AP Literature Practice Exam

Boll-weevils coming, and the winter's cold,

Made cotton-stalks look rusty, seasons old,

And cotton, scarce as any southern snow,

Was vanishing; the branch, so pinched and slow,

Failed in its function as the autumn rake;

Drouth fighting soil had caused the soil to take

All water from the streams; dead birds were found

In wells a hundred feet below the ground-

Such was the season when the flower bloomed.

Old folds were startled, and it soon assumed

Significance. Superstition saw

Something it had never seen before:

Brown eyes that loved without a trace of fear,

Beauty so sudden for that time of year.

Which description best characterizes the poem?

A recollection of a remarkable occurrence

3 multiple choice options

Boll-weevils coming, and the winter's cold,

Made cotton-stalks look rusty, seasons old,

And cotton, scarce as any southern snow,

Was vanishing; the branch, so pinched and slow,

Failed in its function as the autumn rake;

Drouth fighting soil had caused the soil to take

All water from the streams; dead birds were found

In wells a hundred feet below the ground-

Such was the season when the flower bloomed.

Old folds were startled, and it soon assumed

Significance. Superstition saw

Something it had never seen before:

Brown eyes that loved without a trace of fear,

Beauty so sudden for that time of year.

The primary purpose of lines 1-8 is to

Provide a context for the poem's central image

3 multiple choice options

Boll-weevils coming, and the winter's cold,

Made cotton-stalks look rusty, seasons old,

And cotton, scarce as any southern snow,

Was vanishing; the branch, so pinched and slow,

Failed in its function as the autumn rake;

Drouth fighting soil had caused the soil to take

All water from the streams; dead birds were found

In wells a hundred feet below the ground-

Such was the season when the flower bloomed.

Old folds were startled, and it soon assumed

Significance. Superstition saw

Something it had never seen before:

Brown eyes that loved without a trace of fear,

Beauty so sudden for that time of year.

Which best described the technique used in lines 4-8?

Examples of death in nature accumulate to provide emphasis

3 multiple choice options

Boll-weevils coming, and the winter's cold,

Made cotton-stalks look rusty, seasons old,

And cotton, scarce as any southern snow,

Was vanishing; the branch, so pinched and slow,

Failed in its function as the autumn rake;

Drouth fighting soil had caused the soil to take

All water from the streams; dead birds were found

In wells a hundred feet below the ground-

Such was the season when the flower bloomed.

Old folds were startled, and it soon assumed

Significance. Superstition saw

Something it had never seen before:

Brown eyes that loved without a trace of fear,

Beauty so sudden for that time of year.

In line 5, "failed in its function as" is best understood to mean

was useless as

3 multiple choice options

Boll-weevils coming, and the winter's cold,

Made cotton-stalks look rusty, seasons old,

And cotton, scarce as any southern snow,

Was vanishing; the branch, so pinched and slow,

Failed in its function as the autumn rake;

Drouth fighting soil had caused the soil to take

All water from the streams; dead birds were found

In wells a hundred feet below the ground-

Such was the season when the flower bloomed.

Old folds were startled, and it soon assumed

Significance. Superstition saw

Something it had never seen before:

Brown eyes that loved without a trace of fear,

Beauty so sudden for that time of year.

The statement in line 9 serves to emphasize that the blooming of the flower was

incongruous

3 multiple choice options

Boll-weevils coming, and the winter's cold,

Made cotton-stalks look rusty, seasons old,

And cotton, scarce as any southern snow,

Was vanishing; the branch, so pinched and slow,

Failed in its function as the autumn rake;

Drouth fighting soil had caused the soil to take

All water from the streams; dead birds were found

In wells a hundred feet below the ground-

Such was the season when the flower bloomed.

Old folds were startled, and it soon assumed

Significance. Superstition saw

Something it had never seen before:

Brown eyes that loved without a trace of fear,

Beauty so sudden for that time of year.

