GRE Literature in English (REA) (38 page)

 

71.
(E)

This is a stanza from Shakespeare's Sonnet 130. Wyatt (A) is credited with introducing the sonnet form into English poetry, while Sidney (B), as a predecessor to Shakespeare, utilized the sonnet form before it became a cliche to do so. Raleigh (C) and Marlowe (D) did not employ the sonnet form in their writing.

 

72.
(C)

This is Johnson's unsympathetic description of metaphysical wit in his
Life of Cowley
. While the pathetic fallacy (A) involves the assigning of personal emotions to inanimate objects, no “discordia” occurs. “A combination of dissimilar images” is not a characteristic of pastoral poetry (B) or heroic drama (D). The passage does not seem to describe the mock heroism of Hudibrastic poetry (E).

 

73.
(E)

The passage is from Johnson's
Life of Cowley
. The forceful tone of the passage suggests Johnson, whereas one might expect a slightly more humorous or satiric piece from Swift (A) or Pope (B). Addison (C) and Dryden (D) were also critics, but their poetry has better survived to the present day.

 

74.
(C)

It parodies Wordsworth's “She Dwelt Among the Untrodden Ways.” Wordsworth's early style was marked by invocations of nature and gentle rhythms, which were innovative for their time and very influential for future romantic writers and poets.

 

75.
(D)

The excerpt is an example of an epistolary novel, that is, a novel which consists of a series of letters. This is an excerpt from one of the heroine's letters to her parents, filled with her usual self-justifications in discussing her behavior toward “Mr. B.” and others. (A) involves a hero's quest; (C) is a famous eighteenth-century genre, which usually involves a plot with a female protagonist and a dark setting.

 

76.
(B)

The excerpt is from Richardson's
Pamela
. All of Samuel Richardson's novels were written in epistolary form and promoted virtue. Defoe (A) displayed a similar tone in his writing but did not utilize the epistolary form. Fielding (C), Smollett (D), and Sterne (E) were all humorists who satirized the form and content made famous by Richardson.

 

77.
(B)

The seventh-century English poem deals with an Anglo-Saxon court poet named Widsith. The scop's functions are somewhat similar to those of the poet laureate of later times.

 

78.
(D)

Beowulf
explores this statement by its hero. He uses his strength to test fate, and extends courage to its outer limits. Fate ultimately controls men's lives, but it can be influenced by heroism, as Beowulf's life illustrates.

 

79.
(D)

This stanza is from Anthony Brode's “Breakfast with Gerard Manley Hopkins,” in which he parodies Hopkins' sprung rhythm. Jeffers (A) was known for his reworking of classicism; Doolittle (B) often wrote in free verse; Millay (C) is known for her sonnets; and Crane (E) was more famous for his imagery than his use of rhyme.

 

80.
(B)

Everyman
is the best surviving example of a medieval morality play. The play is an allegory that dramatizes the moral struggle of all Christians and teaches that man can take with him from this world only what he has given and nothing that he has received. In this play, the allegorical significance of each actor is defined by his name (Knowledge, Beauty, Strength, Good Deeds, and so on) .

 

81.
(C)

This excerpt is from Blake's A
Vision of the Last Judgement
and deals with the relationship between imaginative vision and the corporeal eye. Reality is defined in relation to the visionary (mental), not in relation to corporeal being.

 

82.
(B)

This excerpt is from the beginning of Baldwin's
Notes of a Native Son
and deals with the death of Baldwin's father.

 

83.
(E)

This is from the preface to
The Picture of Dorian Gray
, and contains Wilde's characteristically witty remarks about the uselessness of art.

 

84.
(B)

Raleigh's response is a critique of the pastoral form utilized by Marlowe. (D) and (E) are unlikely responses since the poets who replied lived
before
the poets who supposedly wrote the original poem. Surrey (A) introduced the sonnet to England but not pastoral poetry.

 

85.
(A)

The nymph's reply denies the accuracy of the shepherd's portrait of an idyllic rustic existence in a land of plenty and eternal spring. Her reply emphasizes changes that come with the passage of time, the harshness of winter, and the need to be aware of and to plan for such conditions.

 

86.
(E)

In Greek mythology, after Philomela was raped and her tongue cut out by her brother-in-law, she was turned into a swallow (in some accounts, a nightingale; “Philomel” is the allusive name often given to the nightingale in English poetry). The nymph's mention of Philomel draws attention to the brutal aspects of love, in contrast to the romantic vision of the shepherd.

 

87.
(B)

“Honey tongue” is associated with “fancy's spring,” and “heart of gall” is associated with “sorrow's fall.” Listening to fancy's sweet talk in the spring will later result in bitterness or remorse (“gall”). Since the use of “spring” here is symbolic, answers (A), (C), and (D), which refer to spring as a period of time, are incorrect. (E) is simply a non sequitur.

 

88.
(C)

Although this is a difficult question to determine if one does not know who wrote the poem, Skelton (A) lived before Marlowe's time, and (D) and (E) were not contemporaries of Marlowe.

