View a FREE sample

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

Short Answer Questions

1. What does the speaker in the first poem entitled Song say ought to be given to those in the flush of youth?

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

3. Where did the poem's speaker and her former lover used to walk in An Apple Gathering?

4. By what does the auditor of the poem regularly hold the speaker in Remember?

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 attitude of the first speaker in A Bruised Reed Shall He Not Break to his auditor?

2. Why is the speaker unable to cast off her expectations in A Pause of Thought?

3. For what reason does the poem's speaker feel the need to seek repentance in The Convent Threshold?

4. Why does the great lord cast aside the poem's speaker in Cousin Kate?

5. Who are the wayfarers who have gone before the poem's inquisitive speaker in Up-Hill?

6. What is the "it" of May?

7. What is the tone of the speaker towards death in the final poem entitled Song?

8. Why is the poem's speaker permanently separated from her once lover in An Apple Gathering?

9. Why does the speaker attempt to cast off her expectations in A Pause of Thought?

10. What is ironic and somewhat paradoxical about the new-life brought on by Spring in the poem of the same name?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

A consistent theme in Rossetti's poems is the significance of Spring. Write an analytical essay which discusses the various significations which Spring has throughout her poetry. What imagery is associated with Spring? What does this imagery signify? What emotions are attached to the arrival of Spring? How does the season of Spring correlate to the human condition? In what ways does the internal disposition of a human person cohere with or reject the seasonal activity of Spring? What does this reveal about human nature, particularly human emotions and desires?

Essay Topic 2

As the second longest poem in the collection, The Convent Threshold provides an interesting and extended commentary on sin and redemption. Compose an analytical essay which examines the poem's portrayal of these two themes. How does the poem portray sin? How does the poem portray redemption? How does the poem's speaker perceive the world? How does this perception contrast with the perspective of her beloved? What is the significance of the speaker's dreams? What sort of love does the speaker choose, and what sort of love does she reject? What is the significance of the title to the overall meaning of the poem?

Essay Topic 3

Perhaps the dominant theme in all of the poems in the collection is the temporality of earthly happiness. Compose an analytical essay which, in perusing the entirety of the collection, designates a comprehensive portrayal of earthly happiness. In what poems is there a commentary upon happiness? How is happiness portrayed in each individual poem? What is demonstrated by the poems individually? What is demonstrated by the poems overall? Against what is the temporality of earthly happiness contrasted? What do these presentations reveal about human nature?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 823 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample