perceive
That Rome is but a wilderness of tigers?
Tigers must prey, and Rome affords no prey
But me and mine: how happy art thou, then,
From these devourers to be banished!
In the context of the entire passage, which of the following is a reasonable purpose for Lucius to be carrying a sword throughout his conversation with Titus Andronicus?
Lucius' carrying the sword provides a visual representation of the difference between his and his father's approaches to the tribunes' sentencing of his brothers; Lucius is active and aggressive, while Titus is passive and resigned.
Lucius' carrying the sword provides a visual representation of the difference between his and his father's approaches to the tribunes' sentencing of his brothers; Lucius is content to threaten action, while Titus advocates silent, well-planned revenge.
Lucius' carrying the sword provides a visual representation of the difference between his and his father's approaches to the tribunes' sentencing of his brothers; Lucius is angry and unreasonable, while Titus is pragmatic and controlled.
Lucius' carrying the sword characterizes him as a warrior, and provides a visual representation of the difference between him and his father, a lifelong politician.
Lucius' carrying the sword characterizes him as a warrior, and puts him on even footing with his father, a triumphant war hero in the prime of his life.
Lucius' carrying the sword provides a visual representation of the difference between his and his father's approaches to the tribunes' sentencing of his brothers; Lucius is active and aggressive, while Titus is passive and resigned.
In the context of the entire passage, Lucius's carrying a sword provides a visual representation of the difference between his approach and his father's; Lucius aggressively tries to "rescue [his] brothers," while Titus begs with the tribunes, calling upon their "pity" and citing his old age and past sacrifices, then passively continues pleading to rocks after they leave.
Titus does not advocate silent revenge, and although he is a war hero and not a lifelong politician, he is far past the prime of his life, as he repeatedly states. While Lucius' action did get him banished, and was possibly rash and overly aggressive, Titus does not advocate for a particularly pragmatic approach, as is evidenced by his prolonged chat with the rocks.
Example Question #1 : Effect Of Specified Text: Drama
NESTOR: Tell him of Nestor, one that was a man
When Hector's grandsire suck'd: he is old now;
But if there be not in our Grecian host
One noble man that hath one spark of fire,
To answer for his love, tell [them] from me (5)
I'll hide my silver beard in a gold beaver
And in my vantbrace put this wither'd brawn…
I'll prove this truth with my three drops of blood.
… ULYSSES: Give pardon to my speech:
Therefore 'tis meet Achilles meet not Hector. (10)
What is the purpose of the following phrase (line 2)? “When Hector’s grandsire suck’d”
To claim an important hereditary link
To give readers a more nuanced characterization of the speaker
To shame a particularly inhospitable Grecian
To indirectly insult Hector
To emphasize the speaker’s great age
To emphasize the speaker’s great age
Reading the rest of the line provides valuable context for the phrase in question: “he is old now.” Indeed, much of Nestor’s speech discusses his continued courage in the face of his old age. We can further infer that Hector may be a contemporary of Nestor (he is) and that the reference to his “grandsire” (grandfather) is designed to emphasize Nestor’s age.
Passage adapted from William Shakespeare’s Troilus and Cressida (1602).
Example Question #2 : Effect 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.
In the underlined line, the speaker conveys that he __________.
wants to take the throne for himself
wants to kill his brother
wants to hide his plans and intentions from his brother
wants to feel morally justified in his actions
doubts whether his plan will work
wants to hide his plans and intentions from his brother
In the underlined line, “Dive, thoughts, down to my soul,” the speaker indicates that he wants to hide his plans and intentions from his brother, Clarence, as immediately after this line, he states, “here / Clarence comes.” While the speaker may very well want to kill his brother, take the throne for himself, or feel morally justified in his actions, the specified line does not convey any of those meanings.
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