SAT II Literature : SAT Subject Test in Literature
Study concepts, example questions & explanations for SAT II Literature
All SAT II Literature Resources
Example Questions
Example Question #41 : Inferences
1. 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.
It can be inferred that the author of this passage believes that:
I. Man is diminished when cut off from nature
II. Nature is more powerful than human culture
III. To enter nature is to return to childhood.
I only
II only
I and II only
I, II, and III
II and III only
I and II only
The author argues that man is diminished when cut off from nature. ("How willingly we would escape . . . the sophistication and second thought, and suffer nature to intrance us." " . . . quit our life of solemn trifles.")
He states that nature is more powerful than human culture. ("Here is sanctity which shames our religions, and reality which discredits our heroes. Here we find nature to be the circumstance which dwarfs every other circumstance, and judges like a god all men that come to her.")
The author says nothing about childhood. (His description of the changes undergone by man as he returns to nature could be interpreted that way, but the author doesn't actually say it. Always choose answers that are clearly supported by something specific in the text.)
Passage adapted from Ralph Waldo Emerson's "Essay VI, Nature" (1836)
Example Question #91 : Content
“Shall I?” I said briefly; and I looked at his features, beautiful in their harmony, but strangely formidable in their still severity; at his brow, commanding, but not open; at his eyes, bright and deep and searching, but never soft; at his tall imposing figure; and fancied myself in idea his wife. Oh! it would never do! As his curate, his comrade, all would be right: I would cross oceans with him in that capacity; toil under Eastern suns, in Asian deserts with him in that office; admire and emulate his courage and devotion and vigour: accommodate quietly to his masterhood; smile undisturbed at his ineradicable ambition. . . . I should suffer often, no doubt, attached to him only in this capacity: my body would be under a rather stringent yoke, but my heart and mind would be free. I should still have my unblighted self to turn to: my natural unenslaved feelings with which to communicate in moments of loneliness. There would be recesses in my mind which would be only mine, to which he never came; and sentiments growing there, fresh and sheltered, which his austerity could never blight, nor his measured warrior-march trample down: but as his wife—at his side always, and always restrained, and always checked—forced to keep the fire of my nature continually low, to compel it to burn inwardly and never utter a cry, though the imprisoned flame consumed vital after vital—this would be unendurable.
(1847)
The central conflict in this passage can best be summarized as ________________.
An internal conflict within the speaker concerning a marriage proposal
A debate between a husband and wife about a divorce
A debate between two characters about marital equality
An internal conflict within the speaker over whether to travel or remain at home
A debate between two characters about slavery
An internal conflict within the speaker concerning a marriage proposal
This passage contains only the voice of the inner monologue of the speaker, which rules out the answers that suggest a debate between two people. From the phrase "shall I?" that begins this passage, it is clear that the central conflict is one of the speaker debating whether or not to take a particular course of action. The second sentence ends with the speaker saying that she "fancied myself in idea his wife," which makes evident that what she is conflicted about is a marriage proposal.
Passage adapted from Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre (1847)
Example Question #42 : Inferences
Passage adapted from Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre (1847)
"Presentiments are strange things! and so are sympathies, and so are signs ; and the three combined make one mystery to which humanity has not yet found the key. I never laughed at presentiments in my life, because I have had strange ones of my own. Sympathies, I believe, exist (for instance, between far-distant, long-absent, wholly estranged relatives ; asserting, notwithstanding, their alienation, the unity of the source to which each traces his origin), whose workings baffle mortal comprehension. And signs, for aught we know, may be but the sympathies of nature with man."
Based on this passage alone, what can we infer about the author's knowledge concerning presentiments, sympathies and signs?
The author has a better understanding of signs than she does of sympathies or presentiments
The author is confident in her opinion concerning presentiments, less so concerning sympathies, and entirely unsure concerning signs
The author has a better understanding of sympathies than she does of presentiments or signs
The author has a sound, working theory of presentiments, sympathies and signs
None of these
The author is confident in her opinion concerning presentiments, less so concerning sympathies, and entirely unsure concerning signs
The answer is that "the author is confident in her opinion concerning presentiments, less so concerning sympathies, and entirely unsure concerning signs." Here, you must deal directly with the language of the passage. The author describes exactly what presentiments are, implying that she is confident in her description. However, in terms of sympathies the author uses language such as "I believe," which detracts from the objectivity of her claims. And finally, concerning signs, the author writes that "for aught we know" implying that her description is as good as any, further implying that she is entirely ensure of the descriptive nature of signs.
Example Question #3 : Inferences And Implied Ideas
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)
FAUST: 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.
Which of the following is NOT a reasonable inference to draw about Faustus' feelings on his situation?
He has had a long and successful academic career, but feels that he has reached the limit of earthly, academic pursuits.
He has been offered the use of dark arts, and he is excited by the power this opportunity could afford him.
He has had a long and successful academic career which has led him to feel superior to and bored with those around him.
He must choose between earthly academic pursuits and the dark arts, and he feels ambivalent about the decision.
He must choose between earthly academic pursuits and the dark arts, and he finds the new path of magic exciting.
