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 #1 : Inferring Author Intent, Opinion, And Bias
Adapted from "The Mouse’s Petition" in Poems by Anna Letitia Barbauld (1773)
Found in the trap where he had been confined all night by Dr. Priestley, for the sake of making experiments with different kinds of air
“To spare the humbled, and to tame in war the proud.” - Virgil
OH! hear a pensive captive's prayer,
For liberty that sighs;
And never let thine heart be shut
Against the prisoner's cries.
For here forlorn and sad I sit,
Within the wiry grate;
And tremble at th' approaching morn,
Which brings impending fate.
If e'er thy breast with freedom glow'd,
And spurn'd a tyrant's chain,
Let not thy strong oppressive force
A free-born mouse detain.
Oh! do not stain with guiltless blood
Thy hospitable hearth;
Nor triumph that thy wiles betray'd
A prize so little worth.
The scatter'd gleanings of a feast
My scanty meals supply;
But if thine unrelenting heart
That slender boon deny,
The cheerful light, the vital air,
Are blessings widely given;
Let nature's commoners enjoy
The common gifts of heaven.
The well-taught philosophic mind
To all compassion gives;
Casts round the world an equal eye,
And feels for all that lives.
If mind, as ancient sages taught,
A never dying flame,
Still shifts thro' matter's varying forms,
In every form the same,
Beware, lest in the worm you crush
A brother's soul you find;
And tremble lest thy luckless hand
Dislodge a kindred mind.
Or, if this transient gleam of day
Be all of life we share,
Let pity plead within thy breast,
That little all to spare.
So may thy hospitable board
With health and peace be crown'd;
And every charm of heartfelt ease
Beneath thy roof be found.
So when unseen destruction lurks,
Which men like mice may share,
May some kind angel clear thy path,
And break the hidden snare.
Which of the following is the best example of anti-science bias in the passage?
The poet's characterization of the "philosophic mind" as expansive and compassionate is clearly set up in opposition to the scientific method, which is characterized as "transient" and short-term in its thinking.
In the note preceding the poem, the author specifically mentions "the trap" in which the mouse has "been confined," but is vague about the "experiments with different kinds of air."
Throughout the poem, the mouse is figured as a thoughtful, sentient being with mental traits equal to those of humans, which is clearly scientifically inaccurate.
The poet's invocation of "ancient sages" demonstrates a religious frame of reference that is clearly incommensurate with scientific discourse.
The poet's characterization of Dr. Priestley as "a tyrant" is clearly inflammatory and prejudicial.
In the note preceding the poem, the author specifically mentions "the trap" in which the mouse has "been confined," but is vague about the "experiments with different kinds of air."
Of the answers provided, the most obvious evidence of bias can be found in the language of the note preceding the poem. The specificity about the mouse's condition, combined with the vagueness about the actual nature or possible benefits of the scientific experiment.
Throughout the poem, the mouse is figured as on ethical par with all sentient beings, there is no specific claim that the mouse's mental capacity equals that of humans.
While the poet does characterize the "well-taught philosophic mind" as expansive and compassionate, "transient" is used to refer to the "gleam of day," and little is said directly in critique of scientific thinking.
The poet does not characterize Dr. Priestley as a tyrant, but rather draws attention to his having "spurn'd a tyrant's chain," probably a reference to his anti-tyrannical political views.
Example Question #1 : Characterization And Motivation: Poetry
Adapted from “Solitary Death, make me thine own” in Underneath the Bough: A Book of Verses by Michael Field (pseudonym of Katherine Bradley and Edith Cooper) (1893)
Solitary Death, make me thine own,
And let us wander the bare fields together;
Yea, thou and I alone
Roving in unembittered unison forever.
I will not harry thy treasure-graves,
I do not ask thy still hands a lover;
My heart within me craves
To travel till we twain Time’s wilderness discover.
To sojourn with thee my soul was bred,
And I, the courtly sights of life refusing,
To the wide shadows fled,
And mused upon thee often as I fell a-musing.
Escaped from chaos, thy mother Night,
In her maiden breast a burthen that awed her,
By cavern waters white
Drew thee her first-born, her unfathered off-spring toward her.
On dewey plats, near twilight dingle,
She oft, to still thee from men’s sobs and curses
In thine ears a-tingle,
Pours her cool charms, her weird, reviving chaunt rehearses.
