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Mock Test Solutions in English

Questions

1. Which of the following metaphysical poets wrote a poem titled “Easter Wings”?
A. Henry Vaughan B. Robert Herrick
C. George Herbert D. John Donne
2. Which of the following Spencer’s predecessors was mirrored in the shepherd boy, Colin Clout, in The
Shepheardes Calender?
A. Philip Sidney B. William Dunbar
C. Chaucer D. Shakespeare
3. Chaucer spent his life at court serving three successive English monarchs. Identify the odd one out:
A. Edward III B. Richard II
C. Henry IV D. Henry VI
4. Which poem by Dryden acts as a defence of the Catholic faith and of Dryden’s own conversion to
Catholicism in 1685?
A. The Hind and the Panther B. Palamon and Arcite
C. Religio Laici, Or A Layman's Faith D. Alexander’s Feast; or, the Power of Music
5. In which sonnet of Philip Sidney's Astrophil and Stella, does Stella fall ill?
A. Sonnet 104 B. Sonnet 101
C. Sonnet 102 D. Sonnet 106
6. The character called Morpheus appears in which of the Chaucerian poems?
A. “The House of Fame” B. The Book of the Duchess
C. Troilus and Criseyde D. A Treatise on Astrolabe
7. The Book of Margery Kempe is written in:
A. Omniscient narration B. First person
C. Second person D. Third person
8. Oliver Goldsmith’s The Deserted Village opens with a description of a village named:
A. Auburnville B. Auburndy
C. Abernville D. Auburn
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9. Which of the following poets wrote a poem with beginning lines as:

“How vainly men themselves amaze

To win the palm, the oak, or bays,”

A. Andrew Marvell B. Henry Vaughan
C. Richard Crawshaw D. George Herbert
10. In Alexander Pope’s mock-heroic poem The Rape of the Lock, Belinda is invited to play which of the
following card games upon arriving the Hampton Court?
A. Ombre B. Poker
C. Rummy D. Ecarte
11. What is the genesis of Dryden’s long poem Absalom and Achitophel?
A. Biblical tale of David and Absalom B. Arthurian legend
C. Political rivalry between England and Ireland D. Norman Conquest
12. Geoffrey of Monmouth includes a dedication to which of the following historical personalities of Britain?

1) Robert, earl of Gloucester

2) Waleran, count of Meulan

3) King Henry I

4) Robert de Beaumont

Choose the correct set:

A. Both 1 and 2 B. Both 2 and 3
C. Both 3 and 4 D. Both 1 and 4
13. “Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,
Old Time is still a-flying;
And this same flower that smiles today,
Tomorrow will be dying.”

This is the opening stanza for which Robert Herrick poem?

A. “The Flea” B. “To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time”
C. “The Countess of Pembroke's Arcadia” D. “Corinna’s Going A-Maying”
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14. Match the following poets with poems:

Poets Poems

1) Richard Lovelace (a) “Why so pale and wan, fond lover?”

2) Thomas Carew (b) Hesperides

3) John Suckling (c) “To Althea, from Prison”

4) Robert Herrick (d) “A Rapture”

Choose the correct option from those given below:

A. (a)-(ii); (b)-(iii); (c)-(iv); (d)-(i) B. (a)-(iii); (b)-(iv);; (c)-(i); (d)-(ii)
C. (a)-(i); (b)-(ii); (c)-(iii); (d)-(iv) D. (a)-(iv); (b)-(iii); (c)-(i); (d)-(ii)
15. Lawrence of Durham's Dialogi is divided into how many parts?
A. Five B. Four
C. Three D. Six
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Solutions

1. C
Sol. “Easter Wings” is a poem by George Herbert which was published in his posthumous collection, The
Temple (1633). It was originally formatted sideways on facing pages and is in the tradition of shaped
poems that goes back to ancient Greek sources. "Easter Wings'' is a religious meditation that focuses on
the atonement of Jesus Christ. Its celebration of bodily and spiritual resurrection draws its theme from 1
Corinthians 15, and it is especially notable that the word ‘victory’ found in the Biblical text is repeated in
both stanzas of the poem. As well as the poem's being emblematic of the redeemed soul overall, the
expansion and contraction of the lines imitates the meaning of the words. Thus in the first stanza the line
“O let me rise'' occurs as the wing unfurls again and is answered by the theme of climbing in the second.
There is also similar imitative wording at the centre of both stanzas, “Till he became/ Most poore '' in the
first being answered by “That I became/ Most thinne” in the second.

Thus, the correct answer is C.

2. C
Sol. The Shepheardes Calender is Edmund Spenser's first major work of poetry. It mirrors the style of the
Classical epic poet Virgil, broken down into a series of twelve ecologues for each month of the calendar
year. Each month has a different speaker, and each speaker is generally a shepherd or other commoner
figure who ruminates on pastoral life. The poem begins with the complaint of a shepherd boy named Colin
Clout, who is the poetic embodiment of Spenser's predecessor Chaucer. Each following section places a
satirical lens on the conventions of Medieval Europe, shifting through formal and informal poetic structures
including a singing contest, a panegyric, an apostrophic hymn to the god of the wild (Pan), and a dirge
(funeral song). The poem ends with the return of Clout, completing the Chaucerian frame and ending
Spenser's poetical survey of rustic European history.

