Read the excerpt from "London's Summer Morning." Now pastry dainties catch the eye minute Of humming insects, while the limy snare Waits to enthrall them. What does this excerpt from the poem describe?
Which best describes the speaker of "London's Summer Morning"?
Read the excerpt from "Poetry." nor is it valid to discriminate against "business documents andschool-books"; all these phenomena are important. One must make a distinction however: when dragged into prominence by half poets, the result is not poetry, nor till the poets among us can be "literalists of the imagination"—aboveinsolence and triviality and can presentfor inspection, "imaginary gardens with real toads in them," shall we have it.What selection supports the theme that “poetry is a relationship between imagination and reality”?
Which excerpt from "War Message to Congress" expresses President Wilson's opinion?
Read the excerpt from “Birches” by Robert Frost. When I see birches bend to left and right Across the line of straighter darker trees, I like to think some boy’s been swinging them.But swinging doesn’t bend them down to stay. Ice-storms do that. Often you must have seen themLoaded with ice a sunny winter morning After a rain. They click upon themselves As the breeze rises, and turn many-colored As the stir cracks and crazes their enamel. Soon the sun’s warmth makes them shed crystal shells Shattering and avalanching on the snow-crust— Such heaps of broken glass to sweep away You’d think the inner dome of heaven had fallen.Which lines describe the ice wrapping the tree branches?
Read the sentence from "Wilson's War Message to Congress."It was a war determined upon as wars used to be determined upon in the old, unhappy days when peoples were nowhere consulted by their rulers and wars were provoked and waged in the interest of dynasties or of little groups of ambitious men who were accustomed to use their fellow men as pawns and tools.In this sentence, Wilson compares the German government to governments of the past. What is he hoping to convey?
Why does the neighbor say that “good fences make good neighbours” in "Mending Wall"?
Who is the speaker of the "Mending Wall"?
Read the excerpt from "Mending Wall."I let my neighbour know beyond the hill;And on a day we meet to walk the line And set the wall between us once again.We keep the wall between us as we go.To each the boulders that have fallen to each.And some are loaves and some so nearly ballsWe have to use a spell to make them balance:"Stay where you are until our backs are turned!"We wear our fingers rough with handling them.Oh, just another kind of out-door game,One on a side. It comes to little more:There where it is we do not need the wall:He is all pine and I am apple orchard.What does the phrase “one on a side” mean?
Read the poem "The Wife-Woman," by Anne Spencer.Maker-of-sevens in the scheme of thingsFrom earth to star;Thy cycle holds whatever is fate, andOver the border the bar.Though rank and fierce the marinerSailing the seven seas,He prays, as he holds his glass to his eyes,Coaxing the Pleiades.I cannot love them; and I feel your gladChiding from the grave,That my all was only worth at all, whatJoy to you it gave.These seven links the Law compelledFor the human chain—I cannot love them; and you, oh,Seven-fold months in Flanders slain!A jungle there, a cave here, bred sixAnd a million years,Sure and strong, mate for mate, suchLove as culture fears;I gave you clear the oil and wine;You saved me your hob and hearth—See how even life may be ere theSickle comes and leaves a swath.But I can wait the seven of moons,Or years I spare,Hoarding the heart’s plenty, nor spendA drop, nor share—So long but outlives a smile andA silken gown;Then gaily I reach up from my shroud,And you, glory-clad, reach down.What is the main difference between “The Wife-Woman” and Frost’s poem "Mending Wall"?
Read the excerpt from "Mending Wall."Spring is the mischief in me, and I wonderIf I could put a notion in his head:"Why do they make good neighbours? Isn't itWhere there are cows? But here there are no cows.Before I built a wall I'd ask to knowWhat I was walling in or walling out,And to whom I was like to give offence.Something there is that doesn't love a wall,That wants it down."Now read “The Pasture,” also by Robert Frost. I’m going out to clean the pasture spring;I’ll only stop to rake the leaves away(And wait to watch the water clear, I may):I shan’t be gone long.—You come too.I’m going out to fetch the little calfThat’s standing by the mother. It’s so young,It totters when she licks it with her tongue.I shan’t be gone long.—You come too. Which best accounts for the different views of spring expressed in the poems?
Read the excerpt from President Woodrow Wilson’s speech, “War Message to Congress.”With a profound sense of the solemn and even tragical character of the step I am taking and of the grave responsibilities which it involves, but in unhesitating obedience to what I deem my constitutional duty . . . Which best expresses the type of appeal in this excerpt?
Read “A Book,” by Emily Dickinson.There is no frigate like a book To take us lands away, Nor any coursers like a page Of prancing poetry. This traverse may the poorest take Without oppress of toll; How frugal is the chariot That bears a human soul!Which words best indicate that the speaker believes that books offer traveling adventures?
In "Poetry," which words indicate that the poet is frustrated by the general culture of poets and poetry?
Read the poem “Roses,” by George Eliot. You love the roses—so do I. I wishThe sky would rain down roses, as they rainFrom off the shaken bush. Why will it not?Then all the valley would be pink and whiteAnd soft to tread on. They would fall as lightAs feathers, smelling sweet; and it would beLike sleeping and like waking, all at once! What is the main style difference between “Roses” and "Night"?
Read the excerpt from "Rhapsody on a Windy Night."So the hand of a child, automatic, Slipped out and pocketed a toy that was running along the quay. I could see nothing behind that child’s eye. I have seen eyes in the street Trying to peer through lighted shutters What theme is reflected in this excerpt?
Read the excerpt from "Rhapsody on a Windy Night."Twelve o'clock. Along the reaches of the street Held in a lunar synthesis, Whispering lunar incantations Dissolve the floors of memory And all its clear relations, Its divisions and precisions, Every street lamp that I pass Beats like a fatalistic drum, And through the spaces of the dark Midnight shakes the memory As a madman shakes a dead geranium. Which phrase from the excerpt best indicates that the narrator is lost in thought?
Read the excerpt from "Rhapsody on a Windy Night."The lamp hummed: "Regard the moon, La lune ne garde aucune rancune, She winks a feeble eye, She smiles into corners. She smoothes the hair of the grass. The moon has lost her memory. The French line “La lune ne garde aucune rancune” translates to “The moon never holds a grudge.” Which best describes the meaning of this line?
There are many time references in "Rhapsody on a Windy Night," such asTwelve o'clock. Half-past one, Half-past three, The lamp said, "Four o'clock, What is the most likely explanation for these repeated references?
Read the excerpt from "Rhapsody on a Windy Night."I could see nothing behind that child's eye. I have seen eyes in the street Trying to peer through lighted shutters, And a crab one afternoon in a pool, An old crab with barnacles on his back, Gripped the end of a stick which I held him. The excerpt is an example of what type of narration?
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