Category: Modern Poetry and Poetics

A. The devastation wrought by World War I was so enormous that it put Europe’s cultural and political norms and values into question.
B. The mechanized killing, which took place on a massive scale during World War I, made it necessary to reflect about the effects of technological progress.
C. World War I was the first global conflict where the distinction between combatants and civilians was erased, and this had a devastating effect on the European psyche.
D. Both A and B

A. Irony
B. Allegory
C. Oxymoron
D. Alliteration

A. Artifacts from foreign cultures which do not fit into the American cultural context
B. The broken dreams of the American émigré community in Paris
C. Old poetry
D. The failed attempt of modern poetry

A. The Futurists apotheosized technology, whereas World War II poets often focused on technology’s destructive powers.
B. The Futurists praised speed, whereas World War II poets often evoked images of nature to describe the human condition.
C. The Futurists privileged the part over the whole, whereas World War II poets did not deal with the problem of modernity and alienation.
D. The Futurists focused on advancements in technology and industry, whereas World War II poets ignored advancements in technology, especially in modern warfare.

A. Hughes was very conscious that he
was an American poet, and this profoundly influenced his writing.
B. Hughes wrote about the legacy of the American Civil War and its long-term cultural consequences.
C. Hughes introduced new subject-matter and new language into poetry.
D. Both A and C

A. The diction is much more polysyllabic than monosyllabic.
B. The use of alternating end rhymes and word repetitions enhance the music of the poem and along with its occasional dissonance give it an improvisational jazz-like quality.
C. It is written in Standard American English for middle-class readers.
D. This poem is structured like a villanelle.

A. Metaphor to suggest a connection between soldiers and nature
B. Simile to suggest a connection between soldiers and nature
C. Metonymy to describe the brutality of modern warfare
D. Onomatopoeia to describe the brutality of modern warfare

A. Is authentic poetry possible in the aftermath of the carnage of World War I?
B. Given the diversity of the world’s poetic traditions, can there be a universal language of poetic symbolism?
C. How can a shared world be created out of the fundamentally different and private experiences of individual people?
D. Given that each person experiences trauma differently, is it possible for all to understand the modern world as a shared “waste land”?

A. Feeling like an outcast in your own house
B. Becoming a stuttering sycophant just to survive
C. Wrapping yourself in the armor of anger and resentment
D. All of the above

A. Is it possible for Romantic themes in poetry to be meaningful after the Holocaust?
B. The horror of the Holocaust was inexpressible; how can poetry speak of what is inexpressible?
C. Is there a relationship between poetry and rationality after the Holocaust?
D. Is there a meaningful relationship between World War I poetry and World War II poetry?