CLASSE QUARTA
ENGLISH LITERATURE TEST
1) Write a short paragraph about the main features of the Metaphysical Poets.
2) In what way were the Cavalier Poets different from them?
J.Donne – A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning.
3) Explain the title of the poem.
4) Divide the content of the poem into five sections and sum them up:
stanzas 1-2 ____________________________________________________
stanza 3 ____________________________________________________
stanzas 4-5 ____________________________________________________
stanza 6 ____________________________________________________
stanzas 7-8-9 ___________________________________________________
5) The image of the compass is stressed by the double meaning of certain words:
‘firmness (line 35) can also mean _________________
‘circle (line 35) can also mean __________________
‘just (line 35) can also mean _________________
J.Donne – Sonnet X
6) Why is this sonnet an example of the Metaphysical Poets ‘intellectual poetry?
7) What is the function of the final couplet?
8) Sum up the poets argument in a short paragraph.
9) Are the structure and the rhyme scheme of the Elizabethan sonnet respected?
A. Marvell – To his coy mistress
10) The poem can be divided into three parts: explain the poets arguments in three short paragraphs.
11) What is the theme of the poem?
12) Consider the last couplet (lines 45-46) and explain its meaning.
13) Describe the rhyme scheme and the structure of the poem.
14) Provide some examples of run-on-lines.
The Puritan Age
15) Explain what was the Petition of Rights, who signed it and when.
16) Explain the Civil War of 1642-1649 and its causes.
17) What was the Commonwealth?
18) Describe the Puritans and their way of life.
