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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. What do the passing seasons in the Burial of the Dead, symbolize?

2. What war ends shortly before the publication of the Burial of the Dead?

3. What is the name of Lil’s youngest child?

4. What animal symbolizes a lack of meaning?

5. What insult is given at the end of the Burial of the Dead?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is called no friend to man in the Burial of the Dead, and why do you think that is?

2. What words are repeated to Lil in A Game of Chess, and what do they mean?

3. According to the narrator, what is the cruelest month and why?

4. Who is Madame Sosostris, and how does the narrator describe her?

5. What stroke of the clock is mentioned in Burial of the Dead, and why?

6. What is the main feeling of the Burial of the Dead?

7. How is the setting of the first part of A Game of Chess described?

8. Who is Albert and what is his role in A Game of Chess?

9. What does the narrator censure Lil over in A Game of Chess?

10. What is buried in a garden, and what does this symbolize?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

All of the seasons are described at the beginning of the poem. Why is this, and what does this foreshadow?

Essay Topic 2

The Unreal City is mentioned a number of times. What is the Unreal City and why is this city important to the narrator?

Essay Topic 3

Thunder is a very symbolic figure in this poem. Where does it appear, and what does it mean to the rest of the poem?

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