Il Penseroso Quizzes

Il Penseroso Quiz

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

Melancholy

Mirth

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

Fantasy

Vain deluding joys

Melancholy
3 Who is Orpheus?
A shepherd who tried to lead his wife out of the underworld

The goddess who guides "Il Penseroso"

The Greek name for Melancholy

One of the peasants the speaker sees in the fields
4 What does the speaker argue in "Il Penseroso"?
That the best life to live is the life of sadness

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 politics
5 When did Milton likely write "Il Penseroso"?
As a small child

While studying at Cambridge

At the end of his career

In the middle of his political career
6 Does the speaker in "Il Penseroso" win the debate?
Yes

It's unclear

No

There is no debate
7 How does "Il Penseroso" end?
With the speaker listening to birds in the forest

With the speaker finding a friend

With the speaker listening to music at a church

With the speaker studying in a tower
8 During the Renaissance, people associated Melancholy with ____
Festivals

An artistic temperment

Business

A life of joy
9 What is the name of the companion poem to "Il Penseroso"?
"L'Allegro"

"L'Alleger"

"Il Legro"

"Il Alleg"
10 What does the speaker argue for in "L'Allegro"?
That the best life to live is the life of study

That the best life to live is the life in business

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 entering the desert in search of solitude

The speaker attending the theater to listen to Shakespeare

The speaker guiding a lost traveler

The speaker listening to birds in the forest
12 Where did Milton attend school?
University of London

Oxford

Cambridge

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

Orpheous

Persephone

Zeus
14 Which genre does Milton draw from in "Il Penseroso"?
Classical hymn

Epic Poetry

Free verse

History Play
15 Who does the speaker say gave birth to Melancholy?
Zeus and Hecuba

Saturn and Vesta

Zephyr and Aurora

Zeus and Leda
16 The speaker compares ___ to a lost traveler.
The sun

The moon

A bird

A star
17 Which scene takes place in "Il Penseroso"?
The speaker studies in a tower

The speaker writes a play

The speaker travels to another country

The speaker attends a party
18 Which genre does the speaker contemplate in the tower?
Tragedy

Comedy

Dance

Music
19 Where does the speaker go to sleep during the day?
At the top of a mountain

In the sunlight

The shade

By a pond
20 After taking a nap, the speaker wakes to ___.
Cries

Night

Music

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

King Lear

The Canterbury Tales

Comus
22 The speaker calls a group of muses including ____.
Music

Quiet

Revelry

Joy
23 The speaker compares Melancholy to a ____.
Nun

Teacher

Dancer

Student
24 Melancholy walks with ___.
Small steps

Even step

Galloping Gait

Reckless speed
25 Where was Melancholy conceived?
At the top of a mountain

In a marital bed

In the sky

In secret shades

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