Though mortals menace thee or elude,
And from thy confines break in swift transgression.
Thou for thyself art sued
Of me, I claim thy cloudy purlieus my possession.
To a long freshwater, where the sea
Stirs the silver flux of the reeds and willows,
Come thou, and beckon me
To lie in the lull of the sand-sequestered billows:
Then take the life I have called my own
And to the liquid universe deliver;
Loosening my spirit’s zone,
Wrap round me as thy limbs the wind, the light, the river.
In the poem, “Death” is personified as which of the following?
A long-desired companion
A mother
The captain of a ship
A lover
A thief
A long-desired companion
In this poem, death is personified (and addressed) as a long-desired companion. While the description of the relationship sounds quite intimate, the speaker specifically states that he or she “do[es] not ask thy still hands a lover.” Death is often characterized as a thief in literature, but this piece is subverting that trope. "Night" is personified as death’s “mother,” and while the river is discussed at length, death is taking the speaker to the river, not ferrying the speaker across it on a boat.
Example Question #122 : Interpreting The Passage
Adapted from “Solitary Death, make me thine own” in Underneath the Bough: A Book of Verses by Michael Field (pseudonym of Katherine Bradley and Edith Cooper) (1893)
Solitary Death, make me thine own,
And let us wander the bare fields together;
Yea, thou and I alone
Roving in unembittered unison forever.
I will not harry thy treasure-graves,
I do not ask thy still hands a lover;
My heart within me craves
To travel till we twain Time’s wilderness discover.
To sojourn with thee my soul was bred,
And I, the courtly sights of life refusing,
To the wide shadows fled,
And mused upon thee often as I fell a-musing.
Escaped from chaos, thy mother Night,
In her maiden breast a burthen that awed her,
By cavern waters white
Drew thee her first-born, her unfathered off-spring toward her.
On dewey plats, near twilight dingle,
She oft, to still thee from men’s sobs and curses
In thine ears a-tingle,
Pours her cool charms, her weird, reviving chaunt rehearses.
Though mortals menace thee or elude,
And from thy confines break in swift transgression.
Thou for thyself art sued
Of me, I claim thy cloudy purlieus my possession.
To a long freshwater, where the sea
Stirs the silver flux of the reeds and willows,
Come thou, and beckon me
To lie in the lull of the sand-sequestered billows:
Then take the life I have called my own
And to the liquid universe deliver;
Loosening my spirit’s zone,
Wrap round me as thy limbs the wind, the light, the river.
"Night” is characterized in relation to “Death” as which of the following?
A paternal, patriarchal figure with a close, reassuring relationship to Death
A marginalized, obsolete being
A maternal, matriarchal figure with a stifling amount of control over Death’s actions
An innocent maiden who helps Death, unaware of Death’s actions against mortal beings
A maternal, matriarchal figure with a close, reassuring relationship to Death
A maternal, matriarchal figure with a close, reassuring relationship to Death
“Night” is personified and explicitly figured as Death’s “mother.” She is figured as having given birth to death “unfathered,” and as maintaining a close, supportive maternal relationship with Death (“she oft, to still thee from men’s sobs and curses . . . pours her cool charms”).
Her relationship to Death is presented as helpful as opposed to stifling or controlling. She is spoken of as protective and relevant to Death, not obsolete. And while she is referred to as a “maiden” Night is also specifically figured as aware of the consequences of Death’s actions (“men’s sobs and curses”).
Example Question #1 : Characterization And Motivation
Adapted from "Old Man Traveling" by William Wordsworth in Lyrical Ballads by William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1798 ed.)
The little hedge-row birds,
That peck along the road, regard him not.
He travels on, and in his face, his step,
His gait, is one expression; every limb,
His look and bending figure, all bespeak
A man who does not move with pain, but moves
With thought—He is insensibly subdued
To settled quiet: he is one by whom
All effort seems forgotten, one to whom
Long patience has such mild composure given,
That patience now doth seem a thing, of which
He hath no need. He is by nature led
To peace so perfect, that the young behold
With envy, what the old man hardly feels.
—I asked him whither he was bound, and what
The object of his journey; he replied
"Sir! I am going many miles to take
"A last leave of my son, a mariner,
"Who from a sea-fight has been brought to Falmouth,
And there is dying in an hospital."