He must choose between earthly academic pursuits and the dark arts, and he feels ambivalent about the decision.
The only inference that is not reasonable to draw about Faustus' feelings on his situation is that he must choose between earthly academic pursuits and the dark arts and that he feels ambivalent about the decision. While he is choosing between these two things, there is nothing in the speech to suggest that this choice is mandatory. Also, he expresses only excitement about his choice, not ambivalence.
Example Question #1 : Inferences: Drama
A bell rings in the hall; shortly afterwards the door is heard to open.
Enter NORA, humming a tune and in high spirits. She is in out-door dress and carries a number of parcels; these she lays on the table to the right. She leaves the outer door open after her, and through it is seen a PORTER who is carrying a Christmas Tree and a basket, which he gives to the MAID who has opened the door.)
Nora: Hide the Christmas Tree carefully, Helen. Be sure the children do not see it till this evening, when it is dressed. (To the PORTER, taking out her purse.) How much?
Porter: Sixpence.
Nora: There is a shilling. No, keep the change. (The PORTER thanks her, and goes out. NORA shuts the door. She is laughing to herself, as she takes off her hat and coat. She takes a packet of macaroons from her pocket and eats one or two; then goes cautiously to her husband's door and listens.) Yes, he is in. (Still humming, she goes to the table on the right.)
Helmer: (calls out from his room). Is that my little lark twittering out there?
Nora (busy opening some of the parcels): Yes, it is!
Helmer: Is it my little squirrel bustling about?
Nora: Yes!
Helmer: When did my squirrel come home?
Nora: Just now. (Puts the bag of macaroons into her pocket and wipes her mouth.) Come in here, Torvald, and see what I have bought.
Helmer: Don't disturb me. (A little later, he opens the door and looks into the room, pen in hand.) Bought, did you say? All these things? Has my little spendthrift been wasting money again?
Nora: Yes, but, Torvald, this year we really can let ourselves go a little. This is the first Christmas that we have not needed to economize.
Helmer: Still, you know, we can't spend money recklessly.
Nora: Yes, Torvald, we may be a wee bit more reckless now, mayn't we? Just a tiny wee bit! You are going to have a big salary and earn lots and lots of money.
Helmer: Yes, after the New Year; but then it will be a whole quarter before the salary is due.
Nora: Pooh! we can borrow till then.
(1879)
Based on the stage directions that begin this excerpt, which of the following is possible to infer about Nora?
She had an unhappy childhood
She comes from a wealthy family
She is a member of the upper or upper-middle class
She is unhappy in her marriage
She is unpleasant to members of the lower classes
She is a member of the upper or upper-middle class
Of the provided answers, the only one that the initial stage directions provide enough information to confirm is that Nora is a member of the upper or upper-middle class. We can assume this based on the fact that she is returning home from shopping with an armful of parcels and enlists the help of both a porter and a maid. There is not enough information to infer that she grew up in a wealthy family, only that she is a part of one now. There is also no indication that she had an unhappy childhood or that she is unhappy in her marriage now. There is also no evidence in the initial stage directions that she is unpleasant to members of the lower classes, and in fact seems to be the opposite, tipping the porter generously.
Passage adapted from Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House (1879)
Example Question #881 : Gre Subject Test: Literature In English
1 Devouring time, blunt thou the lion's paws,
2 And Make the earth devour her own sweet brood;
3 Pluck the keen teeth from the fierce tiger's jaws,
4 And burn the long-lived phoenix in her blood;
5 Make glad and sorry seasons as thou fleet'st
6 And do whate'er thou wilt, swift-footed time,
7 To the wide world and all her fading sweets;
8 But I forbid thee one most heinous crime,
9 O carve not with thy hours my love's fair brow,
10 Nor draw no lines there with thine antique pen.
11 Him in thy course untainted do allow,
12 For yet beauty's pattern to succeeding men.
13 Yet do thy worst, old time; despite thy wrong,
14 My love shall in my verse ever live young.
(1609)
What "crime" is the poet forbidding time to commit?
Causing the poet to eventually forget some of his memories
None of the answers
Killing the poet
Causing the poet's lover to age
Speeding up time
Causing the poet's lover to age
The poet is forbidding time to commit the crime of causing the poet's lover to age. "O carve not with thy hours my love's fair brow, / Nor draw no lines there with thine antique pen" (lines 9-10) suggests that time draws lines on the poet's love's fair brow; the lines can be understood as wrinkles because wrinkles can look as if they are lines carved into skin.
(Passage adapted from "Sonnet 19" by William Shakespeare)
Example Question #1 : Characterization And Motivation
1 'So careful of the type?' but no.
