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Reading Assessment III. Renaissance poetry

DIRECTIONS Carefully read the following passage. Use context clues to help define any words with which you are unfamiliar. Pay close attention to the use of figurative language, argument, and tone. Then, on a separate sheet of paper, answer the questions that follow.

Sonnet 97 by William Shakespeare

        How like a winter hath my absence been From thee, the pleasure of the fleeting year! What freezings have I felt, what dark days seen! What old December’s bareness every where! And yet this time remov’d was summer’s time, The teeming autumn, big with rich increase, Bearing the wanton burthen of the prime, Like widowed wombs after their lords’ decease: Yet this abundant issue seem’d to me But hope of orphans and unfathered fruit, For summer and his pleasures wait on thee, And thou away, the very birds are mute; Or if they sing, ’tis with so dull a cheer That leaves look pale, dreading the winter’s near. 6big:pregnant   7 wanton burthen of the prime:crops planted in the spring.
A Valediction: Of Weeping by John Donne
                  Let me pour forth My tears before thy face, whilst I stay here, For thy face coins them, and thy stamp they bear, And by this mintage they are something worth, For thus they be Pregnant of thee; Fruits of much grief they are, emblems of more, When a tear falls, that thou falls which it bore, So thou and I are nothing then, when on a divers shore.   On a round ball A workman that hath copies by, can lay An Europe, Afric, and an Asia, And quickly make that, which was nothing, all, So doth each tear, Which thee doth wear, A globe, yea world by that impression grow, Till thy tears mixed with mine do overflow This world, by waters sent from thee, my heaven dissolved so.   O more than moon, Draw not up seas to drown me in thy sphere, Weep me not dead, in thine arms, but forbear To teach the sea, what it may do too soon; Let not the wind Example find, To do me more harm, than it purposeth; Since thou and I sigh one another’s breath, Whoe’er sighs most, is cruellest, and hastes the other’s death. 3coins them:is reflected in them     8 that thou falls which it bore: The image of the beloved is lost with each falling tear   11 workman: mapmaker, artist

 

COMPREHENSION

DirectionsAnswer these questions about “Sonnet 97.”


1.The rhyme scheme of this sonnet is

Aabab bcbc cdcd ee

Baabb ccdd eeff gg

Cabab cdcd efef gg

Dabba cddc acca ee

2.Which statement best summarizes the first quatrain?

AAn entire year has passed while two loved ones are separated.

BThe years go by quickly for two loved ones waiting to be reunited.

CRemembering the summer is the best way to spend the lonely winter.

DBeing away from a loved one feels like a bleak winter.



3.By personifying “old December” in the first quatrain, which feeling does the speaker convey?

Apleasure

Bweariness

Cemptiness

Danxiety

4.What information does the speaker reveal in the second quatrain?

AThe time is late summer or early autumn, when crops are ready for harvesting.

BAlthough it is now almost autumn, the speaker still misses the loved one who is away.

CIt is much easier to be apart during the summer when food and sun are plentiful.

DThe loved ones’ separation will end when summer arrives.

5.Which season is personified as a mother ready to give birth?

Awinter

Bspring

Csummer

Dautumn

6.Which image in the poem conveys nature’s bounty?

A“From thee, the pleasure of the fleeting year” (line 2)

B“And yet this time remov’d was summer’s time” (line 5)

C“The teeming autumn, big with rich increase” (line 6)

D“And thou away, the very birds are mute” (line 12)

7.The image in lines 9–10 conveys the speaker’s feelings of

Acontentment

Bmelancholy

Cexpectation

Dshame

8.In the third quatrain, which idea is conveyed by the turn, or shift in thought?

AThe lovers’ unhappy separation is reflected in the hot summer weather.

BThe speaker cannot experience summer until the lovers are reunited.

CSigns of the changing seasons are visible everywhere to the speaker.

DThe season’s harvest will benefit fatherless children.

9.In the couplet, Shakespeare evokes the sights and sounds of an approaching winter to emphasize the

Aanticipation of unanswered love

Bchaos caused by the change of seasons

Cdismay over the loved one’s absence

Dunpredictability of true love


 

DirectionsAnswer these questions about “A Valediction: Of Weeping.”


10.The rhyme scheme in this poem is

Aababccded

Baabbbbccc

Cabcbcdefe

Dabbaccddd

11.In lines 1–9, the poet compares the speaker’s tears to

Areflections of the loved one’s face in water

Bcoins minted with the loved one’s image

Cfruits preserved as emblems of the summer

Dthe distance that will separate the lovers

12.Which statement best summarizes lines 7–9?

AThe speaker dreads being separated from the lover.

BTears are meaningless to two people who are truly in love.

CDistance will help the lovers overcome their unhappiness.

DThe lovers do not recognize the significance of their separation.

13.Which end rhyme is a slant rhyme?

Aforth, worth

Bbe, thee

Cmore, bore

Dgrow, so

14.In lines 10–16, the poet develops the metaphysical conceit by comparing a tear to a

Amap worn by the beloved

Bworkman’s fine art

Cglobe of the world

Dportrait of the beloved

15.In lines 1922, the beloved’s power to cause weeping is compared to the moon’s power to

Ailluminate the night sky

Breflect off the surface of water

Crepresent universal mystery

Dcontrol the tides of the sea

16.In each stanza, Donne consistently uses exact rhymes in the

Afirst four lines

Blast three lines

Cfifth and sixth lines

Dfirst and third lines

17.The pain of separation described in “A Valediction: Of Weeping” differs from that described in “Sonnet 97” in that it is

Aanticipated rather than experienced

Bexpected to last forever

Cbrought on by astonishing events

Demotional rather than analytical


WRITTEN RESPONSE


Short Response Write three or four sentences to answer each question.

18.In the couplet of Sonnet 97, what human emotion is attributed to the leaves? What does this image suggest about the speaker’s feelings?

19.As he develops a metaphysical conceit in A Valediction: Of Weeping, Donne likens tears to several physical objects. Name three of these objects and explain what quality they have in common.

Extended ResponseWrite two or three paragraphs to answer this question.

20.Compare both poets’ use of nature imagery to express feelings about separation. In your answer, include two examples of nature imagery from each poem.


 


Date: 2016-03-03; view: 4296


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