Name: _________________________ | Period: ___________________ |
This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.
Short Answer Questions
1. Which of these phrases is italicized in the poem "Places, Loved Ones"?
2. In the poem "Heaviest of Flowers," to what does the narrator compare memories?
3. In the poem "Maiden Name," what did marriage do to the woman?
4. In the poem "If Grief Could Burn Out," to what does the narrator compare grief?
5. What "irritant" is mentioned in the poem "Dry-Point"?
Short Essay Questions
1. In "Friday Night at the Royal Station Hotel," to what does the narrator compare the hotel? What kind of letters do the people write?
2. What is the narrator looking at in the poem "Lines on a Young Lady's Photograph Album"? What does the narrator say about the nature of photography?
3. What is the poem "Take one Home for the Kiddies" about? What happens to this object?
4. What is the poem "Wires" about? What kind of animal is mentioned in the poem?
5. Who is the subject of the poem "Like the Train's Beat"? How does the narrator describe this person?
6. What is the setting of the poem "Reasons for Attendance"? Where is the narrator? Why?
7. Where is the narrator in the poem "Night Music"? What does the poem celebrate?
8. In "Portrait," to what do the woman's hands devote themselves? What are her enemies?
9. In the poem "Within the Dream," of what does the narrator dream? What is his reaction to this dream?
10. In the poem "To Write One Song," what does the narrator want to do? Where does he have to go in order to do this?
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
Throughout his collected poems, Larkin calls upon the theme of youth to illustrate age and longing. Write an essay about the topic of youth in the collection "The Less Deceived," using at least three examples.
Essay Topic 2
A common topic in Larkin's collection "The Whitsun Weddings" is heartbreak. Write an essay on the theme of heartbreak in this collection, using at least two examples in your argument.
Essay Topic 3
In contrast to the topic of loneliness, the theme of the desire to be alone is prevalent in Larkin's poetry. Write an essay using at least two examples of this theme in the collection "The Less Deceived."
This section contains 669 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) |