Selected Response Test
SECTION I: Basic Test (Targets, NJCCCS, and sources included)
Topic: Love, tragedy, and the reader
Grade Level(s): 9-10
Content Area: English
Targets:
1. SWBAT analyze the genres of Greek drama and Greek epic poetry and apply the
tenets of tragedy per Aristotle to an analysis of works by Aeschylus, Sophocles, and
Homer as measured by their answers to binary choice, multiple choice, and short answer
questions in a selected-response test.
2. SWBAT demonstrate understanding and expertise of the genres of Greek drama,
Greek epic poetry, Elizabethan Poetry and Romantic poetry as measured by their
proficiency in a selected-response test (80% correct).
3. SWBAT identify the major Elizabethan and Romantic poets and distinguish the poetic
forms used as well as recall information about the authors and their poems as measured
by their answers to matching and completion questions in a selected-response test.
Standards:
Reading 3.1: All students will understand and apply the knowledge of sounds, letters,
and words in written English to become independent and fluent readers and will read
a variety of materials and texts with fluency and comprehension.
Building upon knowledge and skills gained in preceding grades, by the end of Grade
12, students will:
D3: Read a variety of genres and types of text with fluency and comprehension.
G1: Identify, describe, evaluate, and synthesize the central ideas in informational texts.
Writing 3.2: All students will write in a clear, concise, organized language that varies in
content and form for different audiences and purposes.
Building upon knowledge and skills gained in preceding grades, by the end of Grade
12, students will:
C1: Use Standard English conventions in all writing, such as sentence structure,
grammar and usage, punctuation, capitalization, and spelling.
D2: Demonstrate a command of a variety of writing genres, such as Response to
literature.
Explanation: The standards are addressed because students will participate in critical
thinking as they evaluate the characteristics of different genres (Greek drama, Greek epic
poetry, Elizabethan and Romantic poetry) and make connections between them regarding
themes of love and tragedy, demonstrating their comprehension abilities across genres.
This test offers students the opportunity to apply the tenets of tragedy (per Aristotle) to an
analysis of works by Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Homer as they identify central ideas and
facts contained in these texts. In addition, students will be able to distinguish the various
poetic forms used by Elizabethan and Romantic poets and recall information contained in
these poems. Students will also demonstrate a response to literature (Greek drama) and
practice their writing skills such as word choice as measured by their responses to short
answer questions. Their work will be measured by their proficiency in this selectedresponse test.
Sources:
For Binary Choice:
Sophocles. (2001). Sophocles: The complete plays (P. Roche, Trans.). New York:
Penguin.
For Matching section:
Ferguson, M., M.J. Salter, and J. Stallworthy, Eds. (2005). The Norton anthology of
poetry (Shorter 5th ed.). New York: W.W. Norton & Co.
For Multiple Choice:
Aeschylus. (1999). The oresteia: A new translation by Ted Hughes (T. Hughes, Trans.).
New York: Farrar, Strauss, & Giroux.
Aeschylus. (1991). Prometheus bound (D. Grene, Trans.). In D. Grene and R.
Lattimore (Eds.), Aeschylus II: The complete Greek tragedies (2nd ed., pp. 131-180).
Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
Homer. (1990). The iliad (R. Fagles, Trans.). New York: Viking.
Homer. (1965). The odyssey (R. Lattimore, Trans.). New York: Harper & Row.
For Completion:
Ferguson, M., M.J. Salter, and J. Stallworthy, Eds. (2005). The Norton anthology of
poetry (Shorter 5th ed.). New York: W.W. Norton & Co.
For Short Answer:
Aristotle. (1965). Aristotle: The poetics (W. Hamilton Fyfe, Trans.). Cambridge, MA:
Harvard University Press.
Name: ___________________________________
Date:
Response Sheet
Love, tragedy and the reader
English 10-2
___________________________________
Overall Directions: These directions apply to the entire test.
The purpose of this test is to assess your knowledge of the topics contained in the
unit “Love, tragedy and the reader.” This test will show your understanding of the
literary content we have covered in English 10-2 over the last three weeks. You will
be given one (1) hour to complete this test. This test is worth 100 points total. There
are five (5) sections to this test, so please read the directions that precede each
section carefully. The point value for the questions in each section will be stated in
the directions for each section. Answer the questions that follow to the best of your
ability. If you do not know an answer to a question, skip the question and return to
it after you have finished the rest of the test. Be sure to manage your time
accordingly. Good luck!
Binary Choice Items:
Directions: Read each statement below. Determine whether each statement is true
or false. Circle the answer to the left of each statement. For each answer that is
“false,” rewrite the statement to make it true on the lines provided. These directions
apply to questions 1-10.
Scoring: 2 points each; 20 points total
TRUE FALSE 1. Aristotle is the dramatist who created the story of Oedipus.
