1.

A student claims that Will Carleton’s Poem “Autumn Days”

contrasts the sweetness of some autumn days in the first
stanza with a far different type of autumn days in the second
stanza. What pair of lines from the first and second stanzas
respectively best illustrate this claim?

A. O’er the dreamy, listless haze/O’er the cheerless, withered

plain.
B. Yellow, mellow, ripened days/ Shivering, quivering, tearful
days.
C. And the sombre, furrowed fallow/ Woefully and hoarsely
calling.
D. Winking at the blushing trees/On thy scanty vestments
falling.

2. The following is an excerpt from the poem “We Wait” by Will

M. Carleton

Or if upon the field of war we stand,

And sword with sword for mastery we mate,
Grim Death, and radiant Glory, hand in hand,
Approaching us with silent step we see;
And one of them, we vow, for us must be;
Bravely we strive to win renown’s estate,
And still we wait.

And when we grope within the gloom of age,

When our few steps grow feeble and sedate,
We cast our eyes back o’er a blotted page;
We peer among the pictures of the past,
We gaze upon the future, overcast;
Our musings all with hopes and fears we freight;
And still we wait.

Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

A. To illustrate the abeyancy of life, even as death approaches.

B. To force the reader to consider his own fate.
C. To illustrate the futility of war.
D. To explain the purposelessness of life.
3. The following is an excerpt from the poem “We Hope” by Will
M. Carleton

Then we yearn and call for comfort; but no comfort comes unto
us,
And we wrap ourselves in sadness, and Despair goes thrilling
thou’ us;
And the darkness gathers round us, with its horrors, half-
unspoken,
And we pray again for succor: that the fearful spell be broken,
With the light of something shining, be it only but a ray.

Then within our hearts a blossom, from the dreary mould is

springing,
Then the birds of Hope make music, with their sweet and
cheerful singing;
Then, upon the great clouds gazing, we discern their silver
lining,
And at last, through veils of blackness, bursts the sunbeam’s
glorious shining,
And upon our raptured vision beams the light of perfect day

Which choice best describes the function of the underlined

portion in the text as a whole?

A. It minimizes the role of hope to “but a ray”.

B. It firmly emphasizes the despair of the writer.
C. It clarifies the despair that was described earlier in the
passage.
D. It introduces a visual for hope that will be further built upon
in the poem.

4. The following is an excerpt from the poem “The House

Where We Were Wed” by Will M. Carleton
I’ve been to the old farm-house, good-wife,
Where you and I were wed;
Where the love was born to our two hearts
That now lies cold and dead.
Where a long-kept secret to you I told,
In the yellow beams of the moon,
And we forged our vows out of love’s own gold,
To be broken so soon, so soon!

Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

A. To tell someone of a trip made, in the light of a broken

relationship.
B. To set the stage for a future argument.
C. To argue that marriage is a fruitless endeavor.
D. To help the reader feel the author’s pain after the death of
his wife.

5. The following is an excerpt from the poem “Apple Blossoms”

by Will M. Carleton

Naught within her eyes he read

That would tell her mind unto him;
Though their light, he after said,
Quivered swiftly through and through him;
Till at last his heart burst free
From the prayer with which ‘twas laden,
And he said, “When wilt thou be
Mine for evermore, fair maiden?”

Which choice best describes the function of the underlined

portion in the text as a whole?

A. To clarify the emotional source of the following quotation.

B. To explain a medical condition from which he is suffering.
C. To show the religious fervor with which he lives his life.
D. To build on the previous description of her eyes.
6. An instructor claims that “Lines Written in Early Spring”
contains the introspective thoughts of the author. Which
quotation from the poem best supports this claim?

A. “And ‘tis my faith that every flower/Enjoys the air it

breathes.”
B. “The birds around me hopp’d and play’d/ Their thoughts I
cannot measure”
C. “In that sweet mood when pleasant thoughts/ Bring sad
thoughts to the mind.”
D. “I heard a thousand blended notes/While in a grove I sat
reclined.”

7. The following is an excerpt from “The Dungeon” as published

in Lyrical Ballads With a Few Other Poems.

And this place our forefathers made for man!

This is the process of our love and wisdom,
To each poor brother who offends against us—
Most innocent, perhaps—and what if guilty?
Is this the only cure? Merciful God?
Each pore and natural outlet shrivell’d up
By ignorance and parching poverty,
His energies roll back upon his heart,
And stagnate and corrupt; till changed to poison,
They break out on him, like a loathsome plague-spot;
Then we call in our pamper’d mountebanks—
And this is their best cure! uncomforted
And friendless solitude, groaning and tears,
And savage faces, at the clanking hour,
Seen through the steams and vapour of his dungeon,
By the lamp’s dismal twilight! So he lies
Circled with evil, till his very soul
Unmoulds its essence, hopelessly deformed
By sights of ever more deformity!
Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

A. It examines the purpose of a dungeon form the point of view

of a jailor.
B. It critiques a solution that society has found to a common
issue.
C. It asks a question about the worth of humanity.
D. It sheds a negative light on how humanity handles a
problem.

