Dr. Prinsky
Humn. 2001
Test on the Chinese Book of Songs (NAWME - 1V)
1. According to the NAWM introduction to early China, one of the primary functions of ancient Chinese literature was: (a) conceptual creation of the country (b) deflecting attention from mass starvation (c) establishment of the superiority of one social class over another (d) encouragement of female submission to male dominance in society
2. As explained in the NAWM introduction to early China, a striking feature of Chinese writing is its: (a) beautifully colored inks (b) kinship with ancient Sanskrit (c) derivation from pictograms and ideograms (d) freedom from compounds or combined forms of any sort
3. As indicated in NAWM, the approximate date of the Book of Songs is: (a) 2600 BCE (b) 1800 BCE (c) 800 BCE (d) 100 BCE
4. As explained in the NAWM introduction to the Book of Songs, the Chinese literary tradition differs from others, including that of ancient Greece, by starting with: (a) epic (b) comedy (c) prose (d) lyric
5. As explained in the NAWM introduction to the Book of Songs, the famous philosopher who highly commended this literary work was: (a) Plato (b) Confucius (c) Marcus Aurelius (d) Augustine of Hippo (e) Onishi Hajime
6. As explained in the NAWM introduction to the Book of Songs, a contrast between the Book of Songs and Greek and Roman epic is the Chinese work's: (a) variety in point of view (b) emphasis on the natural world (c) lack of interest in politics (d) portrayal of female soldiers
7. By far the largest selection of poems in the NAWM, which reflects their bulk in the Chinese work itself, is from the category of: (a) economics (b) romance (c) science (d) literary criticism
8. Repeated imagery in the Book of Songs selections are all the following except which one: (a) clothes (b) wind and storm (c) flora (d) rice and tea
9. In W-17 ("Plop fall the plums"), the repetition and refrain help to suggest or convey the: (a) boring sameness of life (b) need to proceed cautiously toward goals (c) rapture caused by the sounds of nature (d) the inexorable passing of time
10. In W-17, the movement from “those gentlemen” (stanza 1) to “any gentlemen” (stanza 2) helps convey the speaker’s increasing: (a) desperation (b) democracy (c) decorousness (d) delirium (e) decalcomania (f) defalcation
11. In W-17, an underlying equation is between two kinds of: (a) purity (b) nations (c) ripeness (d) diet
12. In W-18 ("She threw a quince to me"), a main theme conveyed in the structure and imagery of the poem about lovers and love is that a main feature of the latter two items can be: (a) smash and grab (b) give and take (c) divide and conquer (d) cut and run
13. In W-18, the repeated verb associated with the female action has suggestions of all the following except which one: (a) hostility (b) distance (c) flirtation (d) vigor
14. In W-18, the same adjective that is applied to all three gem-stones suggests about romantic love its power to: (a) injure (b) animate (c) overlook (d) equalize
15. In W-22 ("Of fair girls the loveliest/ Was to meet me at the corner of the Wall"), what the lover does with his hair and scalp illustrates: (a) perverse sexuality (b) human vanity (c) psychological displacement (d) inadequate hygiene
16. In W-22, the architectural symbolism suggests: (a) rejoicing (b) descending (c) expanding (d) thwarting
17. In W-22, the first gift cited by the male speaker (stanza 2) incorporates within the details describing it associations with: (a) the visual arts (b) music (c) the visual arts as well as music (d) ceramics and technology (e) science and warfare
18. In W-24 ("I beg of you, Chung Tzu"), as explained in the NAWM introduction to the Book of Songs, the poem itself represents, for the woman being courted: (a) a legal contract (b) a complex gift (c) an aesthetic artifact (d) abandonment of inhibitions
19. In W-24, the poem emphasizes the effect on lovers of: (a) the external world (b) feelings of hate mixed with love (c) the pressures of poverty (d) having many children
20. In W-24, the movement or sequence from stanza 1 to stanza 3 -- reference to who is or might be affected -- is basically: (a) circling (b) narrowing (c) meandering (d) widening
21. In W-25 ("The lady says: 'The cock has crowed'") is exemplified the poetic genre called: (a) sonnet (b) rondeau or roundel (c) alba or aubade (d) limerick
22. In W-25, the importance in ancient Chinese culture is implied of all the following except which one: (a) law (b) music (c) companionship (d) hunting
23. In W-28 ("Cold blows the northern wind") is expressed the recurrent theme, from ancient literature to modern TV beer commercials, of: (a) ad hominem (b) carpe diem (c) mutatis mutandis (d) persona non grata
