Explanations for Sample Examination I 187
Passage Two: John Hollander’s “Science and Human Behavior”
John Hollander’s poem “Science and Human Behavior” is centered about a well-known classical
sion, the Greek personification of Fate as three women who stretch the fabric of one’s life across a
pom, weave into it the events of one’s earthly existence, then cut the threads, determining an
pdividual’s life span. In the poem, dedicated to BF. Skinner, a prominent behavioral scientist, the
Bpeaker begins with a series of participial phrases that attempt to convey our discomfort with
ictable behavior. The instances of behavior-ranging from asking a certain girl to dance, to
sonal idiosyncrasies involving eating or travel, to curiosity about the source of terror and libidinous
isires-exemplify things that we would like to believe are not controlled by some external engine that
termines what we do by behavioral conditioning. The speaker suggests that humans naturally reject
notion that their habits and preferences can be controlled by some “Golden Rope / By which (they)
eel bound, determined, and betrayed” (lines 13-14). In short, the speaker believes that all humans
paturally reject the notion that they are no different from Paviov’s dog, whose conditioning made him
blather in response to a bell rather than a meal.
If, however, human behavior is deterministic in nature, the speaker opts for the classical
onception of it, “Three nasty Thingummies” who twist the string of command into overlapping,
NA-like strands and who stalwartly resist our human curiosity to tug on the line and see what occurs
pr to sadistically enjoy the suffering of others:
Our own old impulse to pull the string and see
Just what would happen, or to feel the small
But tingling tug upon the line, to free
The captives so that we might watch them crawl
Back into deeper water again....(lines 18-22).
Though the speaker is intrigued by this control and power, he nevertheless concedes that it does
ot belong in the hands of humans but rather in the “blasé discretion of disgusting / Things like the
hwo who spin and measure, and / The Third and surely The Most Horrible, / Whom we'd best forget,
thin whose bony hand / Lies crumpled the Secret she will never tell” (lines 24-28). The description
pf the “Thingummies” reflects the speaker's distaste for behavior modification of any sort. They are
Wepersonalized as “disgusting things,” and the “Most Horrible” of the three, Atropos, is portrayed as a
adaverous and secretive creature who zealously guards the nature of our destinies. Lines 32-36,
win the end
The question is whether merely Determining
Or really Knowing is what we most pretend
To honor because it seems most frightening
Or worship because we hold it most to blame,
concisely frame the most intriguing issue. Are we most frightened by the prospect of our actions
being the product of some chain of events, or by the possibility that the pattern of our lives is
subject to some furtive and vicarious intent? The closing allusion to Dr. Johnson, who imperiously
declaims that humans exercise free will in all theit doings, is humorously balanced by the image
of the Three Fates grinning wickedly in some cloudy domain, In the end both speaker and reader
remain benighted as to the reality or extent of deterministic control. Who (if anyone) controls the
“Golden Rope” (line 13), the “line” (line 20), or the “wire / Designed to receive the message”
ines 30-31) remains an impenetrable but perpetually disturbing mystery.
aa
Say Dar ot gee gal 188 Explanations for Sample Examination III
45.
16.
17.
18.
The primary figure of speech used in the poem is (E) allusion.
Though the first stanza’s ambiguity may hinder the immediate recognition of the central allusion,
the passage’s focus upon the Three Fates and their manipulation of human destiny becomes
increasingly more accessible as the poem progresses. The exact identity of the “They” mentioned
in line 9 is first hinted at by the speaker's reference to the “Golden Rope / By which we feel
bound, determined, and betrayed” (Iines 13-14). A more helpful hint perhaps is the phrase “Three
nasty Thingummies” (line 16), which in its rather severe description of three old crones may lead
some students to think of the three witches in Shakespeare’s Macbeth, a play with which many
high school students are familiar, For those students with a background in mythology, lines 24-28,
which refer to “...the blase discretion of disgusting / Things like the two who spin and measure,
and/ The Third and surely The Most Horrible, / Whom we'd best forget, within whose bony hand /
Lies crumpled the Secret she will never tell,” may provide the clincher in their precise description
of each Fate’s task, The mention of “Atropos and her sisters” grinning overhead (lines 41-42) even
provides one of their names. This clinches (E) as the best possible choice.