8. The following is an excerpt from the poem “Expostulation

and Reply”. The author speaks to his friend, Matthew:

“The eye it cannot chuse but see,

“We cannot bid the ear be still;
“Our bodies feel, where’er they be,
“Against, or with our will.

“Nor less I deem that there are powers,

“Which of themselves our minds impress,
“That we can feed this mind of ours,
“In a wise passiveness.

“Think you, mid all this mighty sum

“Of things for ever speaking,
“That nothing of itself will come,
“But we must still be seeking?

“—Then ask not wherefore, here, alone,

“Conversing as I may,
“I sit upon this old grey stone,
“And dream my time away.”
Which choice best describes the function of the underlined
portion in the text as a whole?

A. It questions the author’s purpose.

B. It asks Matthew a philosophical question.
C. It highlights a subject for which the author is passionate.
D. It explains an earlier statement.

9. A student reads “Old Man Travelling; Animal Tranquility and

Decay, A Sketch” and observes that the old man in the poem
seems at great peace with his life. Which of the following
excerpts from the poem best supports this claim?

A.”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.”
B. “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.”
C. “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.”
D. “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.”

10. The following is the poem “Why Do Ye Call The Poet

Lonely?” By Archibald Lampman

Why do ye call the poet lonely,

Because he dreams in lonely places?
He is not desolate, but only
Sees, where ye cannot, hidden faces.

Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

A. It asks and answers a question about those who write

poetry.
B. It hypothesizes as to what makes people want to write
poetry.
C. It gives an explanation as to why much poetry is sad.
D. It opens up the reader to ask questions of poets

11. The following is a poem by Alfred Tenison:

When cats run home and light is come,

And dew is cold upon the ground,
And the far-off stream is dumb,
And the whirring sail goes round,
And the whirring sail goes round;
Alone and warming his five wits,
The white owl in the belfry sits.

When merry milkmaids click the latch,

And rarely smells the new-mown hay,
And the cock hath sung beneath the thatch
Twice or thrice his roundelay,
Twice or thrice his roundelay;
Alone and warming his five wits,
The white owl in the belfry sits.

What is the main idea of the text?

A. Cats and milkmaids share much in common: both are seen
by the owl.
B. As the sun rises and the world comes to life, the owl settles
in to rest.
C. The routine of each day is predictable and common.
D. The cat and the rooster are the waking signs of each
morning.

12. “An Incident of the French Camp” is a poem by Robert

Browning. Having read it, a student claims that the town of
Ratisbon has been taken. Which quotation from the text best
supports the claim?

A. You know, we French storm’d Ratisbon/ A mile or so away/

On a little mound, Napoleon/ Stood on our storming-day;
B. Just as perhaps he mus’d “My plans/ That soar, to earth may
fall. Let once my army leader Lannes/ Waver at yonder wall,”
C. “Well,” cried he, “Emperor, by God’s grace/ We’ve got you
Ratisbon!/ The Marshal’s in the market-place/ And you’ll be
there anon!”
D. “You’re wounded!” “Nay,” the soldier’s pride/ Touched to the
quick, he said: “I’m killed, Sire!” And his chief beside, Smiling
the boy fell dead.

13. The following is the poem “Old Ironsides” by Oliver Wendell

Homes:

Ay, tear her tattered ensign down!

Long has it waved on high,
And many an eye has danced to see
That banner in the sky;
Beneath it rung the battle shout,
And burst the cannon’s roar;—
The meteor of the ocean air
Shall sweep the clouds no more.
Her deck, once red with heroes’ blood,
Where knelt the vanquished foe,
When winds were hurrying o’er the flood
And waves were white below.
No more shall feel the victor’s tread,
Or know the conquered knee;
The harpies of the shore shall pluck
The eagle of the sea!

O, better that her shattered hulk

Should sink beneath the wave;
Her thunders shook the mighty deep,
And there should be her grave;
Nail to the mast her holy flag,
Set every threadbare sail,
And give her to the god of storms,
The lightning and the gale!

Based on the text, what fate would Holmes prefer for Old
Ironsides?
A. That she be destroyed by a lightning strike
B. That she be taken ashore and preserved for posterity
C. That she lose her flag and decks
D. That she sink in glory to the depths of the sea

14. “Warren’s Address to the American Soldiers” is a poem by

John Peirpont. A writer, knowing that that the poem echoes
Warren’s rallying cry to American soldiers, claims that it aims to
glorify a coming battle. Which quotation from the poem most
effectively illustrates the claim?