Thus, the correct answer is C.

3. D
Sol. Geoffrey Chaucer was born in London in 1342 and died there in 1400. He is often considered the “Father
of English literature” and the best English poet before Shakespeare. The Canterbury Tales ranks as one of
the greatest poetic works in English. He also contributed importantly in the second half of the 14th century
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to the management of public affairs as courtier, diplomat, and civil servant. In that career he was trusted
and aided by three successive kings—Edward III, Richard II, and Henry IV.

Thus, the correct answer is D.

4. A
Sol. John Dryden wrote The Hind and the Panther (1687) in order to contribute to an ongoing dispute between
Protestant and Catholic factions, which also acted as a defence to his newly converted Catholic faith.
While his exact date of conversion from devotion to the Church of England to Catholicism remains
uncertain, it happened sometime during 1686, as in July of that year he was known to have attended
mass. Many doubted his motivations, most believing he was moved by the practicality that had ruled his
life, rather than by a passion for the Catholic faith

Thus, the correct answer is A.

5. B
Sol.
Composed in the 1580s, Philip Sidney's Astrophil and Stella is an English sonnet sequence
containing 108 sonnets and 11 songs. The name derives from the two Greek words, 'aster'
(star) and 'phil' (lover), and the Latin word 'stella' meaning star. Thus Astrophil is the star lover,
and Stella is his star. Sidney partly nativized the key features of his Italian model Petrarch,
including an ongoing but partly obscure narrative, the philosophical trappings of the poet in
relation to love and desire, and musings on the art of poetic creation. Stella falls ill in Sonnet
101, which spurs Astrophel to confess his love for her again. He serenades her under her
window in Song 11, hoping that she will change her mind and stay with him. Despite his
entreaties, Stella refuses to sacrifice her husband and her reputation. Astrophel ends the
sonnet alone and isolated, empty without Stella's presence.

Thus, the correct answer is B.

6. B
Sol. The Book of the Duchess, is the earliest of Chaucer's major poems. Based on the themes and title of the
poem, most sources put the date of composition after 12 September 1368 (when Blanche of Lancaster
died) and before 1372, with many recent studies privileging a date as early as the end of 1368. At the
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beginning of the poem, the sleepless poet, who has suffered from an unexplained sickness for eight years
(line 37), lies in his bed, reading a book. A collection of old stories, the book tells the story of Ceyx and
Alcyone. The story tells of how Ceyx lost his life at sea, and how Alcyone, his wife, mourned his absence.
Unsure of his fate, she prays to the goddess Juno to send her a dream vision. Juno sends a messenger to
Morpheus to bring the body of Ceyx with a message to Alcyone. At the end, the poet realises what has
occurred as the hunt ends and the poet awakes with his book still in hand. He reflects on the dream and
decides that his dream is so wonderful that it should be set into rhyme.

Thus, the correct answer is B.

7. D
Sol. The Book of Margery Kempe is a medieval text attributed to Margery Kempe, an English Christian mystic
and pilgrim who lived at the turn of the fifteenth century. It details Kempe's life, her travels, her alleged
experiences of divine revelation (including her visions of interacting with Jesus as well as other biblical
figures), and her presence at key biblical events such as the Nativity and the Crucifixion. Kempe's book is
written in the third person, employing the phrase "this creature" to refer to Kempe in order to display
humility before God. Kempe claimed to be illiterate and her book was dictated to two scribes who set it
down. Modern editions of Kempe's book are based on a manuscript copied by a scribe named Salthows
sometime in the fifteenth century

Thus, the correct answer is D.

8. D
Sol. The Deserted Village is a poem by Oliver Goldsmith published in 1770. It is a work of social commentary,
and condemns rural depopulation and the pursuit of excessive wealth. The poem is written in heroic
couplets, and describes the decline of a village and the emigration of many of its residents to America. In
the poem, Goldsmith criticises rural depopulation, the moral corruption found in towns, consumerism,
enclosure, landscape gardening, avarice, and the pursuit of wealth from international trade. The poem
opens with a description of a village named Auburn, written in the past tense. The Deserted Village
condemns rural depopulation, the enclosure of common land, the creation of landscape gardens and the
pursuit of excessive wealth. In Goldsmith's vision, wealth does not necessarily bring either prosperity or
happiness. Indeed, it can be dangerous to the maintenance of British liberties and displaces traditional
communities.In making this argument, some have regarded Goldsmith not as a political radical, but as a
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socially-concerned "conservative".Indeed, his emphasis on the corrupting effects of luxury fit closely with
discourses associated with Tory writers of the time.

Thus, the correct answer is D.

