SAT II Literature : Support and Evidence: Poetry

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for SAT II Literature

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Example Questions

Example Question #223 : Interpreting The Passage

Passage adapted from Edna St. Vincent Millay's "Spring" (1921).

To what purpose, April, do you return again?

Beauty is not enough.

You can no longer quiet me with the redness 

Of leaves opening stickily.

I know what I know.  5

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?  10

Not only under the ground are the brains of men

Eaten by maggots.

Life in itself

Is nothing,

An empty cup, a flight of uncarpeted stairs.  15

It is not enough that yearly, down this hill, 

April

Comes like an idiot, babbling and strewing flowers.

The idea that "Beauty is not enough," is reinforced throughout the text by __________.

Possible Answers:

the pervasive use of apostrophe, which makes the language of the poem more formal

the frequent use of multi-sensory springtime imagery

the elaborate conceits and florid language of the poem

the use of parable, which indirectly conveys the philosophical message of the poem

the blunt language of the poem, which eschews the lyricism that is often associated with poetry

Correct answer:

the blunt language of the poem, which eschews the lyricism that is often associated with poetry

Explanation:

The idea that "Beauty is not enough," is reinforced through the blunt language of the poem. While poetry is traditionally associated with lyricism (the quality of being artistically beautiful), this poem is written with directness and bluntness, without the intent of seeming overly beautiful or elaborate. This bluntness can be heard in the use of short declarative sentences and the bitter, sarcastic tone.

The use of springtime imagery offers the rare glimpse of what could be considered beautiful imagery in the poem, which would not support the idea that beauty is not enough.

The use of apostrophe (addressing an inanimate object or concept directly, as one  would address another person) does elevate the language of the poem. However, this does not support the idea that beauty is not enough, since apostrophe makes the language of the poem more aesthetically pleasing, rather than less so.

The poem does not contain a conceit (an extended metaphor that governs the entire poem) or florid language (overly fancy or flowery speech). 

This poem does not contain any parables (short allegorical stories that convey moral or religious lessons).

 

Example Question #2 : Claims And Argument

Adapted from Walt Whitman's "Crossing Brooklyn Ferry" in Leaves of Grass (1855)

1

Flood-tide below me! I see you face to face!
Clouds of the west—sun there half an hour high—I see you also face to face.

Crowds of men and women attired in the usual costumes, how curious you are to me!
On the ferry-boats the hundreds and hundreds that cross, returning home, are more curious to me than you suppose,
And you that shall cross from shore to shore years hence are more to me, and more in my meditations, than you might suppose.



2

The impalpable sustenance of me from all things at all hours of the day,
The simple, compact, well-join’d scheme, myself disintegrated, every one disintegrated yet part of the scheme,
The similitudes of the past and those of the future,
The glories strung like beads on my smallest sights and hearings, on the walk in the street and the passage over the river,
The current rushing so swiftly and swimming with me far away,
The others that are to follow me, the ties between me and them,
The certainty of others, the life, love, sight, hearing of others. 

Others will enter the gates of the ferry and cross from shore to shore,
Others will watch the run of the flood-tide,
Others will see the shipping of Manhattan north and west, and the heights of Brooklyn to the south and east,
Others will see the islands large and small;
Fifty years hence, others will see them as they cross, the sun half an hour high,
A hundred years hence, or ever so many hundred years hence, others will see them,
Will enjoy the sunset, the pouring-in of the flood-tide, the falling-back to the sea of the ebb-tide.
 

3

It avails not, time nor place—distance avails not,
I am with you, you men and women of a generation, or ever so many generations hence,
Just as you feel when you look on the river and sky, so I felt,
Just as any of you is one of a living crowd, I was one of a crowd,
Just as you are refresh’d by the gladness of the river and the bright flow, I was refresh’d,
Just as you stand and lean on the rail, yet hurry with the swift current, I stood yet was hurried,
Just as you look on the numberless masts of ships and the thick-stemm’d pipes of steamboats, I look’d.

