Vocabulary
100: Define “diction” and give one example of how a poet’s diction can affect tone.
100: Diction — the poet’s choice of words. Example: Formal vs. informal diction can make tone serious or conversational.
100: Who is the speaker referring to in the poem “Icarus’s Flight”?
100: Speaker refers to the narrator/speaker discussing Icarus (the boy who flew), reflecting on his actions.
100: Name the primary action that takes place in the first stanza.
Primary action in stanza 1: The speaker goes to the hazel wood, cuts and peels a hazel wand, hooks a berry to a thread, drops it in a stream, and catches a silver trout.
100: How many lines are in a Shakespearean sonnet?
Lines in a Shakespearean sonnet: 14 lines.
100: Where did Yeats often find inspiration for his poems (name the region)?
Yeats found inspiration in Sligo (a rural region of Ireland).
100: During what historical situation did Shakespeare write many of his sonnets (what event closed the theaters)?
Historical situation: Many sonnets were written when theaters were closed during outbreaks of the plague.
200: What is “alliteration”? Identify why a poet might use it.
200: Alliteration — repetition of initial consonant sounds (e.g., "silver stars"). Poets use it to create rhythm, emphasis, or mood.
200: In lines 1–2 the poet asks questions such as “What else could the boy have done?” What is the main purpose of these questions?
200: Purpose of the questions (lines 1–2): To prompt readers to consider motives and consequences; to create a reflective, probing tone that invites judgment and interpretation.
200: What figurative language is used in the phrase “a fire was in my head”? Identify the type and the effect.
Figurative language in "a fire was in my head": Metaphor — compares a strong internal feeling (desire, inspiration) to fire; effect: conveys intensity, obsession, or burning desire.
200: What is the rhyme scheme of Sonnet 43? (Use the standard a–b–a–b pattern notation.)
Rhyme scheme of Sonnet 43: a-b-a-b c-d-c-d e-f-e-f g-g (provide mapping of lines to letters if needed).
200: Briefly describe the mythological background connected to “The Song of Wandering Aengus.”
Mythological background: Aengus is an Irish god of love; in myth, he falls in love with a dream girl and after searching (three years in some versions) is eventually united with her.
200: Define “couplet” and explain its role in a Shakespearean sonnet.
200: Couplet definition and role: A couplet is two rhymed lines at the end of a sonnet; it provides a final comment, summary, or twist that emphasizes the poem’s theme.
300: Explain “metaphor” and provide a short example (not from the provided poems).
300: Metaphor — compares two unlike things without "like" or "as." Example: "Time is a thief."
300: Identify two words from the poem that create a triumphant tone in the final stanza (quote them).
300: What quest does Aengus undertake in the poem? Summarize in one sentence.
Aengus's quest: To find the glimmering girl (the woman who called him by name) and be united with her — he wanders until he finds her.
300: Explain the paradox in the first line: “When most I wink, then do mine eyes best see.”
Paradox in line 1: "When most I wink, then do mine eyes best see." Meaning: When the speaker is asleep (winks/close eyes), his eyes "see" the beloved most clearly in dreams; the seeming contradiction (seeing best when eyes are closed) emphasizes the power of dreams to reveal truth.
300: How does Yeats use sound devices (like rhyme and repetition) to create a songlike quality in this poem? Provide one concrete example.
Sound devices: Yeats uses end rhyme and repetition to create songlike rhythm. Example: head/thread (end rhyme pair) or repeated sounds like "moth" and "moth-like stars"; these devices create musicality and emphasize memory/repetition.
300: In Sonnet 43, what does the speaker mean by “Then thou, whose shadow shadows doth make bright”? Paraphrase in modern English.
Paraphrase of line 5: "Then you, whose shadow makes shadows seem bright" — Modern paraphrase: Your presence is so strong that even your shadow makes things brighter; the speaker suggests the beloved’s shadow brightens darkness.
400: What does “connotation” mean? Give an example of two words with different connotations but similar denotations.
400: Connotation — the emotional or cultural associations of a word beyond its literal meaning. Example: "slim" (positive) vs. "skinny" (negative) both mean thin.
