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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 8 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does the phrase "'Twas so" in line 5 mean?

2. Which technique is used repeatedly in the first quatrain?

3. In line 1, the speaker uses the word "troth." What does this word mean in this context?

4. What is the literal meaning of the poem's title?

5. What is the best interpretation of the meaning of "but this" in line 5?

Short Essay Questions

1. Explain the poem's final conceit about the hemispheres of a planet.

2. Where is this poem set, and what is happening there?

3. Explain the rhetorical purpose of the image that begins the third stanza.

4. Explain how the conceit of dreaming unifies the first stanza.

5. What element of hyperbole is contained in the poem's allusion to the Seven Sleepers?

6. Explain how the conceit of exploration is incorporated into the speaker's argument in stanza two.

7. Describe the structure of this poem.

8. Explain the poem's allusion to the Seven Sleepers.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay that makes and defends a claim about the poem's diction. What are its characteristics? What patterns do you notice? How do these aspects of diction support that poem's overall meaning? Support your ideas with both quoted and paraphrased evidence from the poem's text. Cite your evidence in MLA format.

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay that makes and defends a claim about assonance, alliteration, and consonance in "The Good Morrow." Where does Donne employ these techniques? What impact do they have on tone? How do they create emphasis? What is the larger significance of these choices--how do they support meaning? Support your ideas with both quoted and paraphrased evidence from the poem's text. Cite your evidence in MLA format.

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay that makes and defends a claim about the poem's meter and rhyme. Describe these and explain how they impact the poem's pace and tone. Explain how they create emphasis and support the poem's meaning. Support your ideas with both quoted and paraphrased evidence from the poem's text. Cite your evidence in MLA format.

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