‘The subject of the long sentence which comprises most of the first stanza is (D) “we” (line 11).
The syntax of the opening line of the poem provides as much difficulty as its content. The
sentence, which actually runs the entire fourteen lines of the first stanza and up to the word
“again” in line 22, is initiated by four separate participial phrases. These phrases, which begin with
the participles “Feeling” (line 1), “Abashed” (line 5), “afraid” (line 8), and “shocked” (line 10), all
describe the word “we” in line 11, and illustrate what humans feel about others knowing their
innermost thoughts and desires.
The things cataloged by the speaker in the first eleven lines are most accurately labeled
(©) behaviors that people believe are their own.
The things mentioned in the opening eleven lines-romantic inclination, eating idiosyncrasies,
irrational preferences, innate fears, and erotic impulses-are private and personal things. What the
speaker is suggesting is that humans are discomfited by any suggestion that these behaviors could
be known, even manipulated, by others. This is confirmed by lines 11-14, “..we vainly hope / That
certain predictions never can be made, / That the mind can never spin the Golden Rope / By which
we feel bound, determined, and betrayed.” These lines further intimate that these “certain
Predictions” involve our most morbid inquisitiveness—into the moment and nature of our deaths
‘The “Golden Rope” mentioned in line 13 is a symbol of (D) slavish determinism.
‘This is pretty much derived from the diction in line 14, “bound, determined, and betrayed,” which
is suggestive of captivity and predestination. The “Golden Rope” is later referred to as an “endless
strand” (line 17), a “string” (line 18), and a “line” (line 20), further suggesting that humans are
marionettes on a string, In the third stanza the rope becomes a “wire” (line 30) which either
triggers the relay or receives the message, but in either case remains an instrument of control.
Choice (D) best captures this sentiment. Explanations for Sample Examination IIT 189
19. The “Golden Rope” (line 13) is later compared to a (B) telegraph wire.
‘As was suggested in the analysis of the previous question, lines 30-32, “...whether it be the wire /
Designed to receive the message or to fire / The tiny initial relay,” figuratively present the “Golden
Rope” as a telegraph cable, thus making (B) the best answer.
20. In light of the poem’s subject, the “Three nasty Thingummies” (line 16) are clearly the (C) Fates.
‘Though both the initial explication and the analysis of question #15 are probably more than
sufficient to verify the answer as (C), a more precise answer is provided by Bulfinch, who
describes the office of the three, Clothos, Lachesis, and Atropos, as to spin the thread of human
destiny and to sever it with shears at their arbitrary discretion. The Sirens (A), as afficionadoes of
the Odyssey will know, were the beautiful voices that tempted sailors to shore and wrecked their
ships on the rocks. The nine Muses (B) were goddesses of literature, art, or science, who offered
inspiration to those involved in these fields. The Graces (D) were three goddesses who presided
over dance, banquets, and social occasions, while the Furies (E) were three goddesses who, as
instruments of vengeance, punished those who managed to evade public justice.
21. The speaker likely brands the third Thingummy “The Most Horrible” because of her (E) fatal secret,
‘Those familiar with the Three Fates will already know that it is Atropos who wields the shears, but
the text provides sufficient clues that suggest this answer. Lines 26-28, for example, suggest that
Atropos holds crumpled within her bony hand “the Secret she will never tell.” And though the
subsequent lines suggest that this “secret” involves the nature of the Thingummies’ control over
human destiny, both Atropos’ designation as “Most Horrible” and her position after “the two who
spin and measure” (line 25) reveal her to be the agent of death; thus, (E) is the best choice,
22. In light of the entire poem, Dr. Johnson's summative comment in lines 39-40 is BEST seen as a(n)
(A) cavalier miscalculation.
