Modern Selections Test Review
“Do Not Go Gentle Into that Good Night”
1. What imagery is used for life? For death?
Life – light, candle
Death – dying of light; light being extinguished
2. What do the men learn in each stanza?
Wise men – death is right
Good men – they are not done doing good deeds
Wild men – see death too late
Grave men – know death is coming
3. Where do you see assonance and consonance in the poem?
“against the dying of the light”
“The Unknown Citizen”
4. How can you interpret the identification “To JS/07/M/378”?
Some sort of identifier.
5. What does the society that built the monument to the unknown citizen seem to value most?
Conformity
6. Describe the unknown citizen’s life.
Exactly what was expected.
7. How does the speaker judge the goodness of the citizen’s life?
Doesn’t have any complaints against him.
8. “The Unknown Citizen” represents a loss of what in society?
Individuality
9. Look at lines 22–24 of “The Unknown Citizen”. What ideas are being conveyed?
Everyone should think and act the same.
“Preludes,”“The Hollow Men,”“The Naming of Cats”
10. What does the author of “Preludes” use to stress his belief in the sameness of people?
All of “thousand furnished rooms”
11. In the third section of “Preludes,” the author’s style of using a despairing tone is clear when night reveals to the woman in bed what?
Negative images from her soul in the form of nightmares.
12. What is the tone presented in the first section of “Preludes”? What words encourage that tone?
Isolation – “vacant lots” , “lonely cab-horse”
13. Noting repeated images can help you read modern verse. Why does Eliot most likely include an image of feet in every section of “Preludes”?
While the feet are everywhere, he is still alone.
14. In the fourth section of “The Hollow Men,” the speaker conveys a sense of isolation by describing what?
The men are together, but they cannot speak.
15. What does line 29 of “The Naming of Cats” help you understand?
The cat is the only one that will know the third name.
16. How are the hollow men in “The Hollow Men” different from the cats in “The Naming of Cats”?
The men have nothing and the cats have pride.
17. The woman sitting on her bed in section III of “Preludes” and the cats in contemplation in “The Naming of Cats” are similar in what way?
The both have a secret that only they know.
“The Rocking Horse Winner”
18. Where does Paul demand his rocking-horse take him?
To luck.
19. What theme does the word rocking-horse in the story’s title help?
Loss of innocence. He is too young to be worrying about adult problems and issues.
20. Paul’s parents create problems for themselves how?
They spend more money than they have.
21. Consider Paul’s satisfaction when he rides his rocking-horse. You may conclude that Paul believes what about riding the horse?
He can make his own future and control his luck.
22. One of Basset’s character traits is that he takes racing very seriously. What theme does this trait most likely help develop?
The loss of innocence. All of the adults in the story have a negative impact on Paul as a child.
23. How does the story connect to the themes of modern society?
People sacrifice themselves for others to their own detriment.
24. What role does luck play in Paul’s life?
When he first gets luck it is good, but it turns negative when he becomes so obsessed with luck that it kills him.
“The Demon Lover”
25. Look at the ambiguity in the following sentences from the story. What is the probable meaning this description suggests?
“Under circumstances she did not care to consider, a house can be entered without a key.”
If someone comes in without using a key, it is usually for negative reasons.
“‘I shall be with you,’ he said, ‘sooner or later. You won’t forget that. You need do nothing but wait.’”
It almost comes across as a threat of him coming for her whether he is dead or alive.
26. What details of the changing weather foreshadow dangerous events to come?
Suddenly clouds appear and make the house very dark.
27. In the flashback that describes Kathleen’s marriage to Mr. Drover, what information do you learn about Kathleen’s life after her soldier disappears?
She waits a long time for him, and her family is patient while she recovers from losing him. Even when she is ready to move on, she does not have suitors and begins to doubt she’ll ever get married.
28. Why does Mrs. Drover remain in the house after the letter frightens her so much?
She has always been a dependable and reliable person, and she refuses to allow her fear to deter her.
29. Why does leaving the house create a false sense of comfort?
She believes nothing will happen to her in a crowd.
“Shooting an Elephant”
30. What does Orwell believe will happen if the shooting goes wrong?
Everyone will laugh at him.
31. What does the crowd of excited people cause Orwell to realize about behavior?
Groups can make you lose yourself and do things that you would not normally do like shooting the elephant.
32. How does this connect to the overall theme of the section?
Groups are dangerous.
33. The author’s strong feelings against killing the elephant connects to this reflective essay’s idea against what ideas?
Imperialism, anti-government, isolation
You will also have a cold read and two short answers.