1 Poetry Techniques Essay

Passage from “Volpone”

2 AUDIENCE Throughout the passage, Volpone is addressing
(A) Mosca
(B) the sun
(C) his gold
(D) his beloved
(E) himself
3 TONE Which of the following adjectives best describes Volpone’s speech?
(A) Ironic
(B) Idolatrous
(C) Mendacious
(D) Understated
(E) Devious
4 LITERARY DEVICES In the simile in line 8, “night” is used to stand for
(A) chaos
(B) the source of Volpone’s riches
(C) the evil that wealth can make people commit
(D) Volpone’s dark robes
(E) Volpone’s possessions that are not made of gold
5 CRITICAL READING The phrase “that age which they would have the best” (line 15)
refers to
(A) youth
(B) maturity
(C) the Renaissance
(D) the Golden Age
(E) the Iron Age
6 LITERARY DEVICES Lines 22- 23 are based on which of the following?
(A) Paradoxical hyperbole
(B) Mixed metaphors
(C) A syllogism
(D) Circular reasoning
(E) Dramatic irony
7 VOCABULARY In line 24, “to boot” means
(A) to reckon with
(B) to pay
(C) to own
(D) instead
(E) in addition
8 CRITICAL READING Which of the following best paraphrases lines 26 – 27 (“Who can
get thee,/ He shall be noble, valiant, honest, wise”)?
(A) It is better to be noble, valiant, honest and wise than to have
riches.
(B) A rich person will be esteemed noble, valiant, honest and
 wise.
(C) A virtuous person is likely to become wealthy as well.
(D) Nobility, valor, honesty and wisdom will make a person happy.
(E) Getting riches may cause a person to disregard nobility, valor,
honesty and wisdom.
9 LITERARY DEVICES Mosca’s comment “Riches are in fortune/ A greater good than
wisdom in nature” (lines 28 – 29) does which of the following:
(A) Asserts that riches are the equivalent of wisdom.
(B) Implies that acquiring riches is more natural than acquiring
good fortune.
(C) Compares fortune to riches.
(D) Suggests that wisdom can add riches to nature.
(E) Contrasts a gift conferred by fortune with a gift conferred
by nature.
10 LITERARY DEVICES Which of the following is used most extensively in the passage?
(A) Religious language
(B) The language of finances
(C) Pastoral imagery
(D) Animal imagery
(E) Images of disorder
Poem “Facing It”
11 STYLE The poem is best described as
(A) a series of interrelated impressions
(B) an exposition on a universal symbol
(C) a political analysis
(D) a wartime anecdote
(E) a sentimental reminiscence
12 CONNOTATION Line 5 suggests which of the following?
I. The speaker’s attempt to resist emotion
II. The speaker’s sense of oneness with the memorial
III. The speaker’s philosophical conflict with the government

(A) I only
(B) II only
(C) I and II only
(D) II and III only
(E) I, II and III
13 LITERARY DEVICES Line 9 presents an example of
(A) allegory
(B) personification
(C) antithesis
(D) oxymoron
(E) understatement
14 TONE/ATTITUDE Lines 20 – 21 most strongly convey the speaker’s
(A) condemnation of the woman’s detachment
(B) realization of his own mortality
(C) regret that he cannot forget the past
 (D) sense of how permanent is the fate of those named
(E) awareness of the fallibility of human beings
15 CONNOTATION What does the speaker convey in lines 29-31?
(A) a memory of his own childhood
(B) A desire to recapture innocence
(C) An impulse to accuse
(D) A feeling of confusion and guilt
(E) An uncertainty about the meaning of a gesture
16 CONNOTATION The mirrorlike quality of the granite walls allows the speaker to
experience all of the following in the poem EXCEPT

(A) self-effacement
(B) self-awareness
(C) self-respect
(D) the illusion of having been transformed
(E) identification with the memorialized veterans
17 LITERARY DEVICES The imagery of the poem is characterized by
(A) religious and historical allusions
(B) auditory and tactile qualities
(C) transformation and duality
(D) repetition and contrast
(E) passivity and objectivity
18 PURPOSE The title suggests which of the following?
I. Affirming one’s innocence
II. Viewing an evocative object
III. Acknowledging one’s identity

(A) III only

(B) I and II only
(C) I and III only
(D) II, and III only
(E) I, II and III