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"?
Nature

Romantic love

Music

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

Tercet

Ballad Stanza

Blank verse
3 The phrase "Trade, which, like blood,/should circularly flow" contains which of the following?
Hyperbole

Simile

Metaphor

Personification
4 Which of Dryden's poems celebrates the new reign of Charles II?
Religio Laici

Alexander's Feast

Happy the Man

Astrea Redux
5 Which of the following poems is an elegy?
Astrea Redux

Marriage a-la-mode

A Song for St. Cecilia's Day

Anne Killigrew
6 Which of the following is metaphorically compared to a "peal of thunder" in Alexander's Feast"?
The sound of a lyre

The singing at a Catholic church service

The arrival of St. Cecilia

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

Astute

Incisive

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

Reason and passion

Gender and gender inequality

Art
9 Which situational irony is described in The Medall?
Shaftesbury is praised and rewarded, despite acting traitorously

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

The Whigs create a medal, though they are against ornament and material possessions

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 panther

The hind

The fox

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

To the Memory of Mr. Oldham

The Hind and the Panther

Mac Flecknoe
12 For which real event is Absalom and Achitophel an allegory?
The English Civil War

The Exclusion Crisis

The Great Fire of London

The French Revolution
13 In Mac Flecknoe, the claim that Shadwell "never deviates into sense" is an instance of what?
Simile

Metonymy

Understatement

Alliteration
14 Which poem most prominently praises Protestantism?
The Hind and the Panther

Alexander's Feast

Religio Laici

Annus Mirabilis
15 The word "hiss" in the phrase "See the snakes that they rear / How they hiss in their hair" in an instance of what?
Hyperbole

Metaphor

Anaphora

Onomatopoeia
16 The phrase "Of the thundering drum" includes an example of which device?
Assonance

End rhyme

Alliteration

Understatement
17 Which of Dryden's poems is NOT primarily about another poet?
To the Memory of Mr. Oldham

Mac Flecknoe

Anne Killigrew

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

Dryden never wrote in quatrains

To the Memory of Mr. Oldham

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

Personification

Understatement

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

The Great Fire of London

England's naval victories

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

Year of Farce

Year of Tranquility

Year of Return
22 Which of the following does Dryden most often allude to?
Classical texts

The Bible

Modern science

Renaissance poetry and art
23 Which of the following figures is NOT allegorically represented in "Absalom and Achitophel"?
Thomas Shadwell

The Duke of Monmouth

King Charles II

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

Symbolism

Hyperbole

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

Heroic couplets

Prose

Blank verse

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