Quiz

Sonnet 130

William Shakespeare

1. 1. What is the predominant poetic form of 'Sonnet 130'?

   A Petrarchan sonnet with an octave and sestetA Shakespearean sonnet with three quatrains and a coupletA Spenserian sonnet with interlocking rhymes throughoutA free-verse poem of fourteen lines

2. 2. What does the speaker mean when he says his mistress 'treads on the ground'?

   She is clumsy and often stumbles when walkingShe walks like an ordinary human, not like an ethereal goddessShe prefers to walk barefoot outdoorsShe is humble and avoids drawing attention to herself

3. 3. Which literary technique is most central to the first twelve lines of the poem?

   Apostrophe, addressing an absent beloved directlyHyperbole, exaggerating the mistress's flawsAnti-Petrarchan blazon, deliberately undermining conventional praiseAllegory, using the mistress to represent England

4. 4. The phrase 'false compare' in the final couplet refers to which of the following?

   The speaker's own exaggerated insults about his mistressThe hyperbolic compliments other poets use to flatter womenA legal dispute over the mistress's reputationThe mistress's own dishonest flattery of the speaker

5. 5. What is the overall tone of 'Sonnet 130'?

   Bitter and resentful toward the belovedPlayfully ironic, ultimately sincere and celebratoryMournful and elegiac throughoutDetached and coldly analytical

6. 6. What shift in argument occurs at 'And yet by heaven'?

   The speaker concedes his mistress is inferior to other womenThe speaker introduces a religious justification for loveThe speaker reverses course to assert his love is as rare as anyThe speaker apologizes for his harsh descriptions

7. 7. How does Shakespeare use imagery of the senses in the poem?

   He appeals only to sight, ignoring other sensesHe appeals to sight, smell, sound, and touch to build his argumentHe relies exclusively on auditory imagery to praise her voiceHe uses taste imagery as the primary vehicle for comparison

8. 8. Which of the following best describes the speaker's attitude toward his mistress?

   Disillusioned but resigned to staying with herGenuinely loving despite her lack of idealized beautyInfatuated primarily because she defies poetic conventionAmbivalent, unable to decide whether he loves her

9. 9. The line 'And in some perfumes is there more delight / Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks' primarily employs which technique?

   Personification, giving perfume human qualitiesUnderstatement to gently hint that her breath is unpleasantLitotes, affirming a point through double negationSynecdoche, using breath to represent her entire character

10. 10. The poem can be read as a critique of which poetic tradition?

    The elegiac tradition of mourning a lost belovedThe Petrarchan tradition of idealizing an unattainable womanThe epic tradition of cataloguing heroic deedsThe pastoral tradition of praising rural life
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