AP English Literature

AP Lit Multiple Choice Practice

​[1] I met a traveller from an antique land,

Who said—“Two vast and trunkless legs of stone

Stand in the desert. . . . Near them, on the sand,

Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown,

[5] And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,

Tell that its sculptor well those passions read

Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,

The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed;

And on the pedestal, these words appear:

[10] ‘My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;

Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!’

Nothing beside remains. Round the decay

Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare

The lone and level sands stretch far away.

Multiple Choice

The tone of the poem as a whole shifts from

• realistic to surrealistic

• admiring to critical

• objective to ironic

• didactic to admonishing

Multiple Choice

The function of the independent clause in lines 3-8 (“Near them...fed”) is to provide

• historical justification for Ozymandias’s continued relevance

• a depiction of Ozymandias as he wished to be remembered

• a subjective interpretation of Ozymandias as a cruel and ruthless tyrant

• a concrete description of Ozymandias’s statue

Multiple Choice

The structure of the poem can best be described as an example of 

• Conceit

• Frame Device

• Irony

• Allusion

Multiple Choice

In lines 8-9, the reader’s understanding of Ozymandias’s legacy is shaped through the use of

"The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed;

And on the pedestal, these words appear:"

• contrasting diction

• concrete imagery

• personification

• figurative language

Multiple Choice

 In lines 12-14, the traveler’s point of view is most emphasized through the speaker’s choice of

"Nothing beside remains. Round the decay

Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare

The lone and level sands stretch far away.”

• Prepositions

• Nouns

• Adjectives

• Adverbs

Multiple Choice

The word “visage” (line 4) is best understood to mean

“Two vast and trunkless legs of stone

Stand in the desert. . . . Near them, on the sand,

Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown,"

• Legs

• Feet

• Head

• Face

Multiple Choice

The disparity between Ozymandias’s intended legacy and what remains of the statue is best characterized through the use of

• Biblical and mythological allusions

• the “vast and trunkless legs of stone”

• the physical details of the statue and the inscription on the statue

• alliteration in lines 13-14

Multiple Choice

Lines 4–7 (“The moon shines . . . window or another”) serve mainly to

"The moon shines in all around, just as the sun does. I hate to see it sometimes, it creeps so slowly, and always comes in by one window or another."

• express the narrator’s obsession with light

• describe the relentlessness of the narrator’s mental anguish

• establish the setting of the passage

• set up the ensuing conflict between the narrator and John

Multiple Choice

Which of the following can be inferred from lines 15–16 (“What is it, little girl?” he said. “Don’t go walking about like that—you’ll get cold.”)?

• The narrator is made to feel incapable of taking care of herself.

• John married a much younger woman.

• John married a much younger woman.

• John believes that his wife fabricates her illness

Multiple Choice

Lines 22–27 (three weeks, and I can’t see how to leave before.” “The repairs are not done at home, and I cannot possibly leave town just now. Of course if you were in any danger I could and would, but you really are better, dear, whether you can see it or not. I am a doctor, dear, and I know. You are gaining flesh and color, your appetite is better. I feel really much easier about you.”) and lines 40–42 (“Better in body perhaps”—I began, and stopped short, for he sat up straight and looked at me with such a stern, reproachful look that I could not say another word.) both provide evidence of

• a marital dynamic based on mutual goals

• John’s genuine affection for the narrator

• John’s proclivity to silence the narrator

• the narrator’s lack of self-confidence

Multiple Choice

In lines 31–34 (“Bless her little heart!” said he with a big hug; “she shall be as sick as she pleases! But now let’s improve the shining hours by going to sleep, and talk about it in the morning!”), John’s tone can best be described as that of a

• Concerned close friend

• Parent talking to a child

• Doctor treating a patient

• Salesperson trying to persuade a customer

Multiple Choice

Lines 4–7 (“The moon shines . . . window or another”) serve mainly to

"The moon shines in all around, just as the sun does. I hate to see it sometimes, it creeps so slowly, and always comes in by one window or another."

• express the narrator’s obsession with light

• describe the relentlessness of the narrator’s mental anguish

• establish the setting of the passage

• set up the ensuing conflict between the narrator and John