9. A
Sol. "The Garden", by Andrew Marvell, is one of the most famous English poems of the seventeenth century.
The real objective of Andrew Marvell in writing ‘The Garden’ seems to have been to establish the
superiority of a contemplative life over a life of action. True contemplation, according to the poet, is
possible only in the green shade of a tree in a garden. A garden offers quiet and repose; and here one can
enjoy the pleasures of the mind and soul as well as the pleasures of the sense. A life of action, on the
other hand, is futile, and men make a mistake in spending their time in feverish endeavors in order to win
honors in different fields of life. In the opening lines, the poet argues that how futile are the endeavors of
men by means of which they simply go crazy in order to win a crown of the leaves of a palm-tree or an
oak-tree or a laurel tree for their military, or civic, or poetic achievements. They perform unceasing (or
endless) labors in order to obtain a crown of leaves from a single tree or herb.

Thus, the correct answer is A.

10. A
Sol. The Rape of the Lock is a mock-heroic narrative poem written by Alexander Pope. is a humorous
indictment of the vanities and idleness of 18th-century high society. Basing his poem on a real incident
among families of his acquaintance, Pope intended his verses to cool hot tempers and to encourage his
friends to laugh at their own folly. In Canto III of the Rape of the Lock, Belinda challenges the Baron to
Ombre, a popular card game among wealthy people at that time. Ombre, meaning man (hombre in
Spanish) is an ancestor to our modern game of Bridge and was usually played with three people.

Thus, the correct answer is A.

11. A
Sol.
John Dryden based Absalom and Achitophel on a biblical incident where Absalom, King
David’s favourite son, revolts against his father and usurps his throne after being persuaded
by his false friend Achitophel. In 1678, an alleged Catholic conspiracy to assassinate King
Charles II, known as the Popish Plot, swept across England, creating mass anti-Catholic
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hysteria and prompting the Exclusion Crisis of 1679. Through the use of satire and allegory in
Absalom and Achitophel, Dryden ultimately argues that the Popish Plot and the Exclusion
Crisis were devious ploys to divert the rightful order of succession and prevent James II from
ascending the throne.

Thus, the correct answer is A.

12. A
Sol. Historia regum Britanniae (The History of the Kings of Britain), originally called De gestis Britonum (On the
Deeds of the Britons), is a pseudo-historical account of British history, written around 1136 by Geoffrey of
Monmouth. It chronicles the lives of the kings of the Britons over the course of two thousand years,
beginning with the Trojans founding the British nation and continuing until the Anglo-Saxons assumed
control of much of Britain around the 7th century. It is one of the central pieces of the Matter of Britain.
Geoffrey starts the book with a statement of his purpose in writing the history. He claims that he was given
a source for this period by Archdeacon Walter of Oxford, who presented him with a "certain very ancient
book written in the British language" from which he has translated his history. He also cites Gildas and
Bede as sources. Then follows a dedication to Robert, earl of Gloucester and Waleran, count of Meulan,
whom he enjoins to use their knowledge and wisdom to improve his tale.

Thus, the correct answer is A.

13. B
Sol. In his poem “To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time”, Robert Herrick brilliantly captures the ‘seize the day’
sentiment. Through Herrick’s use of colourful imagery and personification, the reader detects a sense of
urgency and duty for the virgins to go forth and marry while love is young, creating the overall idea of
carpe diem. Herrick uses “The Virgins” in the poem to represent the beginning of life, or youth. The
gathering of roses is a metaphor for living life to the fullest. Symbolically, the rosebud represents youth
and beauty, which has yet to bloom, but will age and eventually die.

Thus, the correct answer is B.

14. B
Sol. “Why So Pale and Wan?” is a lyric poem with three five-line stanzas, which appeared as a song in a play
that Suckling debuted in London in 1637 and published in 1638- Aglaura. Hesperides is a collection of
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poetry published in 1648 by English Cavalier poet Robert Herrick. The magnum opus contains 1200 of his
lyrical poems where the title refers to the Hesperides, nymphs of the evening in Greek mythology. "To
Althea, from Prison" is a poem written by Richard Lovelace in 1642. The poem is one of Lovelace's best-
known works. “A Rapture” exemplifies Carew's poetic strategies by creating a miniature world of fantasy
and eroticism. His poem also shows the tensions, values that exceed in scope initial physical and mental
motivations to confront private and public views.

15. B
Sol. The Dialogi has been hailed as Lawrence of Durham's "most original work". The work is a set of
dialogues, in four books, averaging c. 550 lines of elegiacs. The dialogues feature Lawrence, Philip,
another monk of Durham, and a Breton named Peter. In the first two books, where Lawrence and Philip
are in exile, Lawrence describes his longing for the good times of Bishop Geoffrey's era, describes the
great things of Durham, and disparages Cumin and the behaviour of his soldiers. In books iii and iv, when
the two Durham monks have been allowed to return by Cumin, Lawrence recounts his own upbringing,
and the characters debate various moral points.

Thus, the correct answer is B.