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| Name: _________________________ | Period: ___________________ |
This test consists of 5 short answer questions and 1 (of 3) essay topics.
Short Answer Questions
1. At what place can the speaker rest at night in Up-Hill?
2. To what does the poem's speaker implore her lover in The Convent Threshold?
3. How many speakers are there in A Bruised Reed Shall He Not Break?
4. What is the second enemy in The Three Enemies?
5. What does the speaker command to sing in the third stanza of The First Spring Day?
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
A theme primarily exposed in Maude Clare is the contrast between a fleeting, passionate love and a lasting, committed love. This theme does appear, though not so evidently, in other poems, in which the temporality of certain joys is contrasted with more permanent emotions. In a well-developed essay, analyze this theme of contrast in loves. How is each portrayed? With what is passionate love commonly associated? With what is committed love commonly associated? How do the characters associated with each regularly comport themselves? What do these presentations reveal about human nature and its disposition towards love and relationships?
Essay Topic 2
Throughout Rossetti's poetry, there is a persistent theme of seeking hope. Though the speakers in her poems often indicate feelings of despair, and though all seems oftentimes to be lost, there is a recurrence of if not hope, at the very least the hoping for, the desiring for hope. This is particularly evident in the devotional poems towards the end of the collection. Compose an analytical essay which examines this theme. In which poems is it evident? How is it generally portrayed? In what ways is hope persistently present throughout the collection? What imagery is used to represent hope? How is this imagery portrayed? What is significant about this imagery? In what ways is hope eventually found? In what does hope subsist?
Essay Topic 3
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?
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This section contains 424 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) |
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