I too many and many a time cross’d the river of old,
Watched the Twelfth-month sea-gulls, saw them high in the air floating with motionless wings, oscillating their bodies,
Saw how the glistening yellow lit up parts of their bodies and left the rest in strong shadow,
Saw the slow-wheeling circles and the gradual edging toward the south,
Saw the reflection of the summer sky in the water,
Had my eyes dazzled by the shimmering track of beams . . .

Which of the following statements would the speaker of the poem most likely agree with?

Possible Answers:

Experiences can be meaningfully shared even if not concurrent.

Connecting with nature is more important than connecting with other people.

Aesthetic appreciation precludes interpersonal connection.

Conversation is the best way to feel close to another person.

Experience is intensely personal and informed by one’s own history.

Correct answer:

Experiences can be meaningfully shared even if not concurrent.

Explanation:

Repeatedly, the speaker expresses his conviction that shared experience connects people across time and distance. This might be most clear in the lines that begin the third stanza: "It avails not, time nor place—distance avails not, / I am with you, you men and women of a generation, or ever so many generations hence."

Example Question #222 : Interpreting The Passage

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."

What does the speaker argue has led to the man's composure?

Possible Answers:

A long-enduring forbearance

His unerring gait

Giving himself to the control of nature

The long journey he has undertaken

The realization his son may die

Correct answer:

A long-enduring forbearance

Explanation:

The speaker states that “[the man] is one by whom / All effort seems forgotten, one to whom / Long patience has such mild composure given,” so we can say it is argued that “long-term patience” has given the man his composure. So if we look for the closest answer to “long-term patience,” we should find that “long-enduring forbearance” is the correct answer, as “forbearance” can mean patient self-control. We can also come to this answer by eliminating the other answers which do not replicate the argument presented in the quoted lines.

Example Question #11 : Support And Evidence: Poetry

I saw thee once—once only—years ago: 

I must not say how many—but not many. 

It was a July midnight; and from out 

A full-orbed moon, that, like thine own soul, soaring, 

Sought a precipitate pathway up through heaven,   (5)

There fell a silvery-silken veil of light, 

With quietude, and sultriness and slumber, 

Upon the upturn'd faces of a thousand 

Roses that grew in an enchanted garden, 

Where no wind dared to stir, unless on tiptoe—   (10)

Based on the content of the passage, what has since happened to the addressee?

Possible Answers:

He or she has died

He or she has fallen in love with another person

He or she was watched by thousands of people

He or she has grown old and forgetful

He or she fell into an enchanted sleep

Correct answer:

He or she has died

Explanation:

In lines 4-5, we see an explanation: “A full-orbed moon, that, like thine own soul, soaring, / Sought a precipitate pathway up through heaven.” In other words, the addressee’s soul has left his or her body. This is a clear euphemism for death.

Passage adapted from Edgar Allan Poe’s “To Helen” (1831)

Example Question #232 : Content

To the Dead in the Grave-Yard Under My Window
by Adelaide Crapsey (1878 - 1915)

  1. How can you lie so still? All day I watch
  2. And never a blade of all the green sod moves
  3. To show where restlessly you toss and turn,
  4. And fling a desperate arm or draw up knees
  5. Stiffened and aching from their long disuse;
  6. I watch all night and not one ghost comes forth
  7. To take its freedom of the midnight hour.
  8. Oh, have you no rebellion in your bones?
  9. The very worms must scorn you where you lie,
  10. A pallid mouldering acquiescent folk,
  11. Meek habitants of unresented graves.
  12. Why are you there in your straight row on row
  13. Where I must ever see you from my bed
  14. That in your mere dumb presence iterate
  15. The text so weary in my ears: “Lie still
  16. And rest; be patient and lie still and rest.”
  17. I’ll not be patient! I will not lie still!

The poem directly addresses all of the following EXCEPT _______________.

Possible Answers:

old age

restlessness

the longing for freedom

resentment

disobedience

Correct answer:

old age

Explanation:

This question is asking you to identify the one answer that is not supported by the text.

The speaker talks about the longing for freedom ("I watch all night and not one ghost comes forth/ To take its freedom of the midnight hour.") She expresses restlessness, resentment, and disobedience ("I’ll not be patient! I will not lie still!")

But though the poem deals with illness and death, it does not mention old age. "Old age" is the correct answer.

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