400: How does the poem’s form—flowing sentences across stanzas—affect the reader’s understanding of Icarus’s choice? Give one specific effect.
Form effect: Flowing sentences across stanzas create continuity of thought and emphasize that the events and ideas are connected—it blurs stanza boundaries so the reader experiences the argument as ongoing rather than compartmentalized.
400: Identify the rhyme pattern in stanza one (give at least one pair of end rhymes from the stanza).
Rhyme pattern in stanza one: Example end rhymes — "wood"/(line1) with later lines; specifically head/thread is a pair (head/thread = lines 2 and 4). (Accept identification of at least one pair of end rhymes such as head/thread or wand/land if present—use stanza text for exact pairs.)
400: What is the function of the final couplet in a Shakespearean sonnet? Apply your answer to Sonnet 43’s last two lines.
Function of final couplet: The couplet summarizes or delivers a concluding insight or turn; in Sonnet 43, the final couplet ("All days are nights to see till I see thee, / And nights bright days when dreams do show thee me.") restates the main idea: absence makes days feel like nights; dreams/light invert that when beloved appears.
400: Discuss how Yeats’s choice of images contributes to the poem’s tone of longing. Give two image examples from the poem.
Images contributing to longing: Examples — "a fire was in my head" (intense desire), "glimmering girl / with apple blossom in her hair" (ethereal, unattainable beauty). These images evoke yearning and the memory of the beloved.
400: How does Shakespeare use contrast (day/night, bright/dark) throughout Sonnet 43 to develop the poet’s view of love and absence? Give two examples from the text.
Use of contrast examples: Day/night and bright/dark contrasts appear throughout: "For all the day they view things unrespected" vs. "When I sleep, in dreams they look on thee"; and "darkly bright" / "nights bright days" in the couplet. These contrasts show that absence turns day into darkness while dreams bring light.
500: Define “extended metaphor” and describe how it differs from a simple metaphor.
500: Extended metaphor — a metaphor developed over several lines or the entire work; differs from a simple metaphor by sustained comparison (e.g., in Yeats, comparing the quest and its images—apples, moon, sun—to longing over multiple lines).
500: Analyze the line that refers to Icarus flying “precisely to the point of wisdom.” What does the poet mean by this paradoxical idea? Use evidence from the poem.
"Precisely to the point of wisdom" analysis: The poet suggests Icarus deliberately flew to the limit of knowledge/experience; his fall gives him insight (wisdom) about limits. This is paradoxical because wisdom often implies caution, yet here wisdom comes through risk and consequence (support with lines: "He flew just far enough. He flew precisely / to the point of wisdom...").
500: Explain how the images “silver apples of the moon” and “golden apples of the sun” function as an extended image or symbol in the poem.
"Silver apples of the moon" and "golden apples of the sun" function as symbolic, contrasting images that suggest an eternal, magical reward and the completeness of his quest; they extend the poem’s imagery of desire and the mixing of the mystical (moon/sun) to express longing beyond ordinary life.
500: Identify an example of figurative language in Sonnet 43 and explain how it helps express the speaker’s feeling about absence.
Figurative language example: "darkly bright, are bright in dark directed" (oxymoron/metaphor) — it expresses how the beloved’s presence illuminates darkness; this intensifies the theme of presence/absence and the poet’s emotional state.
500: Compare Yeats’s treatment of longing in “Wandering Aengus” with the idea of quest in another text or myth (one–two sentences).
Comparative treatment (brief): Yeats treats longing as an ongoing, mystical quest using natural and mythic images; compare to Odysseus’s quest (both are long journeys driven by desire). (Accept a one–two sentence comparison to other myths or texts students know.)
500: Analyze how meter contributes to the tone of Sonnet 43. Identify one line and explain how stressed/unstressed syllables affect meaning when read aloud.
Meter contribution: Shakespearean sonnets are typically in iambic pentameter (five iambs per line). Example line: "When most I wink, then do mine eyes best see," read with unstressed-stressed pattern to create a natural speech rhythm; the meter's steady beat contrasts with paradoxes and intensifies emotional emphasis when read aloud.
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