CLASSE QUARTA

Sharing is caring!

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 poet’s 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 poet’s 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.

Luigi Gaudio

See author's posts