English 11 2.2.7 Quiz

​Analyze Poetry Readings

APEX 2.2.7 Practice Quiz

​Re-Cap & Symbolism

• Edgar Allan Poe's poem "The Raven" tells the story of the speaker's sadness about the death of his love, Lenore. He struggles to both remember and forget her, and the raven, who only repeats "nevermore" in response to his increasingly desperate questions about her,

  symbolizes the fact that he believes his sadness will never disappear.

• Symbolism: Stands for something else, such as a person, an idea, or a thing.​

​Poetic Devices - Repetition

• "quit thy bust above my door / and take thy form from off my door!"

• Repetition is he foundation for the entire poem's meaning and adds to it's melancholy (intense sadness) feel

​Poetic Devices: Symbolism

• "and my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor shall be lifted - Nevermore!"

• For most of the poem, the raven is just a creepy bird, but it becomes a symbol of the speakers inability to let go of Lenore

Multiple Choice

How does Edgar Allan Poe build suspense in "The Raven"?

• By making the bird say more and more horrific things

• By repeating the tapping sound at the speaker's door

• By worsening the storm as the poem progresses

• By having the wind blow out the candles in the chamber

Multiple Choice

What is one way Edgar Allan Poe creates a unity of effect of madness in "The Raven"?

• With the bird's comical entrance into the chamber

• With the speaker's conversations with the raven

• With the flickering lights outside the building

• With the other birds that fly into the room at once

Multiple Choice

Read these lines from Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven."

And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon's that is      dreaming, And the lamp-light o'er him streaming throws his shadow       on the floor: And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the      floor      Shall be lifted—nevermore!

According to "The Philosophy of Composition," what was Poe trying to show in this stanza?

• That the speaker will keep the raven as a pet to remind him of Lenore

• That the raven will forever be a symbol of the speaker's loss

• That the raven is a reincarnation of the speaker's lost love

• That the speaker is going to die of a broken heart

​Analyzing vs. Judging Poetry

• There's a difference between analysis and evaluation, though. What you've just done — looked at the parts of the poem to see how they relate to the theme — is analysis, which is objective. An evaluation, though, is opinionated and judges the quality of a piece — whether it's "good" or "bad."

Multiple Choice

What is one of the tasks undertaken in an evaluation of a text?

• Determining the best tone for a reading of it

• Researching the author's life

• Suggesting edits for parts that need work

• Determining the author's intention

​Re-Cap & Theme

• In "The Raven," Poe explores the speaker's dark emotions about his lost love, Lenore — he is caught between thinking of her and trying to forget her. Ultimately, when the raven won't leave, Poe's message becomes clear: Feelings of pain and loss can haunt us forever.

• Theme: the universal message anyone can learn from a poem or story

Multiple Choice

Which is the most plausible theme in "The Raven"?

• Nature can surprise you.

• People need friends in life.

• Loss can haunt a person forever.

• Ravens belong outside.

​Poetic Devices - Alliteration

• ​Alliteration: Using the same sound to start each word

• "Leave my lonliness unbroken!"

• ​In this poem, alliteration emphasizes and idea while building anticipation

Multiple Choice

Which of these phrases uses alliteration?

• Now her cat was struck ill. She couldn't bear the thought of another huge loss.

• The engine shrieked angrily as the wheels turned in the sand.

• I'll spare you my woes and worries. May my burdens breathe better tomorrow.

• He was as happy as a clam as he snuggled up in his childhood bed.

​Poetic Devices - Rhyme

• ​Rhyme: Using words that end with the same sound at the ends of lines

• "...Just above my chamber door / his shadow on the flor / nevermore"

• ​Rhyme adds to the eerie mood of the poem, since most of the rhymes are with the haunting nevermore that ends each stanza

Multiple Choice

Read this line from Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven."

Eagerly I wished the morrow;—vainly I had sought to borrow

Which of these poetic devices does Poe use here?

• Repetition

• Alliteration

• Personification

• Rhyme

Multiple Choice

Read these lines from Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven."

Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing, Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortals ever dared to dream before;

Which sentence best explains how Poe builds suspense by using alliteration?

• The use of words ending in ing creates a lilting sound that hypnotizes the reader.

• The use of verbs ending in ing create the sense that these things happen all the time.

• The d sound reinforces the word dream and creates a soft, cozy effect.

• The repeated d sound creates a hard, jarring effect that makes the reader uneasy.

​Poetic Devices: Personification

• ​Personification: Giving human characteristics to nonhuman things

• "and his eyes have all the seeing of a demon that is dreaming"

• The speaker of the poem personifies the raven which gives it great power over him and adds again to the eerie mood

Multiple Choice

Read this line from Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven."

And the lamp-light o'er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor;

Which of these poetic devices does Poe use here?

• Personification

• Repetition

• Rhyme

• Meter

Multiple Choice

Read these first two lines from Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven."

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary, Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore,

Which of these best describes the tone in these lines?

• Formal

• Terrifying

• Lonely

• Fast