There is a painting of Dr. Johnson, our great lexiconist, on the wall of his residence just off Fleet
Street that we believe to be the inspiration for this vision. In any case, Johnson's boast, that “Our
will is free, and there's an end on ’t” (lines 39-40), is shown to be pompous, dogmatic, and
ultimately erroneous when Atropos and her sisters are seen grinning mischievously overhead. This
laughter suggests that they are mocking both his surety and his naiveté,
23. The speaker implies that the Thingummies’ amusement at the poem's end is primarily a reaction to
which of the following?
I. Johnson’s mention of their name
II, Johnson’s naive conviction that human beings exercise free will.
III. Johnson's pose and attire.
(B) 11 only.
Though the speaker overtly suggests that the Thingummies laugh at the invocation of their name,
the fervency with which Dr. Johnson voices his conviction that man’s will is free implies that this
is the real source of their laughter.
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‘ny pat fis page Megat. 190 Explanations for Sample Examination IIT
24. When one considers the poem as a whole, it is clear that the author sees the attempts by Skinner and
others to control human behavior as (C) aberrant.
This follows logically from the poem as a whole. If our simplest fears, inclinations and tendencies
can be foreseen by others in random and inconsequential ways, then it follows that our deepest and.
‘most intimate secrets can also be laid bare or presaged. Though only the title and dedication allude
to Skinner and his work in the field of conditioned behavior, the speaker's position on such
research is clearly established in the second stanza. Here he advocates that “if such a thing exists
at all, / Three nasty Thingummies should hold it, twisting / Strand unto endless strand, always
resisting / Our own old impulse to pull the string and see / Just what would happen” (lines 15-19)
This delegation of responsibility is reemphasized in lines 22-24, which state “It is well / To leave
such matters in their power, trusting / To (their] blase discretion.” This implies that human efforts
to enforce such control are misguided.
25. Ultimately, the speaker implies all of the following EXCEPT (E) that free will is a scientifically
established fact.
That scientists should not manipulate human behavior (A) and that the darkest human impulses are
best restrained by others (D) have been sufficiently validated by the analysis of question #24. That
humans have an innate desire to know the future (B) is clear in lines 18-19, which acknowledge
the innately human impulse “to pull the string and see / Just what would happen.” Similarly, lines,
20-22, “to free / The captives so that we might watch them crawl / Back into deeper water again,”
confirm (C), the human desire to vicariously enjoy the predicaments of others. However, the
laughter of the Three Fates at Dr. Johnson's confident assertion suggests that (E) cannot have any
validity.
26. The most unusual aspect of the poem is its (B) pattern and choice of rhymes.
The use of classical (the Fates) and contemporary (B.F. Skinner) allusions is clever but not rare,
while the use of a central conceit (the “Golden Rope,” string, wire, etc) goes back to the early
sonneteers. Similarly both a philosophical concer and comic situations pervade poetry from
Donne to Chaucer. This eliminates choices (A), (C), (D) and (B).
‘The choice and pattern of rhyme, however, is extraordinarily intricate. For example, the thyme
scheme of stanza one seems to be ABBCACADEEFGFG. Though some may argue that lines 9-10
should be AA since they both end in “ing,” it should be noted that these contain double rhymes,
and that the root words “choose” and “refuse” aurally differ from “scream” and “dream.” This
double thyme is also present in stanza two in the words “twisting” and “resisting” (lines 16-17),
and again in “trusting” and “disgusting” (lines 23-24). It is of further interest to note that each of
the three stanzas is actually a self-contained sonnet. This makes (B) the most persuasive choice.
