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Quiz — Storgy

THE DEAD HOUSE.

by James Russell Lowell.

Ten questions on craft, meaning, and form. Untimed. Answer every question to submit.

Q01of 10

What form best describes the overall structure of 'The Dead House'?

Q02of 10

Which literary device is primarily used when the armchair says, 'I claim you, old friend,' and the fender says, 'Best your slippers on me'?

Q03of 10

The pillow's song references 'moonlit gardens of Hafiz.' What is the primary purpose of this allusion?

Q04of 10

In the stanza beginning 'Ah me, where the Past sowed heart's-ease,' the phrase 'the Present plucks rue' is best understood as a metaphor for which idea?

Q05of 10

Which of the following best states the poem's central thematic argument?

Q06of 10

The speaker describes seeing 'a dead man in the mirrors.' What does this image most likely represent?

Q07of 10

What is the speaker's tone in the final three stanzas, where he wishes to close the shutters and set the house aflame?

Q08of 10

In the line 'And the shy page rustled the secret / It had kept till I came again,' what is being described?

Q09of 10

The poem's title, 'The Dead House,' functions most powerfully as which rhetorical device?

Q10of 10

According to the poem, when exactly did the house 'die'?

0 / 10 answered

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