We could describe the man's response to the speaker as __________.
suspicious
indefatigable
unhinged
derisive
frank
frank
The old man's response to the speaker is calm and straightforward in that it does not deviate from what seems to be the truth; it is also delivered without a great deal of emotion. Therefore, we cannot call his response "unhinged," which suggests a great deal of emotion. There is nothing "suspicious" about the man's response, nor is there any derision in the man's tone. We could perhaps say he is “indefatigable,” but he does not seem to be tireless or energetic in his answer, so “frank” is the best possible answer in this case.
Example Question #153 : Interpreting The Passage
Adapted from Life and Remains of John Clare "The Northamptonshire Peasant Poet" by John Clare (1872, ed. J. L. Cherry)
I am! Yet what I am who cares, or knows?
My friends forsake me, like a memory lost.
I am the self-consumer of my woes,
They rise and vanish, an oblivious host,
Shadows of life, whose very soul is lost.
And yet I am—I live—though I am toss'd
Into the nothingness of scorn and noise.
Into the living sea of waking dream,
Where there is neither sense of life, nor joys,
But the huge shipwreck of my own esteem
And all that's dear. Even those I loved the best
Are strange—nay, they are stranger than the rest.
I long for scenes where man has never trod—
For scenes where woman never smiled or wept—
There to abide with my Creator, God,
And sleep as I in childhood sweetly slept,
Full of high thoughts, unborn. So let me lie,
The grass below; above, the vaulted sky.
How does the narrator feel about his or her closest friends?
The narrator feels belittled by them
The narrator feels unrestrained by them
The narrator feels estranged from them
The narrator feels diffident towards them
The narrator feels supported by them
The narrator feels estranged from them
The narrator says of his or her closest friends, "My friends forsake me, like a memory lost." and “Even those I loved the best / Are strange—nay, they are stranger than the rest.” Based on this evidence, we can say that the narrator feels estranged from his or her friends; in the second quotation, "strange" and "stranger" are suggesting something that is distanced and unknown rather than something that is weird. We can easily ignore “supported by,” “belittled by,” and “unrestrained by them.” “Diffident” means reserved or shy, and nothing in the poem suggests that the narrator is shy around his or her friends. "Estranged" is the best answer here.
Example Question #1 : Literary Analysis Of British Poetry To 1660
Batter my heart (Holy Sonnet 14)
1 Batter my heart, three-person'd God; for you
2 As yet but knock, breathe, shine, and seek to mend;
3 That I may rise, and stand, o'erthrow me, and bend
4 Your force, to break, blow, burn, and make me new.
5 I, like an usurp'd town, to another due,
6 Labour to admit you, but O, to no end.
7 Reason, your viceroy in me, me should defend,
8 But is captived, and proves weak or untrue.
9 Yet dearly I love you, and would be loved fain,
10 But am betroth'd unto your enemy;
11 Divorce me, untie, or break that knot again,
12 Take me to you, imprison me, for I,
13 Except you enthrall me, never shall be free,
14 Nor ever chaste, except you ravish me.
Throughout the poem, the poet seemingly demonstrates his interest in combining __________.
spirituality with governance
violence with erotic love
love of the sacred and love of the earthly
his fear of God with his love of God
his reason with his lack of sentiment
love of the sacred and love of the earthly
Throughout the poem, the poet seemingly demonstrates his interest in combining love of the sacred and love of the earthly, as he petitions God "Take me to you, imprison me, for I,/ Except you enthrall me, never shall be free,/ Nor ever chaste, except you ravish me" (line 12 - 14).
Example Question #101 : Content
To what purpose, April, do you return again?
Beauty is not enough.
You can no longer quiet me with the redness
Of little leaves opening stickily.
I know what I know.
The sun is hot on my neck as I observe
The spikes of the crocus.
The smell of the earth is good.
It is apparent that there is no death.
But what does that signify?
Not only under the ground are the brains of men
Eaten by maggots,
Is nothing,
An empty cup, a flight of uncarpeted stairs.
It is not enough that yearly, down this hill,
April
Comes like an idiot, babbling and strewing flowers.
(1921)
Which line best exemplifies how April is characterized in the poem?