‘Ursa copying oF TAG
ny pat fis page toga 182 Explanations for Sample Examination [11
Passage One: From Charles Dickens’ Bleak House
The passage taken from Bleak House reflects the parallelism of style and theme that is so
characteristic of Dickens, the “It was the best of times; it was the worst of times” construction that
pervades A Tale of Two Cities. Here, however, the parallel structure serves to illuminate the dispara
worlds of aristocracy and pauperdom, The depiction of Sir Leicester and Lady Dedlock, a subtle but
caustic satire of upper class manners and pretentiousness, portrays the former as flitting about from
residence to residence or country to country, and the latter as ‘suffering’ bravely from a lineal medical
malady, the gout. Plagued by the dissipated excess that has been a Dedlock tradition, Sir Leicester sees
his gout as a badge of courage, a testament to the fortune and stature of his family line that is not to be
confused with the “base contagion” (line 17) of the lower classes. Propped in the drawing room “ina "2
in stark contrast to Jo, an illiterate member of the lowest caste, whose tenuous existence in a “black,
dilapidated street” (lines 51-52) peopled by lunatics and vagrants is a far cry from Sir Leicester's
bloated luxury. A boarder in “Tom-All-Alone’s”-a “tumbling tenement” that is home to London’s
“uined human wretch vermin parasites,” as well as to disease and squalor (lines 58-64)-Jo lives a
bleak life that is made even more treacherous by the dilapidated nature of the buildings. As the narrator
observes, “Twice lately there has been a crash, and a cloud of dust, like the spring of a mine, in Tom-
All-Alone’s; and each time a house has fallen” (lines 65-67). Unlike Sir Leicester, whose view
embraces “stately oaks, rooted for ages in the green ground that has never known ploughshare” (lines
38-40), Jo's view is of collapsed walls and piles of rubbish.
S
The passage’s final paragraph offers a speculative insight into Jo's sorry existence. The speaker
wonders what it must be like to shuffle each day through the teeming streets, unable to understand the
symbols on signs, comprehend the content of messages and letters, or penetrate the mysterious solace
of prayer: “to be, to every scrap of it, stone blind and dumb!” (lines 83-84). The concluding lines—“To
be hustled and jostled, and moved on; and really to feel that it would appear to be perfectly true that I
have no business here, or there, or anywhere” (lines 89-92)-summarize Jo’s painfully existential
dilemma: his status as a creature, apart from humanity, who has been seemingly cut adrift in a hostile
universe. Ironically, these lines also present Jo's dull consciousness of a puzzling paradox: how ;
society's deliberate obliviousness has reduced him to this pathetic condition. y
Rich in descriptive language and trenchant satire, the passage offers the AP student an insight into a
the acute disparity between rich and poor that, despite technological advances and an increased social 7
consciousness, still characterizes the world today. z
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ny part of the page Maga Explanations for Sample Examination Il 183
‘The author's use of mild sarcasm is evident in several places: in his comments about the
“fashionable intelligence” (lines 5-6) who attempt to keep pace with the peripatetic restlessness of
Lady Dedlock as she flits about from one residence to another; in the characterization of Sir
Leicester's gout as one of the Dedlock “dignities” (lines 12-23), another item of privilege handed
down by his wealthy forebearers “like the plate, or the pictures, or the place in Lincolnshire” (lines
21-22); and in the “goodly show” (line 35) that Sir Leicester makes as he ‘bravely’ tolerates this
malady “lying in a flush of crimson and gold in the midst of the great drawing-room before his
favourite picture of my Lady” (lines 35-38). The allusion to the marriage vow, on the other hand, is
evident in the use of the term “for better and for worse” (line 9) to describe his malady, the gout.
By calling the gout his “other faithful ally” (Lines 8-9), the author exemplifies personification,
while the name of the ruinous place known as Tom-All-Alone’s is certainly allegorical. This,
verifies the presence of choices (A), (B), (C) and (E).
However, though Tom is destitute and ignorant, he cannot be labeled a grotesque, making (D) the
exception,
Which of the following juxtapositions does LEAST to reinforce the contrast between Sir Leicester’s
and Jo’s worlds? (A) the “fashionable intelligence” and Jo’s frustrating illiteracy.
‘The gout, long associated with an overly rich lifestyle, is in direct contrast to the fever brought on
by exposure to the elements in Tom-All-Alone’s, Similarly, the “stately oaks, rooted for ages in the
green ground which has never known ploughshare” (lines 38-40) that so characterize Chesney
Wold are in direct juxtaposition to the “tumbling tenements” (line 57) and “ruined shelters” (line
59) that comprise Tom-All-Alone’s. This shows the significance of choices (B) and (C).
