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Flashcards: Determining Authorial Purpose in Poetry Passages
Adapted from Faust by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, ln. 1-77 (1808; trans. Taylor 1870)
I've studied now Philosophy
And Jurisprudence, Medicine, -
And even, alas! Theology,
From end to end, with labor keen;
And here, poor fool! with all my lore
I stand, no wiser than before.
I'm Magister—yea, Doctor—hight,
And straight or cross-wise, wrong or right,
These ten years long, with many woes,
I've led my scholars by the nose,—
And see, that nothing can be known!
That knowledge cuts me to the bone.
I'm cleverer, true, than those fops of teachers,
Doctors and Magisters, Scribes and Preachers;
Neither scruples nor doubts come now to smite me,
Nor Hell nor Devil can longer affright me.
For this, all pleasure am I foregoing;
I do not pretend to aught worth knowing.
I do not pretend I could be a teacher
To help or convert a fellow-creature.
Then, too, I've neither lands nor gold,
Nor the world's least pomp or honor hold—
No dog would endure such a cursed existence!
Wherefore, from Magic I seek assistance,
That many a secret perchance I reach
Through spirit-power and spirit-speech,
And thus the biter task forego
Of saying the things I do not know,—
That I may detect the inmost force
Which binds the world, and guides its course;
Its germs, productive powers explore,
And rummage in empty words no more!
O full and splendid Moon, whom I
Have, from this desk, seen climb the sky
So many a midnight,—would thy glow
For the last time beheld my woe!
Ever thine eye, most mournful friend,
O'er books and papers saw me bend;
But would that I, on mountains grand,
Amid thy blessed light could stand,
With spirits through mountain-caverns hover,
Float in thy twilight the meadows over,
And, freed from the fumes of lore that swathe me,
To health in thy dewy fountains bathe me!
Ah, me! This dungeon still I see.
This drear, accursed masonry,
Where even the welcome daylight strains
But duskly through the painted panes.
Hemmed in by many a toppling heap
Of books worm-eaten, gray with dust,
Which to the vaulted ceiling creep,
Against the smoky paper thrust,—
With glasses, boxes, round me stacked,
And instruments together hurled,
Ancestral lumber, stuffed and packed—
Such is my world: and what a world!
And do I ask, wherefore my heart
Falters, oppressed with unknown needs?
Why some inexplicable smart
All movement of my life impedes?
Alas! In living Nature’s stead,
Where God His human creature set,
In smoke and mold the fleshless dead
And bones of beasts surround me yet!
Fly! Up, and seek the broad, free land!
And this one Book of Mystery
From Nostradamus’ very hand,
Is’t not sufficient company?
When I the starry courses know,
And Nature’s wise instruction seek,
With light of power my soul shall glow,
As when to spirits spirits speak.
'Tis vain, this empty brooding here,
Though guessed the holy symbols be:
Ye, Spirits, come—ye hover near—
Oh, if you hear me, answer me!
How is humanity contrasted with God in this passage?
They are not contrasted.
God is the giver and man has destroyed the gift of life
As truly living and nearly dead
As two poles of the same living reality
As the source of life and the scientific investigator of life
All SSAT Upper Level Reading Resources
Our SSAT Upper Level Reading Comprehension Flashcards each contain one question that might appear on the Upper Level Reading Comprehension section of the SSAT. You can use them to get a comprehensive overview of each topic covered by the SSAT Upper Level Reading Comprehension section one problem at a time, or to do problem drills that focus on particular problem types or content areas found on the SSAT Upper Level Reading Comprehension section.
Reading and comprehending what is written is a very important skill your child needs to learn well to succeed inside and outside of the classroom. If your child is taking the SSAT Upper Level test soon, then they need to prepare well for the Reading section of the test, which will test their reading comprehension rigorously. Varsity Tutors' Learning Tools offers a full suite of SSAT Upper Level Reading study help activities that can be accessed from any computer, tablet, or smartphone.
While other Learning Tools, like the practice tests, are great study materials for your child to use when they have time to sit down and complete them, the SSAT Upper Level Reading Flashcards are perfect for studying when on-the-go or when time is limited. Your child can practice these free flashcards online between classes in school, while riding to and from school and extracurricular activities, or even during commercial breaks of that favorite television show they just can't miss every week!
Unlike the practice tests, the SSAT Upper Level Reading Flashcards don't have timers that determine how long your child takes to answer the questions. While getting in some timed practice is very important, especially when test day is near, if there are topics your child struggles with immensely, then studying the concepts without feeling like they are working “against the clock” can be helpful at first. They can take as long as they need to learn the steps needed to find the right answer without feeling anxious about how long it takes for them to build up this skill. Once they learn to solve the questions they struggle with accurately, they can later work on building up speed during the practice tests.
The SSAT Upper Level Reading review flashcards were created in the same format as the official test, and they each contain a literary passage and a multiple-choice question based on that passage. If you do decide to use the flashcards maker to create additional flashcards for your child to study, they will be most helpful for test preparation if they are also created in this format. When using the flashcards builder, you can also enter the same literary passage on several blank flashcards templates, because each passage on the SSAT will be followed with several questions based on it.
The SSAT Upper Level Reading flashcards have several types of literary passages on them, including humanities, argumentative humanities, narrative humanities, literary fiction, poetry, science, narrative science, social science, and narrative social science passages. The passages on the SSAT will be based on similar topics. Follow-up questions on the flashcards quiz your child on their understanding of authorial attitude, authorial tone, main ideas, and details of the passages. Groups of flashcards also help your child practice determining the meaning of a word based on the context.
The SSAT Upper Level Reading test will contain 40 questions based on a handful of literary passages. Even if your child has great reading skills, don't assume that their reading comprehension skills are at the level they need to be to perform well on the test. Locate the weak areas of your child's reading comprehension skills by having them take a diagnostic exam, and you can then help them build the skills they are weakest in by having them study with the flashcards based on them.
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