CLEP Analyzing and Interpreting Literature Study Guide

From Browning's "My Last Duchess": "That's my last Duchess painted on the wall, / Looking as if she were alive. I call / That piece a wonder, now: Fra Pandolf's hands / Worked busily a day, and there she stands." Which description best fits the speaker?

• AA mourner speaking aloud to the dead woman as though she could hear
• BA neutral narrator describing the pictures hanging on a gallery wall
• CThe painter himself, recalling with pride the day he spent on the portrait
• DA visitor praising a portrait that belongs to a stranger
• EThe portrait's owner, pointing it out to a listener in the room

Read the passage below.

"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife. However little known the feelings or views of such a man may be [...] this truth is so well fixed in the minds of the surrounding families, that he is considered as the rightful property of some one or other of their daughters." (Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice, 1813)

The narrator's tone is best described as

• AEarnest, stating a widely accepted fact about marriage and social life
• BFurious, attacking single men for their wealth and independence
• CIronic, presenting the families' self-interest as a universal truth
• DBitter, condemning the greed of wealthy men who exploit others
• ENostalgic, remembering an earlier and gentler age of courtship

Original passage. Earlier in the play, the audience watched the servant Pell stir poison into a cup of tea.

LADY ORRIN: Ah, Pell, my tea at last. You are the one person in this house I can trust.
PELL: (bowing) Drink while it is warm, madam.

The exchange is best described as an example of

• Aan aside, because Pell's real feelings are shared with the audience
• Bcomic relief, because the tea lightens the scene
• Ccatharsis, because the audience feels relief at Pell's honesty
• Ddramatic irony, since the audience knows what she does not
• Everbal irony, because Lady Orrin says the opposite of what she really means

From Marvell's "To His Coy Mistress": "The grave's a fine and private place, / But none, I think, do there embrace." What is the tone of these lines?

• AWry, using mild understatement to make a grim point
• BCheerful, welcoming the end of life
• CReverent, treating death as a holy, peaceful rest
• DFurious, condemning death as cruel
• ESentimental, longing for peaceful solitude

Read the passage below.

"I have been assured by a very knowing American of my acquaintance in London, that a young healthy child well nursed, is, at a year old, a most delicious nourishing and wholesome food, whether stewed, roasted, baked, or boiled; and I make no doubt that it will equally serve in a fricasee, or a ragoust." (Jonathan Swift, "A Modest Proposal," 1729)

The speaker's calm, businesslike manner in describing a horrifying idea is used mainly to

• AShow that the author is personally cruel and truly endorses the plan
• BMake readers recoil from the cold, calculating attitude that it imitates
• CEntertain readers with a harmless joke about cooking and the kitchen
• DReport a real custom of the time
• EConvince readers that the proposal is sensible and should be adopted by the government

HAMLET, who believes he is alone, says:

To be, or not to be, that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them?

The speech is best described as

• Aan aside that the other characters on stage are meant to ignore
• Ba soliloquy that lets the audience hear a private struggle over a choice
• Ca chorus that explains the moral meaning of the plot to the audience
• Da prologue that introduces the setting of the play before the action begins
• Ea monologue addressed to the court in order to win support for a decision

From 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 choice best describes the mood these lines create?

• AFestive and lively
• BCalm and contented
• CAngry and defiant
• DGloomy and uneasy
• EPlayful and light-hearted

Read the sentence below.

"True!—nervous—very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am; but why will you say that I am mad?" (Edgar Allan Poe, "The Tell-Tale Heart," 1843)

The narrator is best described as

• AA minor character who only watches the main events
• BA third-person narrator who keeps a distance from events
• CUnreliable, because his agitated, defensive manner undercuts his claim to be sane
• DAn omniscient narrator who reports other characters' thoughts
• EA calm, objective witness whose account can be trusted fully

LADY BRACKNELL says to Jack Worthing:

To lose one parent, Mr. Worthing, may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness.

The tone of the line is best described as

• Anervous embarrassment about raising such a delicate subject
• Bsincere and heartfelt sympathy for Mr. Worthing's painful loss
• Csolemn and fearful warning about a tragedy still to come
• Dbitter, furious rage at Mr. Worthing's habit of lying
• Edry, deadpan wit that exposes her snobbish priorities

From Shelley's "Ozymandias": "'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." Which statement best expresses the theme?

• AEven the greatest human power eventually fades
• BThe desert is a hostile place for travelers
• CRulers should govern their people with humility
• DGreat works of art are valued more than kings
• EAmbition is rewarded by lasting fame