2 From scarped cliff and quarried stone
3 She cries, `A thousand types are gone:
4 I care for nothing, all shall go.
5 'Thou makest thine appeal to me:
6 I bring to life, I bring to death:
7 The spirit does but mean the breath:
8 I know no more.' And he, shall he,
9 Man, her last work, who seem'd so fair,
10 Such splendid purpose in his eyes,
11 Who roll'd the psalm to wintry skies,
12 Who built him fanes of fruitless prayer,
13 Who trusted God was love indeed
14 And love Creation's final law—
15 Tho' Nature, red in tooth and claw
16 With ravine, shriek'd against his creed—
17 Who loved, who suffer'd countless ills,
18 Who battled for the True, the Just,
19 Be blown about the desert dust,
20 Or seal'd within the iron hills?
21 No more? A monster then, a dream,
22 A discord. Dragons of the prime,
23 That tare each other in their slime,
24 Were mellow music match'd with him.
25 O life as futile, then, as frail!
26 O for thy voice to soothe and bless!
27 What hope of answer, or redress?
28 Behind the veil, behind the veil.
(1849)
Answer the following with the best possible answer:
Throughout this excerpt, the poet experiences a/an __________.
questioning of faith
lessening of hope
disappearing trust in science
reviving hope
agonizing death of a loved one
questioning of faith
Throughout this excerpt, the poet experiences a questioning of faith. The poet says that "Man, her last work . . ." (line 9) has "trusted God was love indeed / And love Creation's final law— " (lines 13-14), but Nature, or Creation (because line 9 implies that Nature created man), is "red in tooth and claw / with ravine, shrik'd against his creed—" (lines 15-16) ("Creed" is faith). Love is not Nature's final law according to this imagery, and not according to the poet's reference to the extinction of dinosaurs in lines 1-4: "'So careful of the type?' but no. / From scarped cliff and quarried stone / She cries, `A thousand types are gone: / I care for nothing, all shall go."
(Passage adapted from "In Memorium A. H. H." by Alfred Lord Tennyson, LVI.1-28)
Example Question #1 : Characterization And Motivation
I celebrate myself, and sing myself,
And what I assume you shall assume,
For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you.
I loafe and invite my soul,
I lean and loafe at my ease observing a spear of summer grass.(5)
My tongue, every atom of my blood, form'd from this soil,
this air,
Born here of parents born here from parents the same, and
their parents the same,
I, now thirty-seven years old in perfect health begin,
Hoping to cease not till death.
What central impression does the speaker give about himself in this passage?
Conspiracy
Lassitude
Vitality
Stinginess
Lethargy
Vitality
Even though the speaker notes a tendency to “loafe,” this is only one action in a broader celebration of life and is not an indication of lethargy or lassitude. There is no secrecy or conspiring in this passage, nor is there stinginess (in fact, there’s marked generosity). This leaves us with vitality, a celebratory embracing of life.
Passage adapted from Walt Whitman’s “Song of Myself,” Leaves of Grass (1855).
Example Question #2 : Characterization And Motivation: Poetry
1 Why did I laugh tonight? No voice will tell:
No god, no demon of severe response,
Deigns to reply from heaven or from hell.
Then to my human heart I turn at once--
5 Heart! Thou and I are here sad and alone;
Say, wherefore did I laugh? O mortal pain!
O darkness! darkness! ever must I moan,
To question heaven and hell and heart in vain!
9 Why did I laugh? I know this being's lease--
My fancy to its utmost blisses spreads:
Yet could I on this very midnight cease,
And the world's gaudy ensigns see in shreds.
13 Verse, fame, and beauty are intense indeed,
But death intenser--death is life's high meed.
(1819)
The speaker finds his laughter strange and absurd because of _______________.
the emptiness of his worldly accomplishments
the inevitability of death
the impossibility of understanding his heart
the silence of both god and demons
his constant unhappiness
the inevitability of death
The speaker in this poem finds his laughter and happiness absurd because of the inevitability of death. He repeatedly asks himself why he laughs. He also repeatedly mentions his awareness of death as a reason why laughter should not be possible or sensible. For example, "O mortal pain!," "I know this being's lease," and the last line, "But death intenser--death is life's high meed," all are references to the fact that death is what is troubling the speaker and making him question his laughter.
Passage adapted from "Why did I laugh tonight?" by John Keats (1819)
Example Question #3 : Characterization And Motivation: Poetry
… Sir, ’twas not
Her husband’s presence only, called that spot
Of joy into the Duchess’ cheek… She had
A heart—how shall I say?— too soon made glad,
Too easily impressed; she liked whate’er (5)
She looked on, and her looks went everywhere.
Sir, ’twas all one! My favour at her breast,
The dropping of the daylight in the West,
The bough of cherries some officious fool
Broke in the orchard for her, the white mule (10)
She rode with round the terrace—all and each
Would draw from her alike the approving speech,
Or blush, at least. She thanked men—good! but thanked
Somehow—I know not how—as if she ranked
My gift of a nine-hundred-years-old name (15)
With anybody’s gift.
(1842)
Who is the speaker in relation to the Duchess?
A painter
A distant relative
An “officious fool”
Her husband
An impartial observer
Her husband
We can tell in the final lines of this passage that the duchess received the “gift of a nine-hundred-years-old name” from the speaker. Since the duchess would receive the gift of a last name through marriage, we can safely infer that the speaker is her husband.
Passage adapted from Robert Browning’s “My Last Duchess” (1842)
All SAT II Literature Resources
