Vocabulary: Denotations and Connotations Answers

Read the poem below and answer the question that follows. “Spring”by Edna St. Vincent Millay To what purpose, April, do you return again?Beauty is not enough.You can no longer quiet me with the rednessOf little leaves opening stickily.I know what I know.The sun is hot on my neck as I observeThe spikes of the crocus.The smell of the earth is good.It is apparent that there is no deathBut what does that signify?Not only underground are the brains of menEaten by maggots.Life in itselfIs nothing,An empty cup, a flight of uncarpeted stairs.It is not enough that yearly, down this hill,AprilComes like an idiot, babbling and strewing flowers. Source: Millay, Edna St. Vincent. “Spring.” Second April. New York: J. J. Little and Ives Company, 1921. Poetry Foundation. Web. 05 May 2011. Which excerpt illustrates the use of alliteration in this poem?

Read the poems below and answer the question that follows. “God’s World”by Edna St. Vincent Millay O world, I cannot hold thee close enough! Thy winds, thy wide grey skies! Thy mists, that roll and rise!Thy woods, this autumn day, that ache and sagAnd all but cry with colour! That gaunt cragTo crush! To lift the lean of that black bluff!World, World, I cannot get thee close enough! Long have I known a glory in it all, But never knew I this: Here such a passion isAs stretcheth me apart,—Lord, I do fearThou’st made the world too beautiful this year;My soul is all but out of me,—let fallNo burning leaf; prithee, let no bird call. Source: Millay, Edna St. Vincent. “God’s World.” Renascence and Other Poems. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1917. Poetry Foundation. Web. 6 May 2011. “Spring”by Edna St. Vincent Millay To what purpose, April, do you return again?Beauty is not enough.You can no longer quiet me with the rednessOf little leaves opening stickily.I know what I know.The sun is hot on my neck as I observeThe spikes of the crocus.The smell of the earth is good.It is apparent that there is no deathBut what does that signify?Not only underground are the brains of menEaten by maggots.Life in itselfIs nothing,An empty cup, a flight of uncarpeted stairs.It is not enough that yearly, down this hill,AprilComes like an idiot, babbling and strewing flowers. Source: Millay, Edna St. Vincent. “Spring.” Second April. New York: J. J. Little and Ives Company, 1921. Poetry Foundation. Web. 05 May 2011. Which statement best reflects Millay’s attitude toward the seasons?

“Blank verse” refers to __________.

Read the excerpt below from the poem “Ulysses” by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, and answer the question that follows. Old age hath yet his honour and his toil;Death closes all; but something ere the end,Some work of noble note, may yet be done,Not unbecoming men that strove with Gods.The lights begin to twinkle from the rocks:The long day wanes: the slow moon climbs: the deepMoans round with many voices. Come, my friends,‘Tis not too late to seek a newer world.Push off, and sitting well in order smiteThe sounding furrows; for my purpose holdsTo sail beyond the sunset, and the bathsOf all the western stars, until I die.It may be that the gulfs will wash us down:It may be we shall touch the Happy Isles, And see the great Achilles, whom we knew.Tho’ much is taken, much abides; and tho’We are not now that strength which in old daysMoved earth and heaven; that which we are, we are;One equal temper of heroic hearts,Made weak by time and fate, but strong in willTo strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield. Source: Tennyson, Alfred. “Ulysses.” The Early Poems of Alfred, Lord Tennyson. London: Edward Moxon, 1842. Project Gutenberg. 2005. Web. 7 June 2011. Which of the following describes the structure of this excerpt best?

Which line from the poem “To the Dead in the Graveyard Underneath My Window” illustrates apostrophe?

Both Crapsey’s and Plath’s poems address the theme of __________.

Read the excerpt below from the poem “Edge” by Sylvia Plath and answer the question that follows. Feet seem to be saying:We have come so far, it is over. Which poetic technique do these lines from Plath’s poem “Edge” illustrate?

Read the excerpt below from the poem “Ulysses” by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, and complete the instruction that follows. Old age hath yet his honour and his toil;Death closes all; but something ere the end,Some work of noble note, may yet be done,Not unbecoming men that strove with Gods.The lights begin to twinkle from the rocks: [5]The long day wanes: the slow moon climbs: the deepMoans round with many voices. Come, my friends,‘Tis not too late to seek a newer world.Push off, and sitting well in order smiteThe sounding furrows; for my purpose holds [10]To sail beyond the sunset, and the bathsOf all the western stars, until I die.It may be that the gulfs will wash us down:It may be we shall touch the Happy Isles, And see the great Achilles, whom we knew. [15]Tho’ much is taken, much abides; and tho’We are not now that strength which in old daysMoved earth and heaven; that which we are, we are;One equal temper of heroic hearts,Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will [20]To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield. Source: Tennyson, Alfred. “Ulysses.” The Early Poems of Alfred, Lord Tennyson. London: Edward Moxon, 1842. Project Gutenberg. 2005. Web. 7 June 2011. Examine lines 16 through 18 and select the answer that describes the poetic technique used there.

Read the poem below and answer the question that follows. “God’s World”by Edna St. Vincent Millay O world, I cannot hold thee close enough! Thy winds, thy wide grey skies! Thy mists, that roll and rise!Thy woods, this autumn day, that ache and sagAnd all but cry with colour! That gaunt cragTo crush! To lift the lean of that black bluff!World, World, I cannot get thee close enough! Long have I known a glory in it all, But never knew I this: Here such a passion isAs stretcheth me apart,—Lord, I do fearThou’st made the world too beautiful this year;My soul is all but out of me,—let fallNo burning leaf; prithee, let no bird call. Source: Millay, Edna St. Vincent. “God’s World.” Renascence and Other Poems. New York: Harper and Brothers, 1917. Poetry Foundation. Web. 6 May 2011. Which line from the poem above illustrates alliteration?

Read the poem below and answer the question that follows. “Listening to Her Practice: My Middle Daughter, on the Edge of Adolescence, Learns to Play the Saxophone”by Barbara Cooker For Rebecca Her hair, that halo of red gold curls,has thickened, coarsened,lost its baby fineness,and the sweet smell of childhoodthat clung to her clotheshas just about vanished.Now she’s getting moody,moaning about her hair,clothes that aren’t the right brands,boys that tease.She clicks over the saxophone keyswith gritty fingernails polished in pink pearl,grass stains on the kneesof her sister’s old designer jeans.She’s gone from sounding like the smoke detectorthrough Old MacDonald and Jingle Bells.Soon she’ll master these keys,turn notes into liquid gold,wail that reedy brass.Soon, she’ll be a woman.She’s gonna learn to play the blues. Source: Cooker, Barbara. “Listening to Her Practice: My Middle Daughter, on the Edge of Adolescence, Learns to Play the Saxophe.” Ordinary Life. New York: ByLine Press, 2000. El Camino College. Web. 6 May 2011. Which line from the poem illustrates a simile?