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This test consists of 5 short answer questions and 1 (of 3) essay topics.
Short Answer Questions
1. What does the poem's first (or only) speaker guide towards himself in A Bruised Reed Shall He Not Break?
2. How far does the road wind uphill in the poem of the same name?
3. What does the speaker implore Jesus to do for her in the second stanza of A Better Resurrection?
4. What word describes the feet of the "she" in The World?
5. What is the first speaker in The Three Enemies doing to the second speaker in each stanza?
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
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 2
Many of the poems in the collection, from The Convent Threshold through The World, deal with explicitly religious themes. Analyze the overall portrayal of religion in these poems in a thoughtful and insightful essay. How is religion portrayed in each individual poem? How is religion portrayed overall? With what sort of imagery and beliefs is religious practice associated? What do the poems indicate about religious belief? How do the speakers interact with religion? What does religion provide the speakers? What does faith provide?
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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This section contains 450 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) |
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