As to Sir Leicester's and Jo’s perspective on the social condition (D), the former sees himself as
upholding a noble tradition, even in suffering the “family disorder” (line 25) known as the gout.
Propped up by pillows in a plush drawing room and surrounded by pictures of his forefathers, Sir
Leicester imaginatively hears them affirm his (and their own) greatness, saying “Each of us was a
Passing reality here and left this coloured shadow of himself and melted into remembrance as
dreamy as the distant voices of the rooks now lulling you to rest” (lines 44-47). To Jo, however,
who wanders destitute and illiterate through the streets of London, unable to fathom such things as
signs, leters, religious worship, and conversation, the world is a hostile place in which he lives
estranged; a place where he can ponder “what does it all mean, and if it means anything to
anybody, how comes it that it means nothing to me?” (lines 87-89)
As for choice (B), even the process of dying in the Dedlock family is seen as “something
exclusive” (line 19). Though “Other men’s fathers may have died of the rheumatism or may have
taken base contagion from the tainted blood of the sick vulgar.” (lines 15-18), the Dedlocks have
handed down the gout “through the illustrious line like the plate, or the pictures, or the place in
ny part thi page le Bega aggre
184 Explanations for Sample Examination mm
Lincolnshire” (lines 21-22). As the suffering Dedlock himself thinks, “We have all yielded to this,
iL belongs to us; it has for some hundreds of years been ‘understood that we are not to make the
vvrats in the park interesting on more ignoble terms; and 7 submit myself to the compromise”
(lines 29-34). This is far different from the desperate inhabitants of Tom-All-Alone’s, the “crowd
of Toul existence that crawls in and out of gaps in walls and boards; and coils itself to sleep, in
maggot mumbers, where the rain drips in; and comes and goes, fetching and carrying fever and
lhCrrr—E ‘The deaths of these, oftentimes caused by
collapse of thei dilapidated lodgings, is virtually anonyme 'As the speaker observes, “These ©
ovidents have made a paragraph in the newspapers and have filled a bed or two in the nearest
hospital” (lines 67-69).
‘The “fashionable intelligence” (lines 4-5), which in its obsession with Lady Dedlock’s doings
eems to be the equivalent of a Victorian gossip column, offers nothing in the way of contrast (0
Jo's sad illiteracy, making (A) the exception.
4, Sir Leicester's greatness is confirmed by each of the following EXCEPT (E) the guilt he feels over :
his privileged status.
‘The portraits of Sit Leicester's forefathers that “bear theit testimony to his greatness” (lines 47-
448); the “stately oaks, “rooted for age in the green ground ‘ehich has never known ploughshare, but
hog gill a chase when Kings rode to battle with sword and shied ‘and rode a-hunting with bow and
versa” (ines 38-42); the gout which has “come down through the {illustrious line like the plate,
- the “flush of crimson and gold”
{lines 35-36) in which Sir Leicester bravely endures it all ‘confirm his patrician greatness and
verify choices (A), (B), (C) and (D) as present in the passage. Nowhere, however, does Sir é
Tecoser display any guilt over his privileged status. This makes (©) the exception. :
4, Inbis comments about Sir Leicester's gout, the speaker primarily emphasizes its (C) social status.
“Though (A) and (B) have some credibility, the speaker notes how “Sir Leicester receives the gout
ree troublesome demon, but still a demon of the patrician order. ‘All the Dedlocks, in the direct
wee line. have had the gout. tcan be proved, si. Other men's fathers may have died of the
rematism or may have taken base contagion from the tainted blood of the sick vulgar, but the =
a aeriack family have communicated something exclusive even fo = leveling process of dying.”
(lines 12-20). Thus, ‘Sir Leicester yields up the family Tees (0 the family disorder as if he held his.
vrame and fortune on that feudal tenure..” (ines 24-26). :
5, ‘Throughout the opening paragraphs the gout is figuratively depicted as all of the following EXCEPT
(D) a fellow aristocrat.