For the "Old Folks" (line 10), the blooming of the flower was

an unexpected and profound revelation

3 multiple choice options

Boll-weevils coming, and the winter's cold,

Made cotton-stalks look rusty, seasons old,

And cotton, scarce as any southern snow,

Was vanishing; the branch, so pinched and slow,

Failed in its function as the autumn rake;

Drouth fighting soil had caused the soil to take

All water from the streams; dead birds were found

In wells a hundred feet below the ground-

Such was the season when the flower bloomed.

Old folds were startled, and it soon assumed

Significance. Superstition saw

Something it had never seen before:

Brown eyes that loved without a trace of fear,

Beauty so sudden for that time of year.

If the context of the poem is interpreted broadly, the cotton flower most likely symbolizes

the possibility of miraculous change

3 multiple choice options

The primary purpose of passage 2 (cemetery) is to

reveal aspects of Soame's character

3 multiple choice options

In the first paragraph:

"In Washington, District of Columbia, the "Fall" sun shone, and all that was not evergreen or stone in Rock Creek Cemetery was glowing. Before the Saint Gaudens statue Soames Forsyte sat on his overcoat, with the marble screen to his back, enjoying the seclusion and a streak of sunlight passaging between the cypresses."

the cemetary is presented as

idyllic

3 multiple choice options

Which of the following responses is part of the "marked effect" (line 14, passage 2) that the statue has on Soames?

He meditates on mortality

3 multiple choice options

In the context of passage 2, the description of Soames as feeling "thoroughly at home" (line 15) in front of the statue is

ironic, since Soames has been traveling for a long time and looks forward to returning home

3 multiple choice options

Lines 18 through 23:

"Yesterday, in the presence of Fleur, Michael, and other people, all gaping like himself, he had not so much noted the mood of the thing as its technical excellence, but now, alone, he could enjoy the luxury of his own sensations."

describe a change from

intellectual appreciation to affective reaction

3 multiple choice options

In line 22, the word "luxury" is best interpreted as suggesting that Soames

views emotions as experiences to be savored

3 multiple choice options

According to the passage, which statement about the statue is true?

Its meaning to Soames varies with his angle of perspective

3 multiple choice options

In lines 30-33:

"From his present position the woman had passed beyond grief. She sat in a frozen acceptance deeper than death itself, very remarkable!"

the narrator suggests that the woman appears to have

reached a point of acquiescence

3 multiple choice options

Lines 33-35:

"He remembered his own father, James, a quarter of an hour after death, as if- as if he had been told at last!"

describe death as though it were

a revelation

3 multiple choice options

The narrator mentions the oak leaves in lines 36-37 to emphasize that Soames is

fascinated

3 multiple choice options

Taken together, the two paragraphs in lines 40-46:

"He rose, crossed towards the statue, and gingerly touched a fold on the green bronze, as if questioning the possibility of everlasting nothingness.

'Got a sister living in Dallas- married a railroad man down there as a young girl. Why! Texas is a wonderful State. I know my sister laughs at the idea that the climate of Texas isn't about right.'"

most directly present

a juxtaposition of the profound and the mundane

3 multiple choice options

Soame's attitude toward "Americans" is best described as

resigned tolerance

3 multiple choice options

The final paragraph of passage 2 primarily presents Soames as

contented

3 multiple choice options

In lines 1-2:

"The harbingers are come. See, see their mark;

White is their colour, and behold my head."

the speaker describes

a sign of old age

3 multiple choice options

In line 6, the speaker suggests that his relationship with God

will withstand his mortal decline

3 multiple choice options

In the first stanza:

The harbingers are come. See, see their mark;

White is their colour, and behold my head.

But must they have my brain? Must they dispark

Those sparkling notions, which therein were bred?

Must dulnesse turn me into a clod?

Yet have they left me, thou art still my God.

the speaker expresses dismay at the possibility that he will

lose his creative powers

3 multiple choice options

The speaker's references to "Church" in lines 17 and 22 primarily serve to

underscore the laudable purpose of his poetic work

3 multiple choice options

In the fourth stanza, the speaker addresses the "Louely enchanting language" (line 19) from the perspective of

a spurned lover

3 multiple choice options

Lines 25-27:

"Let foolish lovers, if they will love dung,

With canvas, not with arras clothe their shame:

Let follie speak in her own native tongue."

present a criticism of

sensuous love poetry

3 multiple choice options

In line 30:

"Beautie and beauteous words should go together."

the speaker does which of the following?

