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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. In At Home, what is the topic of conversation for those yet living?

2. In Goblin Market, what is the name of Laura's sister?

3. What potentially causes the May flowers to wither in Winter: My Secret?

4. What does the speaker in the first poem entitled Song say ought to be placed on the grave of those who died in their prime?

5. With what exclamation does the poem's speaker respond to her auditor's curiosity in the first stanza of Winter: My Secret?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the meaning of the word "deprecate" as used in the context of A Bruised Reed Shall He Not Break?

2. For what does the inn in Up-Hill stand as a metaphor, and what indicates this?

3. In Another Spring, what is the literal implication of the repetition of the phrase, "If I might see another Spring"?

4. Who is Ruth, as used in the last line of Sweet Death?

5. What is the tone of the speaker in the first stanza of A Better Resurrection?

6. What characterizes the poem's speaker's commands to the rose and the bird in the first two stanzas of A Summer Wish?

7. What characterizes the tone of the speaker in the last six lines of Remember?

8. What is the meaning of the phrase, "The bright hues vanish and the odors fly, / The grass hath lasting worth" in Sweet Death?

9. With what sort of temptations do the first two enemies beleaguer the second speaker in The Three Enemies?

10. What is the attitude of the speaker in No Thank You, John towards John?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

A constant theme in Rossetti's poetry is the struggle of a speaker against despair. Compose an analytical essay which examines this theme overall. How is it portrayed in individual poems? How is it portrayed overall? What shapes does the struggle take? What prompts the feelings of despair? In what ways, if any, is the despair overcome? With what does the speaker struggle against despair; in other words, how does she try to conquer it? Give specific examples.

Essay Topic 2

Compose an analytical essay on the theme revealed in the last poem of the collection, The World, namely that of struggling with the World's two-faced transformation, its false beauty and true ugliness. How is this theme portrayed throughout Rossetti's poems? In which poems does the World appear seductively beautiful? In which poems is its hideousness revealed? What does this help the reader to see about the World in which he lives? What do the poems overall seem to suggest as a contrary way of living? What other beauties can and should a person pursue? How should one react to both faces of the World?

Essay Topic 3

Many of the poems in this collection are in the traditional Italian sonnet form. This includes A Triad, Remember, After Death, The One Certainty, and The World. Using either a few, or all, of these sonnets, compose an analytical essay which demonstrates how the Italian sonnet form conveys its significance through exposition in the octave and explication or resolution in the sestet. How do the two parts interact with one another? What does the commentary or resolution in the sestet achieve? What opportunities of conveying significance does the form of the sonnet allow? What is the significance of some of the sonnets in the collection?

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