Sample Test Questions: The Early Seventeenth Century
Short Answer Questions:
Who were the two major poets of the Early Seventeenth Century who were born in the same year, eight years after the year of Shakespeare's birth? [1]
What is the year of the death of Queen Elizabeth I? [1]
What is the year of the Seventeenth Century in which the theaters of England were officially closed? [1]
What are the dates of the English Civil war? [1]
What is the name of the political event which in 1660 marks the beginning of a new era of culture and literature? [1]
What poet is considered to be the inspirational figure for the Cavalier poets? [1]
What was the political orientation of the Cavalier poets? [1]
What side was Milton on in the English Civil War? [1]
What kind of poetry of the Early Seventeenth Century is considered to be difficult? [1]
In his critique of Donne's love poetry, what did Dryden say was wrong with it? [1]
In an description of the metaphysical style of poetry, who wrote, "The reader is held to an idea or a line of argument"? [1]
Besides love poetry, what other kind of poetry did Donne write? [1]
What is the single most famous example of the metaphysical conceit, and in what poem does it appear? [2]
Which Twentieth Century poet wrote criticism which increased the prestige of the metaphysical style of poetry? [1]
What is the difference between the endings of Shakespeare's comedies and the endings of Jonson's comedies? [1]
"A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning" begins with a simile which compares what with what? [1]
In "A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning" what are the two meanings of "Absence"? [1]
In "A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning" to what are the two souls of the lovers compared? [1]
In "A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning" what does the use of the word "laity" imply about the speaker and his beloved? [1]
Show that the love that is described in "A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning" is metaphysical. [1]
In Holy Sonnet # 18 ("Show me, dear Christ, thy spouse so bright and clear") what Protestant idea about Christianity does the following line refer to? "Sleeps she a thousand, then peeps up one year?" [1]
For Holy Sonnet # 18 ("Show me, dear Christ, thy spouse so bright and clear") identify "she which on the other shore / Goes richly painted." [1]
In Holy Sonnet # 18 ("Show me, dear Christ, thy spouse so bright and clear") what are the "startling sexual associations" mentioned footnote #8? [1]
What event is memorialized on Good Friday? [1]
In "Good Friday, 1613, Riding Westward," why does the speaker feel that he should not be riding westward? [1]
In "Good Friday, 1613, Riding Westward," what does the speaker believe is done to the soul by "pleasure or business"? [1]
"Good Friday, 1613, Riding Westward" says that "Christ on this cross did rise and fall" Explain the symbolic meaning of "rise and fall." [1]
For "Good Friday, 1613, Riding Westward," explain what makes "dirt of dust." [1]
The last two lines of "Good Friday, 1613, Riding Westward" are "Restore thine image so much, by thy grace, / That thou may'st know me, and I'll turn my face." The lines are addressed to Christ. Explain how "thine image" is to be restored, and how that will allow Christ to "know me." [2]
For what famous poet was Penshurst the ancestral family home? [1]
"To Penshurst" Lines 10-18 depict places on the grounds of Penshurst as being populated with mythological personages: dryads, Pan, Bacchus, satyrs, and fauns. What's the point? [1]
In "To Penshurst" what is the attitude of the game birds and fish towards the humans who want to eat them? [1]
In "To Penshurst" what economic phenomenon is being referred to in the statement that the walls of Penshurst were "reared with no man's ruin, no man's groan." [1]
In the Restoration, which poet, Jonson or Donne, was the most praised?[1]
Who wrote the following lines? I sing of dews, of rains, and, piece by piece, Of balm, of oil, of spice, and ambergris. [1]
What is the definition of the word "argument" as it is used in the title of Herrick's poem, "The Argument of His Book"? [1]
In Herrick's poem, "The Argument of His Book," what doe the last two words mean, other than "after the end of life"? [1]
What subject matter is it that gives Herrick "access . . . to sing of cleanly wantoness"? [1]
Explain the joke that ends Herrick's "The Vine." [1]
TRICK QUESTION: What is the deep hidden meaning of Herrick's "To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time"? [1]
Who wrote the following famous lines? I could not love thee, dear, so much Loved I not honor more. [1]
Who wrote the following famous lines? Stone walls do not a prison make, Nor iron bars a cage [1]
What two-word Latin phrase is used to characterize the subject matter of both "To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time," and "To His Coy Mistress"? [1]
What is metaphysical about the organization of Marvell's "To His Coy Mistress"? [1]
In Marvell's "To His Coy Mistress," what is the contrast between the sense of time in the first stanza, as compared to the last stanza? (Be sure to quote to support your answer.) [2]
For Marvell's "To His Coy Mistress," explain the grotesque joke involving worms. [1]
Quote Milton's famous statement about his intent in writing Paradise Lost. [1]
What is the meaning of the name "Satan"? [1]
In what year was Paradise Lost first published? [1]
In Paradise Lost what does Satan believe God's motivation is in creating Paradise and Adam and Eve? [1]
In Paradise Lost what reason does Eve give for wanting to work by herself? According to our class discussion, what is her real reason? [2]
In Paradise Lost, as Eve tastes the forbidden fruit, what is she thinking it will do for her? [1]
In Paradise Lost, why does Adam eat of the forbidden fruit? [1]
Essay Questions:
T.S. Eliot wrote, apropos of metaphysical poetry, that "When a poet's mind is perfectly equipped for its work, it is constantly amalgamating disparate experience." Show how this is true in Donne's "Good Friday, 1613. Riding Westward."
Compare Jonson's concept of religion, as expressed in "To Penshurst," with Donne's, as expressed in "Good Friday, 1613, Riding Westward."
What are the similarities between Herrick's religious values and Jonson's? [Be sure to quote from both poets.]
Discuss the thematic similarities between the following two poems by Lovelace: "To Lucasta, Going to the Wars" & "To Althea, from Prison."
For Jonson's "Still to be neat" explain how the sound supports the sense.
Explain why Herrick's "To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time" is considered to be an epitome of the Cavalier style.
Compare "To His Coy Mistress" to "To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time." Is the message the same? Is the tone the same?