Sophocles is the dramatist who created the story of Oedipus._______________________
TRUE FALSE 2. The Oracle prophesies that the king of Thebes, Patroclos, will have
a son who murders his father and marries his mother.
The Oracle prophesies that the king of Thebes, Laius, will have a son who murders his__
father and marries his mother._______________________________________________
TRUE FALSE 3. Oedipus’ name, in Greek, refers to “injured feet.”
________________________________________________________________________
TRUE FALSE 4. The stranger that Oedipus kills is his father, Laius.
________________________________________________________________________
TRUE FALSE 5. The plague of Corinth will only be relieved when the riddle of the
Sphinx is solved.
The plague of Thebes will only be relieved when the riddle of the Sphinx is solved._____
TRUE FALSE 6. Oedipus marries Jocasta and fathers four children, Antigone,
Ismene, Eteocles, and Polyneices.
________________________________________________________________________
TRUE FALSE 7. Eteocles and Patroclos agree to share rulership of Thebes, alternating the
post yearly.
Eteocles and Polyneices agree to share the rulership of Thebes, alternating the post_____
yearly.__________________________________________________________________
TRUE FALSE 8. Patroclos organizes an army against Eteocles and attacks Corinth.
Polyneices organizes an army against Eteocles and attacks Corinth._________________
TRUE FALSE 9. Antigone defies Creon’s decree and performs the burial ceremony
for her brother, Polyneices.
________________________________________________________________________
TRUE FALSE 10. Antigone is entombed alive in a cave and her brother, Polyneices,
commits suicide.
Antigone is entombed alive in a cave and her lover, Haemon, commits suicide.________
Matching Items:
Directions: Read the quotes in Column A and the list of authors in Column B.
Match the author of the poem to the quotations below. Write the corresponding
letter for your answer choice on the blank line to the left of each quote. Each
answer may be used one (1) time or not at all. These directions apply to questions 110.
Scoring: (2 points each; 20 points total)
Column A: Quotations
D 1. “Drink to me only with thine eyes,
And I will pledge with mine;
Or leave a kiss but in the cup,
And I’ll not look for wine.”
F 2. “Come live with me and be my love,
And we will all the pleasures prove
That valleys, groves, hills, and fields,
Woods, or steepy mountain yields.”
H 3. “My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun;
Coral is far more red than her lips’ red;
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.”
B 4. “O my luve’s like a red, red rose,
That’s newly sprung in June;
O my luve’s like the melodie
That’s sweetly played in tune.”
C
5. “Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,
Old time is still a-flying;
And this same flower that smiles today
Tomorrow will be dying”
G 6. “If all the world and love were young,
And truth in every shepherd’s tongue,
These pretty pleasures might me move
To live with thee and be thy love.”
A 7. “If ever two were one, then surely we.
If ever man were loved by wife, then thee;
If ever wife was happy in a man,
Compare with me ye women if you can.”
Column B: Authors
A. Anne Bradstreet
B. Robert Burns
C. Robert Herrick
D. Ben Johnson
E. Richard Lovelace
F. Christopher Marlowe
G. Sir Walter Raleigh
H. William Shakespeare
I. Edmund Spenser
J. William Wordsworth
Matching (continued)
Column A: Quotations
J
8. “She dwelt among the untrodden ways
Beside the springs of Dove.
A Maid whom there were none to praise
And very few to love;”
E
9. “When I lie tangled in her hair
And fettered to her eye,
The gods that wanton in the air
Know no such liberty.”
Column B: Authors
A. Anne Bradstreet
B. Robert Burns
C. Robert Herrick
D. Ben Johnson
E. Richard Lovelace
F. Christopher Marlowe
G. Sir Walter Raleigh
H. William Shakespeare
I. Edmund Spenser
J. William Wordsworth
I 10. “Enforst to seeke some covert nigh at hand,
A shadie grove not far away they spide,
That promist ayde the tempest to withstand:
Whose loftie trees yclad with sommers pride,”
Multiple Choice Items:
Directions: Read each question. Review the answer choices listed and select one (1)
correct answer for each question. Write the corresponding letter for your answer
choice in the space provided. These directions apply to questions 1-10.
