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

Short Answer Questions

1. What happens to the sweetest blossoms in Sweet Death?

2. With what disease is "she" afflicted as the moon changes in The World?

3. What is the third enemy in The Three Enemies?

4. What does the speaker implore Jesus to do for her in the first stanza of A Better Resurrection?

5. At what time is "she" presented as "exceeding fair" in The World?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Oftentimes the exact meaning of a poem can be difficult to discern by simply reading what is present on the page; the literal text demands that the reader make an inference based on what is written, without explicitly making it clear. This is perhaps most evident in The One Certainty, but can also be seen in Sweet Death, Dream Land and many others. Using examples from Rossetti's poetry, write an analytical essay on the process of valid inference of meaning from a poem in which the literal meaning obscures the deeper significance. What are some examples of this inference? How is this inference made? What validates such inference? What are the difficulties of making such an inference? How should such an inference be portrayed?

Essay Topic 2

As part of the consistent theme of temptation, The Three Enemies carries on a dialogue between the tempters to sin and the tempted speaker. Examine this poem in a carefully analytical essay, focusing on what the poem delivers as its ultimate signification. What are the temptations the Enemies use? What characterizes the temptations of the Enemies? How do the temptations correspond to the tempter, the particular Enemy? How does the speaker respond? What characterizes the speaker's responses? How do the responses correspond to the particular Enemy? In what way does the speaker conquer the temptations? What does this ultimately signify?

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?

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