English 311B Name id Test #3, Spring 1993 1. Multiple Choice. Circle the letter of the best answer. 40 points total; 2 points each. The first five questions deal with the following poem by Emily Dickinson: He fumbles at your Soul As Players at the Keys Before they drop full Music on— He stuns you by degrees— Prepares your brittle Nature For the Ethereal Blow By fainter Hammers-further heard Then nearer--Then so slow Your Breath has time to straighten Your Brain-to bubble Cool— Deal--One-imperial-Thunderbolt-- That scalps your naked Soul When Winds take Forests in their Paws-- The Universe~is still~ A: In this poem, the fumbler a: the Soul is compared to (Q)a piano-player (Go) a thunderstorm ¢) cool spring ‘d)a) and b) e) a) and c) 2. The meter of this poem (although # shifts) predominantly is a) iambic pentameter mbic trimeter iambic teuamete d) trochaic trimeter 3. The changes in the meter work to a) emphasize the slow approach of the storm b) confuse the reader (eyemphasize the great power of the “full Music” and the “imperial Thunderbolt” d) suggest a fumbling and inept poet4. The emotion that this poem most concentrates on is a) the doubt of eternal life b) the hatred of the cruelty of nature ©) the anticipation of and full effect of a great blow «4 the awe invoked by great natural power 5 This poem might be seen as distinctively modern in a) its precise detail and observation about a summer storm b) its focus on the autonomous self ()its untraditional use of dashes and mixed meter ) its exploration of the paradox of pain 2)) and c) f)¢)and d) 6. The opening lines of The Waste Land are most similar to Dickinson’s lines: a) “I taste a liquor never brewed-~ / From Tankards scooped in Pearl” ) “Tdreaded that first Robin, so, / But He is mastered, now” ©) “These are the days when Birds come back-- / A very few-a Bird or two~ / To take a backward look.” 4) “This World is not Conclusion. / A Species stands beyond-~" 7. A positive image of water as a healing presence in The Waste Land is G) Madame Sosostris's warning b) the lines, “The river sweats / Oil and tar” (©), The Shakespearean echo, “These 4) The society couple's routine of “t closed car at four.” are the pearls that were his eyes.”” ‘the hot water at ten. / And if it rains, a & In The Waste Land, corrupt sexual relations are indicated by all of the following EXCEPT a) the story of Philomela b) the reference to Elizabeth and Leicester ¢) the fate of Phlebus (@) the conversation in the pub 9. The speaker in “Gerontion” is @ aa old, dried-up man living ina decaying house ) a young man hoping to make an impression on a certain woman at a party c) one of the three wise men d) a man visiting an abandoned English country house10, u 12. 13. 14. 15. Poems that demonstrate a nostalgia for or search through a past that possessed meaning include all of the following EXCEPT a) “Hugh Selwyn Mauberley” b) “The Walls Do Not Fall” Co) “Ina Station at the Metro” d) The Waste Land The most ethical and honorable character in The House of Mirth is a) Rosedale b) Gertie Farish @ Seldon d) Percy Gryce The most serious problem of being a decorative object, according to Wharton is a) the way that men admire and use you b) the physical difficulty in remaining beautiful the lack of moral strength that you have d) the boredom Seldon and Lily exchange confidence both on a mountain top at Bellomont and ina conservatory in New York City. The significance of these settings lies in a) the purity they symbolize ) their existence as tableaux vivants their temporary location outside social structures d) the two characters’ love of beauty Wharton uses all of the following techniques EXCEPT a) a terse, epigrammatic style & a tightly constructed plot verbal motifs of light and dark d) a third-person limited narration The possibility of male faith and female courage is modeled in a) the Dorsets Nettie Struther and her husband ¢) Ned Silverton and his aunts d) Lily and Seldon