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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.
Short Answer Questions
1. With what does the narrator's spirit move (l. 59)?
2. In l. 80, “delight among heaven’s host. The days are lost,” there is an example of which of the following?
3. In l. 80, “delight among heaven’s host. The days are lost,” how many times is the alliteration iterated?
4. Which of the following will "urge the eager-hearted / spirit to travel" (ll. 48-52)?
5. Which of the following will "urge the eager-hearted / spirit to travel" (ll. 48-52)?
Short Essay Questions
1. The narrator asserts that “And so no man on earth is so proud in spirit, / nor so gifted in grace or so keen in youth, / nor so bold in deeds, nor so beloved of his lord, / that he never has sorrow over his seafaring, / when he sees what the Lord might have in store for him” (ll. 39-43). Line 40 stands out from the surrounding lines in using the conjunction “or” instead of “nor,” implying a different relationship between “so gifted in grace” and “so keen in youth” than between “bold in deeds” and “beloved of his lord” (l. 41). What is the implied relationship, and how is it implied?
2. Consider the narrator’s statement that “And so now my thought flies out from my breast, / my spirit moves with the sea-flood. / roams widely over the whale’s home, / to the corners of the earth, and comes back to me / greedy and hungry” (ll. 58-62). What tone is conveyed by the passage, and how is it conveyed?
3. What tone is present in the following passage, and how is it conveyed? “The days are lost, / and all the pomp of this earthly kingdom; / there are now neither kings nor emperors / nor gold-givers as there once were, / when they did the greatest glorious deeds / and lived in most lordly fame” (ll. 80-85)?
4. The narrator comments that “He has no thought of the harp or the taking of rings, / nor the pleasures of woman or joy in the world, / nor anything else but the tumbling waves— / he always has longing who hastens to sea” (ll. 44-47). What rhetorical appeal/s does the narrator make in the comment?
5. Consider ll. 64-66, “because hotter to me / are the joys of the Lord than this dead life, / loaned, on land.” Given the physical and historical context of the poem, as well as its content, why might “the joys of the Lord” be described favorably as “hotter” by the narrator?
6. What is the strongest pattern of alliteration in line line 42, "that he never has sorrow over his seafaring," and why?
7. In ll. 55-57, the narrator returns to something of a motif in the poem, stating that “He does not know, / the man blessed with ease, what those endure / who walk most widely in the paths of exile.” What tone is conveyed by the motif? What purpose does it serve as it follows the previous few sentences that speak to longing for the sea?
8. Consider the comment that “the lone flier cries out, / incites my heart irresistibly to the whale’s path / over the open sea” (ll. 62-64). What is the lone flier? How do you know?
9. Consider ll. 58-102 as a unit. What is the overall tone of the passage, and how is it conveyed?
10. The narrator asserts that “And so no man on earth is so proud in spirit, / nor so gifted in grace or so keen in youth, / nor so bold in deeds, nor so beloved of his lord, / that he never has sorrow over his seafaring, / when he sees what the Lord might have in store for him” (ll. 39-43). What tone is conveyed in the assertion, and how?
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
The narrator notes having “dwelt all winter / on the ice-cold sea in the paths of exile” (ll. 14-15). How does the poem read if “paths of exile” is a literal statement meaning “paths taken by someone not allowed to return home?” How does it read if, instead, “paths of exile” is a kenning referring simply to “the sea”?
Essay Topic 2
Consider how effectively "The Seafarer" puts across its central message to its PRESUMED PRIMARY AUDIENCE (that is, the people at Exeter Cathedral who would have read or heard the text in the Middle Ages). Consider also how effectively the poem puts across its central message for YOU as a current reader. What do the similarities / differences in the poem's effectiveness suggest about the differences between the audiences? How do they do so? (In effect, you are being asked to compare / contrast the audiences in terms of how and why "The Seafarer" does and does not convey its central message clearly.)
Essay Topic 3
Consider the circumstances in which the original text of “The Seafarer” exists, notably the historical and physical contexts of the work. Who would the expected primary audience be? What in the text and its physical and historical contexts suggests it? How do they do so?
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This section contains 1,373 words (approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page) |
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