Literary Analysis Questions

Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea, 1952

[Context: Santiago, an aging fisherman, battles a giant marlin far out at sea.]

“Fish,” he said softly, aloud, “I’ll stay with you until I am dead.” He’ll stay with me too, I suppose, the old man thought, and he waited for the sun to warm him. The line rose slowly and steadily, and then the surface of the ocean bulged ahead of the boat and the fish came out. He came out unendingly, and water poured from his sides. He was bright in the sun, and his head and back were dark purple, and in the sun the stripes on his sides showed wide and a light lavender. His sword was as long as a baseball bat and tapered like a rapier, and he rose his full length from the water and then re-entered it, smoothly, like a diver.

*“He is two feet longer than the skiff,” the old man said. The line was going out fast but steadily, and the fish was not panicked. The old man was trying with both hands to keep the line just inside the breaking strength. If I can keep him from jumping, he thought. Each jump might open the hook’s cut in his mouth. God let him jump so that he’ll fill the sacs along his backbone with air and cannot stay deep to die. But perhaps he has been hooked before and knows this is how he should fight.

Which type of diction is most evident in the extract above?

• Slang

• Archaic

• Neutral

• Jargon

Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea, 1952
[Context: Santiago, an aging fisherman, battles a giant marlin far out at sea.]

“Fish,” he said softly, aloud, “I’ll stay with you until I am dead.” He’ll stay with me too, I suppose, the old man thought, and he waited for the sun to warm him. The line rose slowly and steadily, and then the surface of the ocean bulged ahead of the boat and the fish came out. He came out unendingly, and water poured from his sides. He was bright in the sun, and his head and back were dark purple, and in the sun the stripes on his sides showed wide and a light lavender. His sword was as long as a baseball bat and tapered like a rapier, and he rose his full length from the water and then re-entered it, smoothly, like a diver.

*“He is two feet longer than the skiff,” the old man said. The line was going out fast but steadily, and the fish was not panicked. The old man was trying with both hands to keep the line just inside the breaking strength. If I can keep him from jumping, he thought. Each jump might open the hook’s cut in his mouth. God let him jump so that he’ll fill the sacs along his backbone with air and cannot stay deep to die. But perhaps he has been hooked before and knows this is how he should fight.

What tone would best describe this extract?

• Desperate

• Reflective

• Demented

• Objective

Which type of diction is most evident in the extract above?

• Slang

• Archaic

• Neutral

• Jargon

What tone would best describe this extract?

• Suspenseful

• Cheerful

• Indifferent

• Sarcastic

What poetic form is Shakespeare using in this poem?

• Italian Sonnet

• English Sonnet

• Haiku

• Limerick

What poetic form is Shelley using in "Ozymandias"?

• Shakespearean sonnet

• Italian sonnet

• English Sonnet

• French Villanelle

The rhyme scheme of the first four lines of the poem can be best described as:

• Encircled rhyme

• Enclosed rhyme

• Alternate rhyme

• Alternative rhyme

Which answer would be the closest match to the theme of the poem?

• The poem contemplates the fleeting nature of a summer’s day.

• The poem celebrates the eternal beauty of the beloved through the power of poetry.

• The poem laments the inevitable decay of nature over time.

• The poem argues that physical beauty is transient and insignificant.

What rhetorical device best describes the last two lines of the poem?

• Antithesis

• Anaphora

• Chiasmus

• Hyperbole

What type of sonnet is the poem?

• Petrarchan

• Shakespearean

• Petrarchan/Shakespearean Hybrid

• Not a sonnet