 

89.
(C)

The lecture is associated with applause, scientific analysis, light, and crowds, in contrast to the speaker's solitary contemplation of the stars, associated with silence, mysticism, darkness, and individuality. A contrast between mathematical certainty and error is not present in the poem; while mathematical certainty might be associated with the astronomer's lecture, the speaker would not associate “error” with his silent contemplation of the heavens.

 

90.
(E)

“Perfect” is used in the sense of “complete” silence, but also suggests perfection (the welcome silence that allows for wonder after the noise of the lecture-hall) .

 

91.
(D)

Whitman's “When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer” implicitly celebrates nature's mystical qualities and the individual's solitary communion with nature. The use of free verse and the praise of nature are characteristic of Whitman.

 

92.
(B)

The soul, like a mole, casts its folly out of its tunnel for all the world to see. The soul may be perceptive in viewing others, but fails to see its own folly. (A) and (D) are not referred to in the passage, and appetite (E) is a reference to the desires of men in the previous line. Mole (C) is used in a simile for the soul, but is not used in place of the soul itself.

 

93.
(E)

“Thus I discovered” continues the analogy of the soul and the mole. Antony's soul has revealed its folly to plain view, and Dolabella has seen it. (A) is a conclusion that may be drawn if the passage is read too literally. (B) and (C) are based upon a misreading of the word “abroad.” There is nothing in the passage to suggest that Dolabella's suspicions were aroused byAntony's vanity (D).

 

94.
(B)

Although Dolabella once blamed Antony's love for Cleopatra, he now wishes he were Antony “to be so ruined” (that is, he knows that Antony's love has ruined him, but understands, even approves of, the reasons Antony persists in his ruin).

 

95.
(D)

The passage is from Dryden's
All for Love,
written in conscious imitation of Shakespeare's style. Although it might be easy to mistake the work for a Shakespearean play, none of the other four plays has a character named Dolabella.

 

96.
(C)

This short, humorous poem, “Adam Pos'd,” is by Anne Finch, Countess of Winchilsea. Finch imagines that Adam would have had difficulty identifying and naming a vain, affected eighteenth-century coquette, having seen nothing like her in the natural world. “Father” refers to Adam. The toiling of the “Father” on the field would probably eliminate choices (A) and (D), while the poem's antiquated language indicates that it predates the time of Washington (E). Time (B) does not possess the skill of naming as described in the second stanza.

 

97.
(A)

The nymph's appearance would have perplexed Adam's ability to identify and name things. Choices (B), (C), and (E) do not make sense in the context of the line. Choice (D) fits in the line, but the language indicates that the “Father” would be confused, not rendered powerless.

 

98.
(E)

The poem makes fun of the affected behavior and appearance of the coquette. Although the poem does make use of biblical figures, there are no invocations to God (D), and the tone is certainly not solemn (C) or angry (B).

 

99.
(C)

Adam would have difficulty formulating the right idea of what he is seeing. (A) does not make sense because he has never seen such a thing, and (B) is inaccurate because Adam seeks to define the person before him, not merely examine the person. (D) is too literal an interpretation of the word “frame,” and (E) is not the proper definition of the word in this context.

 

100.
(E)

The reference is to Genesis 2:19-20, Adam's naming of species. If we have already concluded that the speaker is Adam, then the only other possible choice could be (B), and there is no reference to this skill in the poem.

 

101.
(D)

The wavering form, the “Thing,” is the Nymph of line 4. (A), (B), and (E) do not make sense in the context of the poem, while Element (C) refers to the possible origin of this Thing, rather than the Thing itself.

 

102.
(C)

Ford's play was published in 1633. Passages (D) and (E) clearly make references to themes and objects that are too contemporary for Ford.

 

103.
(E)

Williams' masterpiece is frequently produced. The line from the heroine is a well-recognized line; also, Williams was known for dealing with controversial themes.

 

104.
(B)

The lifeless perfection of the dolls (they are not “filthy”) contrasts with the filth and the noise of a real, living human child. Both are small and human in form, but the dolls are the product of art. The lines “There's not a man can report/Evil of this place” eliminates choice (A). There is no example of happiness (C) to contrast with the sad man and woman. There is a differentiation between immortal art and life, but the distinction is not made in the manner suggested by choice (D), and (E) is a non sequitur.

 

105.
(C)

The poem gives us a glimpse of two different realms, art and life, both “inhabited” by the doll-maker. Both make demands on the artist as art comes into conflict with the real world.

 

106.
(B)

Yeats is the author of both “The Dolls” and “Sailing to Byzantium.” The jarring final line of this poem might remind one of another Yeats poem, “The Second Coming.”

 

107.
(E)

Unlike his father, Telemachus has the patience and prudence to rule “a rugged people” effectively, but he also lacks Ulysses' heroism and sense of adventure. Answers (A) and (D) might be accurate descriptions but are not borne out by Ulysses' words. (B) and (C) are traps if the irony of the passage is not detected.

 

108.
(B)

The elderly Ulysses plans to set sail in search of additional experience for its own sake and to test further his will. He cannot be content merely “to breathe,” and plans to use fully the little time left to him. The speaker clearly neither fears death (A) or desires it (E). His mention of “eternal silence” indicates he does not believe in immortality (C), and there is no indication that he is anxious for solitude (D).