Jn the passage the gout isin tur a “troublesome demon” (lines 12-13) and a “faithful ally” (line
9), Moreover, since it has “come down through the illusion Tine like the plate, or the pictures, OF
the place in Lincolnshire” (lines 21-22), Sir Leicester feels that “the Dedlock family have
an rnicated something exclusive even tothe leveling process of dying by dying of their own
oo ,—— (A), B), (C) and (E). Nowhere is
the gout figuratively depicted as a fellow aristocrat. i Explanations for Sample Examination IIT 185
fb. 6
10.
‘The “compromise” (line 34) to which Sir Leicester resolutely submits involves (A) maintaining a
decadent lifestyle.
This is derived from lines 26-34 which state, “He feels that for a Dedlock to be laid upon his back
and spasmodically twitched and stabbed in his extremities is a liberty taken somewhere, but he
thinks, ‘We have all yielded to this; it belongs to us; it has for some hundreds of years been
understood that we are not to make the vaults in the park interesting on more ignoble terms; and I
submit myself to the compromise.” Though he is forced to suffer the excruciating pains in the
lower extremities associated with this disease, it is still “a demon of the patrician order” (line 13)
and one that can therefore be tolerated
The word “leveling” as it is used in line 19 is BEST interpreted as (A) equalizing.
Since death comes for all men, for patrician Sir Leicester and for transient Jo alike, it is the great
equalizer; thus, the selection of (A) as the best answer,
. In his description of Jo's environment in lines 57-64, the speaker uses simile to imply the tenements”
(E) teeming population.
This is derived from lines 58-64 which state “As on the ruined human wretch vermin parasites
appear, so these ruined shelters have bred a crowd of foul existence that crawls in and out of gaps,
in walls and boards; and coils itself to sleep, in maggot numbers, where the rain drips in; and
comes and goes, fetching and carrying fever and sowing more evil in its every footprint...”. Here
the dense population of human misery that inhabits the dilapidated tenements of Tom-All-Alone’s
is compared to parasites that ubiquitously infest the human body.
|. The passage implies that the severity of Jo’s and the tenement dwellers’ plight is due to
(B) the disdain and apathy of the upper classes.
‘This is primarily derived from the somewhat detached antithetical portraits of Sir Leicester and Jo,
which imply that the worlds these men populate are mutually exclusive ones. However, lines 65-
69, which note how the housing collapses in Tom-All-Alone’s rate barely a mention in the
newspapers-as well as lines 75-89 in which the busy world of church-goers, book-readers, letter-
writers, and shop-goers blithely swirls round the illiterate Jo-intimate that both the aristocracy and
the bourgeois want nothing to do with the vagrants and tenement dwellers.
Which of the following helps imply the high mortality of Jo’s environment?
L The speaker's qualification of the phrase “Jo lives” (lines 49)
Il. The speaker's description of the tenement conditions (lines 57-64)
II. The speaker's simile comparing Tom-All-Alone’s to a mine (line 66)
(E) 1, 0, and TH.
‘The speaker's qualification of “Jo lives"-“that is to say, that Jo has not yet died” (line 49)-suggests
that Jo’s death is a foregone conclusion, an event bound to happen at some time in the near future.
Similarly, the speaker's description of the tenement as “ruined shelters” (line 59), whose minimum
protection from the elements breeds fever and whose ramshackle construction threatens imminent
collapse, also suggests that Jo’s existence may be a short one. Lines 71-74, “As several more
houses are nearly ready to go, the next crash in Tom-All-Alone’s may be expected to be a good
spy oT
‘ypu of ti page te egal 186 _ Explanations for Sample Examination [11
one....” trenchantly imply that people, maybe Jo, will be killed. Thus, all three choices suggest the
high mortality of Jo's environment.
11. By remarking that the “next crash in Tom-All-Alone’s may be expected to be a good one”
(ines 72-74), the speaker is (E) hinting at more significant casualties. i
As has been mentioned in the explication of question #10, the phrase “may be expected to be a u
good one” (lines 73-74) suggests that there may be fatalities (or at least injuries) that will fill more
than a bed or two in the local hospital.
