Il Penseroso Quizzes

Il Penseroso Quiz

1 Who does the speaker choose as his guide in "Il Penseroso?"
Penance

Contemplation

Melancholy

Mirth
2 What does the speaker reject at the beginning?
Mirth

Melancholy

Vain deluding joys

Fantasy
3 Who is Orpheus?
One of the peasants the speaker sees in the fields

A shepherd who tried to lead his wife out of the underworld

The goddess who guides "Il Penseroso"

The Greek name for Melancholy
4 What does the speaker argue in "Il Penseroso"?
That the best life to live is the life of contemplation

That the best life to live is the life of joy

That the best life to live is the life of sadness

That the best life to live is the life of politics
5 When did Milton likely write "Il Penseroso"?
At the end of his career

In the middle of his political career

As a small child

While studying at Cambridge
6 Does the speaker in "Il Penseroso" win the debate?
There is no debate

No

It's unclear

Yes
7 How does "Il Penseroso" end?
With the speaker listening to music at a church

With the speaker studying in a tower

With the speaker finding a friend

With the speaker listening to birds in the forest
8 During the Renaissance, people associated Melancholy with ____
A life of joy

An artistic temperment

Business

Festivals
9 What is the name of the companion poem to "Il Penseroso"?
"Il Alleg"

"Il Legro"

"L'Allegro"

"L'Alleger"
10 What does the speaker argue for in "L'Allegro"?
That the best life to live is the life in business

That the best life to live is the life of study

That the best life to live is the life of joy

That the best life to live is the life of silence
11 Which scene occurs in "Il Penseroso"?
The speaker listening to birds in the forest

The speaker guiding a lost traveler

The speaker entering the desert in search of solitude

The speaker attending the theater to listen to Shakespeare
12 Where did Milton attend school?
Cambridge

Oxford

University of London

Harvard
13 Which character from Greek mythology does the speaker allude to in "Il Penseroso"?
Zeus

Orpheous

Persephone

Hecuba
14 Which genre does Milton draw from in "Il Penseroso"?
History Play

Epic Poetry

Classical hymn

Free verse
15 Who does the speaker say gave birth to Melancholy?
Saturn and Vesta

Zephyr and Aurora

Zeus and Leda

Zeus and Hecuba
16 The speaker compares ___ to a lost traveler.
The moon

A bird

A star

The sun
17 Which scene takes place in "Il Penseroso"?
The speaker writes a play

The speaker attends a party

The speaker travels to another country

The speaker studies in a tower
18 Which genre does the speaker contemplate in the tower?
Comedy

Dance

Music

Tragedy
19 Where does the speaker go to sleep during the day?
By a pond

In the sunlight

The shade

At the top of a mountain
20 After taking a nap, the speaker wakes to ___.
Music

Birds

Night

Cries
21 Which work does the speaker allude to in "Il Penseroso"?
Paradise Lost

King Lear

Comus

The Canterbury Tales
22 The speaker calls a group of muses including ____.
Revelry

Joy

Music

Quiet
23 The speaker compares Melancholy to a ____.
Dancer

Nun

Teacher

Student
24 Melancholy walks with ___.
Small steps

Galloping Gait

Reckless speed

Even step
25 Where was Melancholy conceived?
At the top of a mountain

In a marital bed

In secret shades

In the sky

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