The Poetry of John Dryden Quizzes

The Poetry of John Dryden Dryden's Poetry

1 Which of the following is a central topic of "A Song for St. Cecilia's Day"?
Romantic love

Music

Nature

Monarchy
2 Which type of stanza is Dryden most associated with?
Blank verse

Ballad Stanza

Heroic couplets

Tercet
3 The phrase "Trade, which, like blood,/should circularly flow" contains which of the following?
Metaphor

Simile

Hyperbole

Personification
4 Which of Dryden's poems celebrates the new reign of Charles II?
Astrea Redux

Alexander's Feast

Happy the Man

Religio Laici
5 Which of the following poems is an elegy?
Anne Killigrew

A Song for St. Cecilia's Day

Marriage a-la-mode

Astrea Redux
6 Which of the following is metaphorically compared to a "peal of thunder" in Alexander's Feast"?
The sound of a lyre

The yelling of crowds at James II's coronation

The arrival of St. Cecilia

The singing at a Catholic church service
7 Which of the following is NOT an apt description of Dryden's typical tone?
Saccharine

Reasoned

Astute

Incisive
8 Which of the following is NOT a prominent theme in Dryden's work?
Grief

Art

Gender and gender inequality

Reason and passion
9 Which situational irony is described in The Medall?
The medal's image is shallowly carved, but it depicts a deep, profound mind

The medal is made for Shaftesbury, but ultimately awarded to his enemy

The Whigs create a medal, though they are against ornament and material possessions

Shaftesbury is praised and rewarded, despite acting traitorously
10 Which animal represents Catholicism in The Hind and the Panther?
The hind

The fox

The goose

The panther
11 Which of Dryden's poems criticizes the poet Thomas Shadwell?
The Hind and the Panther

Mac Flecknoe

To the Memory of Mr. Oldham

Absalom and Achitophel
12 For which real event is Absalom and Achitophel an allegory?
The French Revolution

The English Civil War

The Great Fire of London

The Exclusion Crisis
13 In Mac Flecknoe, the claim that Shadwell "never deviates into sense" is an instance of what?
Metonymy

Alliteration

Simile

Understatement
14 Which poem most prominently praises Protestantism?
Annus Mirabilis

The Hind and the Panther

Alexander's Feast

Religio Laici
15 The word "hiss" in the phrase "See the snakes that they rear / How they hiss in their hair" in an instance of what?
Anaphora

Metaphor

Hyperbole

Onomatopoeia
16 The phrase "Of the thundering drum" includes an example of which device?
Understatement

Alliteration

Assonance

End rhyme
17 Which of Dryden's poems is NOT primarily about another poet?
The Medall

To the Memory of Mr. Oldham

Anne Killigrew

Mac Flecknoe
18 Which of the following works is written in quatrains rather than couplets?
Heroic Stanzas on the Death of Oliver Cromwell

Absalom and Achitophel

Dryden never wrote in quatrains

To the Memory of Mr. Oldham
19 The use of "tongue" to mean "language" in "To the Memory of Mr. Oldham" is an instance of what?
Metonymy

Personification

Motif

Understatement
20 Which of the following is a major event in "Annus Mirabilis"?
The Great Fire of London

England's naval victories

Both

Neither
21 What is the English translation of the title "Annus Mirabilis"?
Year of Farce

Year of Wonders

Year of Tranquility

Year of Return
22 Which of the following does Dryden most often allude to?
The Bible

Modern science

Classical texts

Renaissance poetry and art
23 Which of the following figures is NOT allegorically represented in "Absalom and Achitophel"?
King Charles II

The Earl of Shaftesbury

The Duke of Monmouth

Thomas Shadwell
24 Dryden's description of flutes "breathing" in "Alexander's Feast" is an instance of which?
Personification

Symbolism

Onomatopoeia

Hyperbole
25 What verse form comprises the play "All for Love"?
Prose

Heroic couplets

Blank verse

Sonnets

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