"The smell of the earth is good"
"Not only under ground are the brains of men"
"It is apparent that there is no death"
"Beauty is not enough"
Comes like an idiot, babbling and strewing flowers
Comes like an idiot, babbling and strewing flowers
The only line in which April is referred to directly is, as opposed to being asked a question, is the final line: "Comes like an idiot, babbling and strewing flowers."
Passage adapted from Edna St. Vincent Milay's "Spring" (1921).
Example Question #102 : Content
Based on the description of "Tim the ostler" in the fourth stanza, which of the following emotions will likely motivate his actions in the remainder of the poem?
Jealousy
Pity
Despondency
Love
Indignation
Jealousy
Although it is stated that Tim does love the landlord's daughter, it is clear from the description provided that that love is not returned. He is described as "white and peaked" with eyes that are "hollows of madness" and "hair like mouldy hay." The descriptions highlight the ugliness (inside and out) of this character, hinting that it will be an ugly emotion (jealousy) and not a positive one (love) that will motivate his actions. Jealousy is further suggested by the fact that Tim is watching the landlord's daughter kiss the highwayman, and by the contrast between the highwayman's glittering appearance and Tim's ugly one. There is no evidence in the provided text that pity, despondency, or indignation will motivate his actions.
Passage adapted from Alfred Noyes' "The Highwayman" (1906)
Example Question #102 : Content
- One day I wrote her name upon the strand,
- But came the waves and washed it away:
- Again I wrote it with a second hand,
- But came the tide, and made my pains his prey.
- Vain man, said she, that doest in vain assay
- A mortal thing so to immortalize,
- For I myself shall like to this decay,
- And eek my name be wiped out likewise.
- Not so (quoth I), let baser things devise
- To die in dust, but you shall live by fame:
- My verse your virtues rare shall eternize,
- And in the heavens write your glorious name.
- Where whenas Death shall all the world subdue,
- Our love shall live, and later life renew.
It is reasonable to infer that the person to whom the poet is speaking believes _____________.
No love lasts forever
Death is frightening
The poet is untrustworthy
The poet’s verses are not as powerful as he thinks
There’s no such thing as immortality
There’s no such thing as immortality
The beloved, watching the waves erase her name written in the sand, tells the poet that he and his efforts are both “vain.” There’s no point in continuing to write her name, because the sea will always erase it, just as time erases every living thing: no one is immortal, including her. She says nothing to suggest that she fears death, that she distrusts the poet, or that she sees her erased name as a symbol of the impermanence of love. She might believe that the poet’s verses are not as powerful as he thinks, but the poem ends before she has a chance to say so.
Passage adapted from Edmund Spenser's "Sonnet 75" (1594)
Example Question #1 : Characterization And Motivation: Prose
(1) During the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day in the autumn of the year, when the clouds hung oppressively low in the heavens, I had been passing alone, on horseback, through a singularly dreary tract of country, and at length found myself, as the shades of the evening drew on, within view of the melancholy House of Usher. (2) I know not how it was—but, with the first glimpse of the building, a sense of insufferable gloom pervaded my spirit. (3) I say insufferable; for the feeling was unrelieved by any of that half-pleasurable, because poetic, sentiment, with which the mind usually receives even the sternest natural images of the desolate or terrible. (4) I looked upon the scene before me—upon the mere house, and the simple landscape features of the domain—upon the bleak walls—upon the vacant eye-like windows—upon a few rank sedges—and upon a few white trunks of decayed trees—with an utter depression of soul which I can compare to no earthly sensation more properly than to the after-dream of the reveller upon opium—the bitter lapse into every-day life—the hideous dropping off of the veil.
According to the speaker, why is the sight of this house so insufferable?
Because he cannot romanticize it
Because the house reminds him of his past
Because the house is in a terrible neighborhood
Because it is autumn when he sees the house
Because he sees the house after coming out of an opium dream
Because he cannot romanticize it
In sentence 3, we see a specific explanation for why the house is so insufferable: “the feeling was unrelieved by any of that half-pleasurable, because poetic, sentiment, with which the mind usually receives even the sternest natural images of the desolate or terrible.” In other words, there isn’t a single redeeming feature of the house that can make the speaker appreciate the feelings of horror that arise in him.
Passage adapted from Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher,” (1839).
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