Sample Test Questions on the Romantic Era in British Literature
Where did John Wesley preach, and why did he preach were he did? [2]
How does Col. Brandon's grant of a living to Edward Ferrars illustrate a problem that helped lead to the cultural revolution that we know as Romanticism? [1]
What was the "Peterloo Massacre"? [1]
What is the year of the passage of the first Reform Bill? [1]
What did the first Reform Bill reform? [1]
What year is usually taken to mark the end of the Romantic Era? [1]
What is the year of the French Revolution, and what is the connection between the French Revolution and what some poets called "the spirit of the age"? [2]
What is the tone of the first six stanzas of "The Rights of Women"? [1]
In the conclusion of "The Rights of Women," what is the ideal of the relationship between men and women? [1]
What impelled Charlotte Smith to begin her career as a writer? [1]
In "To Sleep" what complaint does the speaker make against Sleep? [1]
What was Thomas Paine's opinion about the French Revolution? [1]
According to the class presentation, in "Earth's Answer" what does Earth represent? [1]
According to the class presentation, who or what is being addressed by Earth in "Earth's Answer"? [1]
Compare Blake's two poems entitled "The Chimney Sweeper," and explain why one is among the "Songs of Innocence" and one among the "Songs of Experience." [2]
What great irony is hammered home in the final stanza of "The Chimney Sweeper" (from the "Songs of Innocence")? [1]
What is the verse form of Blake's "The Tyger"? Show the scansion of the first two lines. [2]
There are at least two allusions to Milton's Paradise Lost in Blake's "The Tyger." Identify them and explain their significance. [3]
What is the answer to the question, posed in Blake's "The Tyger," "Did he who made the Lamb make thee?" Explain. [2]
What claim did Burns' brother make about the composition of Burns' "To a Mouse"? [1]
Explain the meaning of "Nature's social union" and why it is a radical idea. [2]
What is the ideological reason that most of Burns' poems are in the Scots dialect? [1]
What kind of music is meant to accompany Burns' "Song: For a' that and a' that"? [1]
What is the connection between the ending of "Song: For a' that and a' that" and the motto of the French Revolution? [1]
In Wordsworth's "Ode: Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood," what statement contradicts Christian doctrine? [1]
In Wordsworth's "Ode: Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood" the epigraph begins with a paradox. Explain how the poem resolves the paradox. [1]
In Coleridge's "The Eolian Harp" what makes the poet back off from a kind of pantheism? [1]
What was the occasion of Coleridge's poem, "This Lime-Tree Bower my Prison"? [1]
Show that Coleridge's poem, "This Lime-Tree Bower my Prison" is a good example of the type of Coleridgean poem known as a "conversation poem. [1]
In Coleridge's "This Lime-Tree Bower my Prison" what happens to Coleridge that makes him declare, "Henceforth I shall know / That Nature ne'er deserts the wise and pure"? [1]
What is an eolian harp and why is it often mentioned by Romantic poets? [2]
What is laudanum? And who was famous for composing a famous poem under its influence? And what is the name of that poem? [3]
In The Rime of the Ancient Mariner what does the mariner do that causes the albatross fall from the his neck? [1]
In The Rime of the Ancient Mariner why does the mariner have to tell his story over and over? [1]
What is the story behind Coleridge's assertion that "Kubla Kahn" is a "fragment"? [1]
What part does the "person from Porlock" play in Coleridge's account of the writing of his poem, "Kubla Kahn"? [1]
In "Kubla Kahn" what does the "Abyssinian maid" symbolize? Support your answer with evidence from the text. [2]
In "Kubla Kahn" what does the pleasure dome symbolize? Support your answer with evidence from the text. [2]
In Shelley's "Mont Blanc" what does the speaker say might be the moral effect of the mountain? Quote and explain. [2]
How was Shelley's "Mont Blanc" influenced by the evolving geological science of Shelly's time? [1]
What did Shelley believe was the origin of belief in "God and ghosts and Heaven"? [1]
What was the name of the pamphlet for which Shelley was expelled from Oxford? [1]
In the title, "Sonnet to Sleep " why is the word "to" important? [1]
In Keats' "Ode on Melancholy" what advice is given about melancholy? [1]
In Keats' "When I have fears that I may cease to be" why is the end chilling? [1]
What kind of world is described Byron's "Darkness"? [1]
Who was Byron's favorite poet? [1]
What are three characteristics of the Byronic hero? [1]
Explain how Byron reverses the traditional Don Juan story. [1]
What are two interpretations of the presentation of the young boy's steadfastness in "Casabianca"? [1]
Essay Questions on the Romantic Era in British Literature
Compare the treatment of the theme of mortality in Keats' "When I have fears that I may cease to be" with the treatment of the same theme in Wordsworth's "Ode: Intimations of Immortality." Support your answers with quotations.
Compare and contrast the treatment of nature in Shelley's' "Mont Blanc" and Wordsworth's "Ode: Intimations of Immortality." Support your answers with quotations.
Compare and contrast the treatment of nature in Blake's' "Tyger" and Coleridge's "The Eolian Harp." Support your answers with quotations.
What is an "occasional" poem? Support your answer by using three poems from the British Romantic Era as examples.