24. In W-28, one idea suggested by the apparently puzzling relevance to the poem of the last stanza's first two lines may be the: (a) importance of color in a suitor's wardrobe (b) rise of ornithology in Chinese science (c) the lovers' need to live up to their defining nature (d) Chinese fascination with Surrealism in art
25. In W-54 ("HE: The gourd has bitter leaves"), the implied theme is the development in the romantic relationship of: (a) female bossiness or domination (b) male reluctance and hesitation (c) shared interest in gardening (d) the destructive effects of alcoholism
26. In W-54, the river has the general symbolism, relative to the romantic relationship, of: (a) barrier (b) coitus (c) feeding (d) transcendence
27. In W-56 ("If along the highroad"), the implied theme, partly expressed through the symbolism of physical gesture, is that in the romantic relationship sometimes time is needed for: (a) overcoming the beloved's mindset of separateness (b) establishing economic stability (c) taking trips to exotic locales (d) conquering the male aversion to the sexual act
28. In W-56, as in other poems of The Book of Songs (including those anthologized by the NAWME), an important influence on an interpersonal relationship is suggested to be: (a) money (b) war (c) time (d) health
29. In W-57 ("By the willows of the Eastern Gate"), in both imagery and theme, the poem most resembles: (a) W-17 (b) W-22 (c) W-57 (d) W-75
30. In W-57, the repeated imagery of darkness suggests all the following except which one: (a) secrecy (b) potential comforting closeness (c) a problem developed in the relationship (d) love triumphing over aversion to the wickedness of the loved one
31. In W-63 ("In the wilds there is a dead doe"), equations are implied between the imagery and all the following except which one: (a) female innocence (b) newfound feminine independence (c) male predation (d) masculine betrayal
32. In W-75 ("Tossed is that cypress boat"), the theme, as analyzed in the NAWM introduction, as well as clearly suggested by the poem, is primarily: (a) chauvinist (b) Thomist (c) feminist (d) Buddhist
33. In W-75, the repetition and parallelism, involving the metonymy at the beginning of several successive stanzas, helps convey the tone, on the part of the speaker of the poem, of: (a) submissive humility (b) seductive sexuality (c) scholastic learning (d) independent assertiveness
34. In W-131 ("We plucked the bracken, plucked the bracken"), the repetition and parallelism in the refrain about the bracken in stanzas 1-3 mainly helps to convey or suggest: (a) the beauty of nature (b) the interest of common soldiers in such arts as flower arranging (c) the warlord's devotion to ecology (d) the long passage of time the soldiers have spent on the battlefield
35. In W-131, the imagery of nature in stanza 4 helps make what comment about the common soldiers' condition or state: (a) complete indifference to humanity (b) contrast with their misery (c) satisfaction in their children ("sprouts") (d) parallel with their joy
36. W-157 ("They clear away the grass, the trees") is from the group of poems in the Waley categories that focuses on the area of: (a) romance (b) agriculture (c) war (d) hunting
37. In W-157, the themes and emphases are on all the following except which one: (a) nonchalance (b) order (c) sharing (d) the group
38. In W-157, involved with or byproducts of the activity described in the poem are all the following except which one: (a) pleasure (b) religious ritual (c) social or historical continuity (d) humble repentance
39. In W-238 ("She who in the beginning gave birth to the people"), the general subjects are all the following except which one: (a) religion (b) marriage (c) dynasty (d) livelihood
40. In W-238, the repeated imagery helps suggest, as associated with the progenitor, that a principal basis of culture is: (a) books (b) agriculture (c) human promiscuity (d) precious metals
41. In W-276 ("Big rat, big rat"), the rodent repeatedly referred to satirically symbolizes: (a) devious farmers (b) invaders from Europe (c) the greedy aristocracy (d) mother nature (e) Chinese gods (f) Walt Disney (g) Homer Baron in William Faulkner’s short story “A Rose for Emily” (h) SF writer Harry Harrison
42. In W-276, the refrain lines or words help convey all the following except which one: (a) joyful feelings raised in song (b) intensity of the commoners’ feelings (c) repetitiveness of the situation (d) great length of time (e) repetitiveness of certain actions
43. Specifically relating to the content of W-278 ("'Kio' sings the oriole"), a magnificent art work of the burial mound of the First Emperor of Qin involves about how many soldiers’ sculptures: (a) 250 (b) 500 (c) 1,000 (d) 3,000 (e) 7,000
44. In W-278, the attitude toward the common people is primarily: (a) favorable (b) neutral (c) unfavorable (d) obscure
45. In W-278, the speaker’s and commoners’ attitude toward the death described is implied to be: (a) grateful (b) hopeful (c) wrathful (d) fearful