The first stanza of Countee Cullen’s “A Brown Girl Dead” reads: “With two white roses on her breasts,/White candles at head and feet,/Dark Madonna of the grave she rests;/Lord Death has found her sweet.” Which of the following statements accurately characterizes these lines ?

Related Mcqs:

1. Which of the following statements accurately characterizes Marianne Moore’s poem “A Grave ?”

   A. It juxtaposes human consciousness against the sea.
   B. It uses alliteration and iambic pentameter.
   C. It has a subtle formal structure, even though it does not use rhyme.
   D. Both A and C

2. Ezra Pound’s poem “In a Station of the Metro” reads: “The apparition of these faces in the crowd;/ Petals on a wet, black bough.” Which of the following statements best characterizes this poem ?

   A. It seeks to diminish the distance between society and nature.
   B. It seeks to amplify the distance between society and nature.
   C. It plays with the relationship between the social, natural, and supernatural worlds.
   D. It evokes the beauty of a pastoral scene.

3. Which of the following statements accurately characterizes the relationship between Italian Futurism and its historical context ?

   A. The Italian Futurists were fascinated by the age of electric and chemical power, and they praised the beauty of automobiles.
   B. The Italian Futurists lived within a quickly changing social world, and they praised speed.
   C. Marinetti and other Italian Futurists supported Mussolini’s fascism.
   D. All of these answers

4. Which of the following statements best characterizes Randall Jarrell’s 1945 poem “The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner” ?

   A. The poem contrasts the image of a child in its mother’s womb with cruel devaluation of human life in wartime.
   B. The poem praises those technological achievements which protect human life in wartime.
   C. The poem uses images of the apocalypse to criticize the cruelty of war.
   D. The poem presents the war as a natural part of the perennial cycles of human history.

5. Ezra Pound’s “Canto I” opens with the following lines: “And then went down to the ship,/Set keel to breakers, forth on the godly sea, and(…).” Which of the following statements best characterizes these lines and the poem as a whole ?

   A. These lines set an impersonal tone which dominates the entire poem.
   B. These lines establish a rhythmical pattern, which is followed strictly throughout the poem.
   C. These lines are the only impersonal lines in the poem, the rest of which is primarily focused on the complexity of human emotions.
   D. These lines establish a personal tone, focusing on a lyrical perspective similar to late-Victorian era poetry.

6. Which of the following statements best characterizes the difference between World War II poetry and Futurist poetry ?

   A. The Futurists apotheosized technology, whereas World War II poets often focused on technology’s destructive powers.
   B. The Futurists praised speed, whereas World War II poets often evoked images of nature to describe the human condition.
   C. The Futurists privileged the part over the whole, whereas World War II poets did not deal with the problem of modernity and alienation.
   D. The Futurists focused on advancements in technology and industry, whereas World War II poets ignored advancements in technology, especially in modern warfare.

7. Which of the following statements best characterizes Ezra Pound’s poem “Hugh Selwyn Mauberley” ?

   A. It is primarily a narrative poem.
   B. It uses iambic pentameter to achieve tonal fluidity.
   C. It undermines the idea of a single lyrical voice by using diverse cultural symbols and numerous phrases in various languages.
   D. Its intensity derives from the combination of modern subject matter and alexandrine couplets.

8. Which of the following statements best characterizes the formal qualities of Langston Hughes’s poem “Life is Fine” ?

   A. The diction is much more polysyllabic than monosyllabic.
   B. The use of alternating end rhymes and word repetitions enhance the music of the poem and along with its occasional dissonance give it an improvisational jazz-like quality.
   C. It is written in Standard American English for middle-class readers.
   D. This poem is structured like a villanelle.

9. Which of the following statements best characterizes the difference between Futurism and Vorticism ?

   A. Members of both movements were fascinated by speed and dynamism, but unlike the Futurists, Vorticists did not celebrate technology and industrialization.
   B. Futurism was a politically-inclined movement, whereas Vorticism was free of all political entanglements.
   C. Futurism lasted for several decades, whereas Vorticism was short-lived.
   D. Vorticists celebrated technology and industrialization, whereas Futurists explored impending cultural challenges regarding technology and industrialization.

10. Which of the following statements best characterizes the role played by Gertrude Stein in American modernism ?

    A. Stein was a crucially important figure in the Paris émigré community.
    B. Stein was primarily a muse for modernist poets.
    C. Stein was a proponent of low modernism.
    D. Stein was an opponent of vanguard trends.