Asserts a connection between the subject of the poetry and its execution

3 multiple choice options

In lines 31-33:

"Yet if you go, I passe not; take your way:

For, Thou art still my God, is all that ye

Perhaps with more embellishment can say."

the speaker implies that

the theme of his poems remains the same

3 multiple choice options

The statement "Thou art still my God" is best described as

a refrain

2 multiple choice options

The narrator suggests that agreeing with Touchwood on a given subject is a way to

cause him to alter his original approach

3 multiple choice options

Which of the following is true of the adjective "superfluous" as it is used in line 5?

"their superfluous agreement..."

it reflects Touchwood's point of view

3 multiple choice options

In context, Touchwood's reaction to "an invitation" (lines 6-7):

"An invitation or any sin or expectation throws him into an attitude of refusal"

is best described as

perverse

3 multiple choice options

According to the narrator, when is Touchwood LEAST contented?

when he lacks a specific object to challenge

3 multiple choice options

What is the most likely reason that Touchwood inclined to make the tradesman wait for the money?

He refuses to respond to another's prompting

3 multiple choice options

The use of the second person (you) starting in line 24 has which of the following effects?

It involves the reader more intimately in the passage

3 multiple choice options

Lines 27-29:

"Impossible that you can have committed any offense. If mice had disturbed him, that is not your fault;"

primarily serves to

imagine and reject possible provocations

3 multiple choice options

In lines 30-31 the narrator uses "any reference to the weather" as an example of

an inoffensive remark

3 multiple choice options

in lines 40-51 ("if touchwood's .... against resort"), the narrator primarily makes use of which of the following?

A hypothetical scenario

3 multiple choice options

At the end of the passage, the narrator suggests that the person who has had the "accident" will

be reluctant to respond to verbal attacks from Touchwood

3 multiple choice options

In the passage as a whole, the speaker's tone can best be described as one of

wry amusement

3 multiple choice options

the phrase "dangerous fire" (line 2) refers most directly to

the fervor of love

3 multiple choice options

The purpose of the speaker's question in lines 3-4:

"By why, then, traitress, do you seek to move in others what your breast can never inspire?"

is to

reproach the lady's encouragement in others of what she will not feel

3 multiple choice options

In context, the word "alone" in line 5:

"You tell me, you my friend alone will be"

primarily serves to

define the limits of the relationship

3 multiple choice options

The second stanza:

"You tell me, you my friend alone will be,

Yet speak of friendship in a voice so sweet,

That, while I struggle to be coldly free,

I feel my heart with wildest throbbings beat."

primarily reveals the

speakers internal conflict

3 multiple choice options

The repetition of "vainly," in the third stanza serves primarily to emphasize the extent to which the

lady's discouragement fails to affect her suitors

3 multiple choice options

The tone of the questions in lines 13-16:

"O, wherefore should you fly

from the seducing charm it spreads around?

O why enshrine your soul with apathy?

Or wish in frozen fetters to be bound?"

is best described as

imploring

3 multiple choice options

Which of the following statements best summarizes the meaning of the fifth stanza?

"Life is a darksome and dreary day,

The solitary wretch no pleasure knows;

Love is the star that lights him on his way,

And guides him on to pleasure and repose."

Life is gloomy and onerous, and only love illuminates one's path to a gratifying peace

3 multiple choice options

In lines 31-32:

"A soul like mine was never formed to prove

Those viler passions with which some can burn."

the speaker does which of the following?

Proclaims that he cannot by nature tolerate a lack of dignity in love

3 multiple choice options

In lines 33-34:

"Then fear not me; for since it is thy will,

Adhere with stubborn coolness to thy vow;"

The speaker is best described as

acceding to the lady's requirements

3 multiple choice options

Which of the following best describes the overall development of the poem?

The speaker makes an extended, reasoned complaint to the lady before providing himself thoughtful consolation

3 multiple choice options