The Poetry of John Dryden Quizzes

The Poetry of John Dryden Dryden's Poetry

1 Which of the following is a central topic of "A Song for St. Cecilia's Day"?
Music

Romantic love

Nature

Monarchy
2 Which type of stanza is Dryden most associated with?
Tercet

Heroic couplets

Blank verse

Ballad Stanza
3 The phrase "Trade, which, like blood,/should circularly flow" contains which of the following?
Simile

Personification

Metaphor

Hyperbole
4 Which of Dryden's poems celebrates the new reign of Charles II?
Astrea Redux

Alexander's Feast

Happy the Man

Religio Laici
5 Which of the following poems is an elegy?
Anne Killigrew

Marriage a-la-mode

A Song for St. Cecilia's Day

Astrea Redux
6 Which of the following is metaphorically compared to a "peal of thunder" in Alexander's Feast"?
The arrival of St. Cecilia

The sound of a lyre

The singing at a Catholic church service

The yelling of crowds at James II's coronation
7 Which of the following is NOT an apt description of Dryden's typical tone?
Astute

Saccharine

Incisive

Reasoned
8 Which of the following is NOT a prominent theme in Dryden's work?
Art

Gender and gender inequality

Reason and passion

Grief
9 Which situational irony is described in The Medall?
The Whigs create a medal, though they are against ornament and material possessions

Shaftesbury is praised and rewarded, despite acting traitorously

The medal is made for Shaftesbury, but ultimately awarded to his enemy

The medal's image is shallowly carved, but it depicts a deep, profound mind
10 Which animal represents Catholicism in The Hind and the Panther?
The fox

The panther

The goose

The hind
11 Which of Dryden's poems criticizes the poet Thomas Shadwell?
Absalom and Achitophel

Mac Flecknoe

The Hind and the Panther

To the Memory of Mr. Oldham
12 For which real event is Absalom and Achitophel an allegory?
The English Civil War

The French Revolution

The Exclusion Crisis

The Great Fire of London
13 In Mac Flecknoe, the claim that Shadwell "never deviates into sense" is an instance of what?
Metonymy

Understatement

Alliteration

Simile
14 Which poem most prominently praises Protestantism?
Religio Laici

Annus Mirabilis

The Hind and the Panther

Alexander's Feast
15 The word "hiss" in the phrase "See the snakes that they rear / How they hiss in their hair" in an instance of what?
Metaphor

Anaphora

Onomatopoeia

Hyperbole
16 The phrase "Of the thundering drum" includes an example of which device?
End rhyme

Assonance

Alliteration

Understatement
17 Which of Dryden's poems is NOT primarily about another poet?
The Medall

To the Memory of Mr. Oldham

Anne Killigrew

Mac Flecknoe
18 Which of the following works is written in quatrains rather than couplets?
Heroic Stanzas on the Death of Oliver Cromwell

Absalom and Achitophel

Dryden never wrote in quatrains

To the Memory of Mr. Oldham
19 The use of "tongue" to mean "language" in "To the Memory of Mr. Oldham" is an instance of what?
Motif

Metonymy

Personification

Understatement
20 Which of the following is a major event in "Annus Mirabilis"?
Both

England's naval victories

The Great Fire of London

Neither
21 What is the English translation of the title "Annus Mirabilis"?
Year of Return

Year of Farce

Year of Wonders

Year of Tranquility
22 Which of the following does Dryden most often allude to?
The Bible

Classical texts

Renaissance poetry and art

Modern science
23 Which of the following figures is NOT allegorically represented in "Absalom and Achitophel"?
Thomas Shadwell

King Charles II

The Duke of Monmouth

The Earl of Shaftesbury
24 Dryden's description of flutes "breathing" in "Alexander's Feast" is an instance of which?
Hyperbole

Symbolism

Personification

Onomatopoeia
25 What verse form comprises the play "All for Love"?
Blank verse

Heroic couplets

Sonnets

Prose

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