12, In the final paragraph the speaker is primarily concerned with exploring Jo's (B) frustrating
illiteracy.
‘Though virtually the entire paragraph is devoted to this concern, lines 75-84 will serve to confirm
(B) as the answer: “It must be a strange state to be like Jo! To shuffle through the streets,
unfamiliar with the shapes, and in utter darkness as to the meaning, of those mysterious symbols,
so abundant over the shops, and at the comers of streets, and on the doors, and in the windows! To
see people read, and to see people write, and to see the postmen deliver letters, and not to have the
least idea of all that language-to be, to every scrap of it, stone blind and dumb!”.
13. Which of the following does the passage “suggest Jo comprehends? (D) the reason for his
alienation.
‘The fact that the signs over shops and doors remain to Jo “mysterious symbols” (line 78); the fact
that he is able to see “people read, and to see people write, and to see the postmen deliver letters,
and not to have the least idea of all that language” (lines 80-83); the fact that it is “puzzling to see
the good company going to the churches on Sundays, with their books in their hands, and to think
...What does it all mean” (lines 84-87) confirm Jo’s ignorance of the things mentioned in choices
(A), B), © and ).
However, lines 89-95, which state “To be hustled, and jostled, and moved on; and really to feel q
that it would appear to be perfectly true that I have no business here, or there, or anywhere; and yet
to be perplexed by the consideration that I am here somehow, too, and everybody overlooked me
until I became the creature that I am!,” simultaneously reveal Jo’s sense of estrangement and his
acute understanding that the neglect of others has caused him to become the poor, illiterate being
that he is, q
14. The effectiveness of the final paragraph is MOST enhanced by (A) a blurring of perspective that
intimately connects the speaker with Jo's plight.
‘The final paragraph is unique in that it begins in third person omniscient and then nearly shifts into
a first person perspective. Though this shift is never fully executed, the speaker's empathetic.
comment that “It must be a strange state to be like Jo!” (line 75) becomes, through his observation 3
of Jo’s illiteracy and estrangement, closer and closer to Jo’s own perspective until it is almost Jo
who is exclaiming that “I have no business here, or there, or anywhere; and yet to be perplexed by
the consideration that I am here somehow, too, and everybody overlooked me until I became the
creature that I am!” (lines 91-95). Though choices (B), (C), (D) and (E) all offer some measure of
correctness, the most effective stylistic device in the final paragraph is this unusual blend of
perspective through which the speaker is better able to identify with Jo's plight.
Tamra copying oN
ny pat of as page egal je to Sample Examination II
Passage Five: A.E. Housman’s “Loitering with a Vacant Eye”
This deceptively simple Housman poem, the fifty-first poem in A Shropshire Lad, provides &
novel interaction between a marble sculpture ina gallery and a somewhat despondent speaker. As does
Virtually all of Housman’s verse, this poem features a simplicity of structure: two stanzas of chyming
Couples in a predominantly iambic tetrameter. This spartan quality extends to the imagery and
figurative language, and the poem's primary attraction lies in its imaginative dialogue between the
speaker and a Greek sculpture. The speaker, who is wandering through the rooms of a Grecian gallery
swith a “vacant eye” (line 1) and “brooding on [his] heavy ill” (line 3), comes upon a statue of what
eems to be a prisoner or slave as deduced from the “collar” which presses about his neck (ine 18).
Gazing into the statue's steadfast eyes, the speaker fancies that the statue acknowledges a certain
kinship with im in regard to their mutual status as strangers ina strange land. As the speaker imagin
the statue to say, ““We both were fashioned far away; / We neither knew, when we were young, /
Londoners we live among” (lines 8-10).
“The statue, however, does more than commiserate with the speaker's ostracized state, eying him
amest and a grave regard” (line 12) and censuring him in lines 13-22 for his inordinate self-
with an
pity:
“What, lad, drooping with your lot?
I too would be where I am not.
too survey that endless line
Of men whose thoughts are not as mine.
