Edgar Allan Poe

Question 1

propriety and good taste in conduct or appearance

Answer 1

decorum

Question 2

the recurrence of a rhythmic pattern in a line of poetry

Answer 2

meter

Question 3

accustomed; used to

Answer 3

wont

Question 4

a reference to any person, place, or thing (literary, historical, or actual)

Answer 4

allusion

Question 5

a phrase in which Poe brings darkness together with the Roman god of the underworld, and possibly the afterlife

Answer 5

Night’s Plutonian shore

Question 6

attractively unusual or old-fashioned

Answer 6

quaint

Question 7

listen; give heed or attention to what is said

Answer 7

Hearken!

Question 8

ridicule; mockery

Answer 8

derision

Question 9

Look! See!

Answer 9

Lo!

Question 10

the combination of stressed and unstressed syllables in a unit of meter in a line of poetry

Answer 10

foot

Question 11

in poetry, the narrating voice

Answer 11

speaker

Question 12

splendor; grand; magnificent

Answer 12

grandeur

Question 13

deception

Answer 13

dissimulation

Question 14

a healing compound made from a bush that grew plentifully in this region

Answer 14

balm in Gilead

Question 15

a thing that suggests more than its literal meaning; but usually does not “stand for” any one meaning

Answer 15

symbol

Question 16

to bring to an end; to stop

Answer 16

surcease

Question 17

irritated; annoyed

Answer 17

vexed

Question 18

rest or relief

Answer 18

respite

Question 19

sharp; keen; penetrating

Answer 19

acute

Question 20

charming or enchanting, sometimes in a deceptive way

Answer 20

beguiling

Question 21

“Helen, thy beauty is to me
Like those Nicean barks of yore”
This simile in stanza 1 of “To Helen” features a comparison between Helen’s beauty and what?

Answer 21

ships in the ancient world

Question 22

“To the Glory that was Greece
And the grandeur that was Rome.”
What rhetorical device is most noticeable here?

Answer 22

antithesis

Question 23

What transports him to ancient Greece and Rome?

Answer 23

Helen’s beauty

Question 24

The imager of the sea and roaming works well to convey the effect of Helen on the speaker. What effect has she had on him?

Answer 24

She has moved, inspired, and transported him.

Question 25

“True! - nervous - very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am; but why will you say that I am mad?” What is this an example of?

Answer 25

foreshadowing

Question 26

“Now this is the point. You fancy me mad. Madmen know nothing. But you should have seen me. You should have seen how wisely I proceeded - with what caution - with what foresight - with what dissimulation I went to work!”

Though this story is told in ___, the narrator often slips into ___, addressing the reader (you). What might this reveal about his psychological state?

Answer 26

first person; second person; obsession

Question 27

What does the old man have that drives the narrator mad?

Answer 27

a pale blue eye

Question 28

“I knew that sound well, too. It was the beating of the old man’s heart.”

Answer 28

It was most likely the own narrator’s heart beating.

Question 29

For what might the old man’s particular maddening possession (a pale blue eye) be a symbol?

Answer 29

a judge of the narrator’s heart

Question 30

The opening line of “The Raven, “ “Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,” gives us a revealing insight into what?

Answer 30

setting and character

Question 31

“‘Tis some visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door,
Some late visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door”
The repetition used in the poem helps convey the narrator’s what?

Answer 31

despairing state of mind

Question 32

What is the memorable and oft-repeated line the the poem, “The Raven”?

Answer 32

“Quoth the Raven ‘Nevermore.’”

Question 33

Where is the raven at the end of the poem?

Answer 33

still sitting above his chamber door

Question 34

Why do you think Poe selected the raven for his poem instead of another bird or creature?

Answer 34

ravens are birds of ill omen and death

Question 35

What is the state of the narrator at the end?

Answer 35

without hope