Mohamed Kheider University of Biskra

Module: Literature Faculty of Letters and Languages Lecturer: Mr A. Boulegroune

Student's Full Name: ………………………………………………… Group №: .................

First-Semester Test
The Raven
Underneath an old oak tree His brow, like a pent-house, hung over his eyes.
There was a swine a huge company, He'd an axe in his hand, not a word he spoke,
That grunted as they crunched the mast: But with many a hem! and a sturdy stroke,
For that was ripe, and fell full fast. At length he brought down the poor Raven's own oak.
Then they trotted away, for the wind grew high: His young ones were killed; for they could not depart,
One acorn they left, and no more might you spy. And their mother did die of a broken heart.
Next came a Raven, that liked not such folly:
He belonged, they did say, to the witch Melancholy! The boughs from the trunk the woodman did sever;
Blacker was he than blackest jet, And they floated it down on the course of the river.
Flew low in the rain, and his feathers not wet. They sawed it in planks, and its bark they did strip,
He picked up the acorn and buried it straight And with this tree and others they made a good ship.
By the side of a river both deep and great. The ship, it was launched; but in sight of the land
Where then did the Raven go? Such a storm there did rise as no ship could withstand.
He went high and low, It bulged on a rock, and the waves rush'd in fast:
Over hill, over dale, did the black Raven go. Round and round flew the raven, and cawed to the blast.
Many Autumns, many Springs He heard the last shriek of the perishing souls
Travelled he with wandering wings: See! See! o'ver the topmast the mad water rolls!
Many Summers, many Winters Right glad was the Raven, and off he went fleet,
I can't tell half his adventures. And Death riding home on a cloud he did meet,
And he thank'd him again and again for this treat:
At length he came back, and with him a she,
They had taken his all, and REVENGE IT WAS SWEET!
And the acorn was grown to a tall oak tree.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge, 1797
They built them a nest in the topmost bough,
And young ones they had, and were happy enow.
But soon came a wooden in leathern guise,

QUESTION 01:
Select the option that best answers/completes each of the questions/statements below.
1. The above poems is a
a) narrative poem b) lyric c) neither narrative poem nor lyric
2. In line 8, “He belonged, they did say, to the witch Melancholy!” suggests that
a) the poet believes that the raven has a negative superstitious image
b) other people believe that the raven has a negative superstitious image
c) everyone believes that the raven has a negative superstitious image
3. What type of literary device did the poet use in ”And Death riding home on a cloud he did meet,”
a) personification b) metaphor c) Simile
4. Which successive lines in the poem rhyme together?
a) 1, 2, 3, and 4 b) 16, 17, 18, and 19 c) 41, 42, 43, and 44

QUESTION 02:
Explain how life and death are presented in “The Raven”.
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