Years, ere you stood up from the rest,
On my neck the collar prest;
Years, when you lay down your ill,
I shall stand and bear it still.
Courage, lad, ‘tis not for long:
‘Stand, quit you like stone, be strong”
es with the speaker's dissatisfaction and sense of intellectual isolation,
the permanence of its own. Contrary to
hose passion perpetually remains ardent,
Though the statue commisera
also contrasts the transient nature of the speaker's lot with
ever youthful and amorous lovers on Keats’ Grecian urn, wl
marble cast slave remains frozen in a servile and onerous position. Moreover, fashioned by an ancie
Greek sculptor ages ago, the statue has bome more suffering under the passing eyes of others than
speaker can ever imagine, The statue's final words—"*Courage, lad, ‘ts not for long: / Stand, quit yo
like stone, be strong” (lines 21-22)-not only urge the speaker to bear the cause of his despondency
more stalwartly, but also remind him of the brevity of human existence and, thus, of human sufferin
as well.
‘conversation’ with the marble statue has enabl
Taking the advice of the statue, he assumes @
ful like the man of stone” (line 26).
In the final four lines the speaker discovers that his “
him to see the relatively minor nature of his troubles.
‘more stalwart pose, emerging from the experience “Man! Student Guide to Sample Examination I 121
's central contrast is between (A) the statue’s fortitude and the speaker's despondency,
aker in the poem wanders distractedly through the museum’s exhil
Hlords “vacant eye” (line 1), “brooding on my heavy ill”
E13). The statue's comments to the speaker in lines 7-10
nent. Similarly, lines 14-16,
bits as is suggested by
ine 3), and “drooping with your lot”
imply that they share a measure of
““Ttoo would be where I am not. / I too survey that endless
ingement to lead him to despondency, the
ig defiantly despite the “collar” that presses down
es Se you
e, be strong” (lines 21-22) simultaneously urges a stoic
revity of human existence which brings to all men an end t
fitess the speaker, who then steps out
6).
(o their troubles. The statue’s words
“in flesh and bone / Manful like the man of stone” (lines
‘opening stanza of the poem (lines 1-10) contains exam,
‘oxymoron,
iples of all of the following EXCEPT
personification is evident in both the gaze and speech of the statue, alliteration in “statue standing
Pr fline 4) and “fashioned far away” (line 8). Inversion is evident inline 5, “Still in marble stese
he,” and synecdoche in the phrase “vacant eye” (line 1) that represents the speaker's ming
s validates choices (A), (B) (D) and (E). Oxymoron is not found in this stanza,
ich of the following words does NOT help establish
the mood of the speaker?
“stone” (line 22)
ating.” and “vacant” (line 1) suggest a lack of purpose, while “brooding” (line 3) and
_Srooping” (line 13) are suggestive of depression. These four words help establish the speaker's
Od. The word “stone” in line 22, however, is a compliment, sug;
gestive of the speaker's new-
This is derived from lines 17-20, “Years, ere
Prest; / Years when you lay down your ill, /T
Physical punishment of the slave (“collar”
‘you stood up from the rest, / On my neck the collar
shall stand and bear it still” which reflect both the
") and the duration of his servitude (“years”),
‘The word “thought,” as itis used in line 7, means (A) imagined.
As the entire commentary
of the statue is part of the speaker's reverie in the gallery,“
the only possible choice.
‘imagined” is
‘Unaiorsed copying ar reing
Any pact i panels ga 122 Student Guide to Sample Examination Tl
49, The poem initially implies that the speaker and the statue share all of the following EXCEPT (D)
ability to alter their lot,
‘The statue's observation that ““We both were fashioned far away” (ne 8) confirms (A) as being
present, while his comment that “"We neither knew, when we Ss ‘young, / These Londoners we
re among?” (ines 9-10) validates (B). Line 14, “I too would be where Tam not” and lines 4-6,
ry meta statue standing stil. / Stil in marble stone stood he, / And steadfastly he looked at me”
confi ehoives (C) and (E). Choice (D) is proven the exception by the statue’s observation that |