Scoring: (2 points each; 20 points total)
C
1. The Oresteia trilogy by the Greek Tragedian, Aeschylus, contains the stories of:
a. Agamemnon, Choephoroe, and Euripides
b. Antigone, Choephoroe, and Euripides
c. Agamemnon, Choephoroe, and Eumenides
d. Antigone, Choephoroe, and Eumenides
D
2. The abduction of this person begins the Trojan War:
a. Antigone
b. Cassandra
c. Clytemnestra
d. Helen
A 3. The Greek fleet, amassed at Sparta under Agamemnon’s control, is unable to sail
against Troy because of:
a. an ill wind
b. an irate crewmember
c. an unforeseen hole
d. an unopened letter
B
4. Agamemnon returns to Sparta with the daughter of Priam:
a. Cassiopeia
b. Cassandra
c. Choephoroe
d. Clytemnestra
A
5. Orestes is prosecuted by The Furies for the deaths of:
a. Aegisthus and Clytemnestra
b. Agamemnon and Clytemnestra
c. Antigone and Clytemnestra
d. Atreus and Clytemnestra
D
6. According to classic Greek mythology, Hephaistos created:
a. the boat of Agamemnon
b. the cave of Calypso
c. the labyrinth of King Minos
d. the shield of Achilles
Multiple Choice (continued)
C
7. The element that Prometheus bestows to man is:
a. Air
b. Earth
c. Fire
d. Water
B
8. The death of Patroclos is avenged by killing:
a. Agamemnon
b. Hector
c. Hephaestus
d. Priam
C
9. Zeus’ punishment to Prometheus is to be bound to a cliff where a vulture eats
which part of his anatomy?
a. gall bladder
b. heart
c. liver
d. pancreas
A
10.
a.
b.
c.
d.
“This is the story of an angry man” refers to:
The Iliad
The Odyssey
Oedipus Rex
Prometheus Bound
Completion Items:
Directions: Read each statement below. Determine the word, short phrase, number
or symbol that best completes each statement. Write the answer for each statement
on the blank line to the left of each statement. These directions apply to questions 110.
Scoring: (2 points each; 20 points total)
dramatic monologue_
1. “My Last Duchess” is an example of the poetic form called
____________________.
John Donne
2. In his novel, For Whom the Bell Tolls, Ernest Hemingway
references the sermon of the poet ____________________.
_
Christopher Marlowe 3. Sir Walter Raleigh’s poem “The Nymph’s Reply to the
Shepherd,” was written in response to a poem written by
____________________.
William Shakespeare
4. The “surly sullen bell” is referred to in a sonnet written by
____________________.
encomium ________
5. Ben Johnson’s poem, “To John Donne,” is an example of the
literary device called ____________________.
1648
6. All of Robert Herrick’s poems were published in the year
____________________.
Aurora
7. The name of the Roman goddess of the dawn referred to in
Robert Herrick’s poem, “Corinna’s Going A-Maying” is
____________________.
Anne Bradstreet
8. The author of “The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in
America” is ____________________.
Richard Lovelace
9. The name of the cavalier poet who was imprisoned for
presenting a Royalist petition is ____________________.
Andrew Marvell
10. The author of the line “Had we but world enough, and time,
this coyness, lady, would be no crime” is ____________________.
Short Answers Items: (4 points each; 20 points total)
Directions: Read each prompt based on Aristotle’s Poetics. On the lines provided,
describe the meaning of each prompt in reference to tragedy. Write your response,
in 2-3 sentences, on the lines provided . These directions apply to questions 1-5 only.
Scoring: (4 points each; 20 possible points total)
Tragedy according to Aristotle in Poetics:
1. Tragedy arouses the emotions of pity and fear, wonder and awe.
The reader watches the hero move towards his destruction; he has pity for him and shares
the hero’s fear and suffering; he experiences the wonder and awe before the forces of___
Fate. The emotional impact of tragedy is twofold: a) the reader turns his thoughts_____
inward to consider his own fate and b) the reader is moved to consider the fate of all____
humans._________________________________________________________________
2. A tragic hero must be a man or woman capable of great suffering.
Tragic heroes are often kings, queens, warriors, or persons of a noble spirit or high_____
position. They are not easily upset by the small annoyances and misfortunes of life; they
are larger than life. Through the suffering of noble persons, the reader can see the vast__
reaches of the human spirit._________________________________________________
3. Tragedy explores the question of the ways of God to Man.
Men have always been disturbed about why God permits his creatures to suffer, often
needlessly (from a human perspective). Tragedy does not propose a solution to this_
problem but rather presents the question in dramatic form for us to contemplate.____
4. Tragedy purifies the emotions.
According to Aristotle’s doctrine of “catharsis,” it purges the “baser” emotions so that the
best ones are evident to all. The reader experiences mounting anguish which eventually_
peaks in a release of emotions that have been withheld. This release is replaced with a__
calming effect, which Aristotle terms as the climax of tragedy._____________________
5. Tragedy shows how man is brought to disaster by a single flaw in his own
character.
Each person’s nature is composed of two parts: the noble, dignified, almost “god-like”
side and the ignoble, bestial side. Tragedy, according to Aristotle, shows us a person_
who has noble attributes but whose character is blighted by a flaw which ultimately__
brings about his fall.
__________________________________________________