A. Look behind you! They’re afire!/ And, before you, see/ Who
have done it! – From the vale/ On they come!
B. Will ye look for greener graves?/ Hope ye mercy still?
C. What’s the mercy despots feel?/ Hear it in that battle-peal!
D. In the God of battles trust!/ Die we may, and die we must/
But, O, where can dust to dust/ Be consigned so well.

15. “My Own Shall Come to Me” is a poem by John Burroughs. A

teacher tells her class that it is a poem about patience and the
inevitability of fate. Which quotation from “My Own Shall Come
to Me” most effectively illustrates the claim?

A. I rave no more ‘gainst time or fate/For lo! My own shall come

to me…/ No wind can drive my bark astray,/ Nor change the
tide of destiny.
B. The stars come nightly to the sky;/ the tidal wave comes to
the sea;/ Nor time, nor space, nor deep, nor high,/ Can keep my
own away from me.
C. The waters know their own and draw/ The brook that springs
in yonder heights;/ So flows the good with equal law/ Unto the
soul of pure delights.
D. Serene I fold my hands and wait,/ Nor care for wind, nor tide,
nor sea…/ What matter if I stand alone?/ I wait with joy the
coming years;

16. The following is the poem “A Wish” by Samuel Rogers:

Mine be a cot beside the hill;

A bee-hive’s hum shall soothe my ear;
A willowy brook that turns a mill
With many a fall shall linger near.

The swallow, oft, beneath my thatch

Shall twitter from her clay-built nest;
Oft shall the pilgrim lift the latch,
And share my meal, a welcome guest.

Around my ivied porch shall spring

Each fragrant flower that drinks the dew;
And Lucy, at her wheel, shall sing
In russet gown and apron blue.

The village church among the trees,

Where first our marriage-vows were given,
With merry peals shall swell the breeze
And point with taper spire to Heaven.

Which choice best describes the function of the underlined

portion in the text as a whole?
A. To describe the garden of the narrator
B. To paint a picture of an idyllic country life
C. To help the reader visualize all that the narrator has lost
D. To illustrate the domestic part of what the narrator is
wishing for

17. “L’Envoi” is a poem by Rudyard Kipling. A commenter

claims that if the entire poem is read as if Kipling approving of
what he describes, then Kipling believes that artists should
paint not because they must, but for the love of it. Which
quotation from “L’Envoi” most effectively illustrates the claim?

A. And only the Master shall praise us/ and only the Master shall
blame;/ And no one shall work for money,/ and no one shall
work for fame;/ But each for the joy of the working
B. And those who were good shall be happy: they shall sit in a
golden chair;/ They shall splash at a ten-league canvas with
brushes of comet’s hair;
C. When the oldest colors have faded, and the youngest critic
has died,/ We shall rest, and, faith, we shall need it—lie down
for an aeon or two.
D. They shall find real saints to draw from – Magdalene, Peter,
and Paul;/ They shall work for an age at a sitting and never be
tired at all!

18. The following is the poem “Little Things” by Ebenezer

Cobham Brewer:

Little drops of water,

Little grains of sand,
Make the mighty ocean
And the pleasant land.

Thus the little minutes,

Humble though they be,
Make the mighty ages
Of eternity.

Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

A. To illustrate how small and individual moments build into all
of history.
B. To discuss time lost while visiting the ocean.
C. To contrast the relentless progression of time with the
endless movement of the ocean
D. To encourage the reader to take their time as they go
through life.

19. The following is the poem “The Butterfly and the Bee” by
William Lisle Bowles:

Methought I heard a butterfly

Say to a laboring bee:
“Thou hast no colors of the sky
On painted wings like me.”

“Poor child of vanity! those dyes,

And colors bright and rare,”
With mild reproof, the bee replies,
“Are all beneath my care.

“Content I toil from morn to eve,

And scorning idleness,
To tribes of gaudy sloth I leave
The vanity of dress.”
What is the main idea of the text?
A. In an imaginary conversation, a butterfly and a bee have
little in common.
B. As a personal quality, work ethic is far preferable to beauty.
C. Being judgmental of others is not an admirable pastime.
D. Even creatures as small as bees have lessons to teach us all.

20. The following is the poem “Ingratitude” by William

Shakespeare:

Blow, blow, thou winter wind,

Thou are not so unkind
As man’s ingratitude;
Thy tooth is not so keen
Because thou are not seen,
Although thy breath be rude.

Freeze, freeze, thou bitter sky,

Thou dost not bite so nigh
As benefits forgot;
Though thou the waters warp,
Thy sting is not so sharp
As friend remembered not.

Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

A. To explain that winter is a harsh time through which all men
must suffer.
B. To illustrate that emotional pain can hurt far worse than
physical pain.
C. To paint a picture of various harms that many befall the
narrator.
D. To show the readers the dangers of making friends with the
wrong people.