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Storgy

Quiz — Storgy

THE OAK.

by James Russell Lowell.

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

Q01of 10

In the first stanza, how does Lowell establish the oak's royalty without using a literal crown?

Q02of 10

The phrase 'unquelled exile from the summer's throne' (stanza 2) refers to which condition of the oak?

Q03of 10

What structural feature organizes 'The Oak' and supports its movement from description to moral lesson?

Q04of 10

In stanza 2, Lowell compares the snow-jewelled oak boughs to 'some cathedral front.' What does this simile primarily suggest?

Q05of 10

Which poetic technique does Lowell use when he writes that the oak's 'patient strength' can 'Persuade' the March wind and 'win the soil'?

Q06of 10

In stanza 3, the image of the oak as a gem in a setting conveys what central idea?

Q07of 10

What tone dominates the final stanza of the poem?

Q08of 10

The allusion to 'Dodona-grove' in the final stanza draws on which classical reference?

Q09of 10

Which theme most comprehensively unifies all six stanzas of the poem?

Q10of 10

In stanza 4, what does Lowell mean by 'each year that falls with noiseless flake / Should fill old scars up on the stormward side'?

0 / 10 answered

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