AQA A-Level Love Through the Ages Poetry Exam
Practice Questions Already Graded A+
What is the historical context about Thomas Wyatt? - 'Whoso list to hunt' - Answer - member of Henry
8th's court
- romantically involved with Anne Boleyn until 1524 when Wyatt was sent abroad by Henry
- arrested on charges of adultery with the Queen
- released due to friendship with Thomas Cromwell
-known to be first English poet to write in sonnet form
What is the context of the deer in 'Whoso list to hunt' ? - Answer - Greek goddess Diana accompanied by
deer
- goddess of hunting and virginity
- hunting was a metaphor for courting rituals and common in art
- songs about the hunt performed in court
- hunters couldn't kill the King's deer and the King was always at the front of the race
- hunting reserved for aristocracy
- women represented by deer
What is the literary context of 'Whoso list to hunt'? - Answer -Love poetry in this era was about
courtly/unrequited love
-Courtly love put women on pedestals, making them the dominant figure
-Could be argued that 'worshipping' women was another kind of objectification
-Misogyny - women were often viewed as prizes
-May be a poem written about Anne Boleyn
What is the form and structure of 'Who so list to haunt'? - Answer - Petrarchan sonnet
- iambic pentameter
- no rhyme scheme
- first 8 lines are problem
,- next 6 lines are solution
Give a summary of 'Who so list to haunt'. - Answer - the speaker says he knows a deer who likes being
chased
- he is the furthest behind in the race which has tired him out
- she flees him time and time again
- a sign on her neck written in diamonds says she belongs to Caeser so don't touch her
- it also says that she cannot be contained
What are the key aspects of 'Who so list to haunt'? - Answer - extended metaphor of hunt and deer
-Deer symbolizes a woman
- enjambment reflects the pace of the hunt
- alliteration either wind or hunt
- deer possibly enjoys being chased
- speaker cannot keep up with her and is forbidden
- Caesar is Henry 8th and the diamonds show class
-obsessive/unrequited love
What is the context of 'Sonnet 116' by William Shakespeare? - Answer -was written in the late 16th
century at the start of Queen Elizabeth's reign
-Shakespeare wrote 154 sonnets
- popular playwright in the late 1500s
- popular with both Elizabeth I and James II
- highly personal or autobiographical
-Sonnet form only gained popularity in 1590
-Suggested that it was written about an unnamed young man in a loving and romantic sense.
-However, some read it as platonic love.
What is the form and structure of 'Sonnet 116'? - Answer - Shakespearean sonnet
, - 14 lines with rhyming couplets
- 3 quatrains and a conclusive couplet
- iambic pentameter
- no volta
Give a summary of 'Sonnet 116'. - Answer - speaker says true love does not change or can be removed
- it is unaffected by storms
- has nothing to do with beauty
- true love does not change over time but lasts forever
- if the speaker is wrong about this, then love is not real
-permanent/idealized love
What are the key aspects of 'Sonnet 116'? - Answer - mixture of enjambment and caesura
- true love cannot be removed or dissolved
- like a lighthouse or the North Star
- beauty is destroyed with time but love isn't
- stars and ships are constants
- speaker is extremely certain
-love transcends time
-love overcomes all
What is the historical context about John Donne? - The Flea - Answer - Metaphysical Poet
-from a roman catholic family when it was illegal
- well-educated
- spent his money on women, literature, leisure
- gave up Catholicism to become an Anglican preacher
-Did not want to make his poetry publicly available as he thought it was beneath his dignity
- poetry written for wealthy patrons
- three stages of young and lustful, lover, religious poetry and prose of St Paul's
Practice Questions Already Graded A+
What is the historical context about Thomas Wyatt? - 'Whoso list to hunt' - Answer - member of Henry
8th's court
- romantically involved with Anne Boleyn until 1524 when Wyatt was sent abroad by Henry
- arrested on charges of adultery with the Queen
- released due to friendship with Thomas Cromwell
-known to be first English poet to write in sonnet form
What is the context of the deer in 'Whoso list to hunt' ? - Answer - Greek goddess Diana accompanied by
deer
- goddess of hunting and virginity
- hunting was a metaphor for courting rituals and common in art
- songs about the hunt performed in court
- hunters couldn't kill the King's deer and the King was always at the front of the race
- hunting reserved for aristocracy
- women represented by deer
What is the literary context of 'Whoso list to hunt'? - Answer -Love poetry in this era was about
courtly/unrequited love
-Courtly love put women on pedestals, making them the dominant figure
-Could be argued that 'worshipping' women was another kind of objectification
-Misogyny - women were often viewed as prizes
-May be a poem written about Anne Boleyn
What is the form and structure of 'Who so list to haunt'? - Answer - Petrarchan sonnet
- iambic pentameter
- no rhyme scheme
- first 8 lines are problem
,- next 6 lines are solution
Give a summary of 'Who so list to haunt'. - Answer - the speaker says he knows a deer who likes being
chased
- he is the furthest behind in the race which has tired him out
- she flees him time and time again
- a sign on her neck written in diamonds says she belongs to Caeser so don't touch her
- it also says that she cannot be contained
What are the key aspects of 'Who so list to haunt'? - Answer - extended metaphor of hunt and deer
-Deer symbolizes a woman
- enjambment reflects the pace of the hunt
- alliteration either wind or hunt
- deer possibly enjoys being chased
- speaker cannot keep up with her and is forbidden
- Caesar is Henry 8th and the diamonds show class
-obsessive/unrequited love
What is the context of 'Sonnet 116' by William Shakespeare? - Answer -was written in the late 16th
century at the start of Queen Elizabeth's reign
-Shakespeare wrote 154 sonnets
- popular playwright in the late 1500s
- popular with both Elizabeth I and James II
- highly personal or autobiographical
-Sonnet form only gained popularity in 1590
-Suggested that it was written about an unnamed young man in a loving and romantic sense.
-However, some read it as platonic love.
What is the form and structure of 'Sonnet 116'? - Answer - Shakespearean sonnet
, - 14 lines with rhyming couplets
- 3 quatrains and a conclusive couplet
- iambic pentameter
- no volta
Give a summary of 'Sonnet 116'. - Answer - speaker says true love does not change or can be removed
- it is unaffected by storms
- has nothing to do with beauty
- true love does not change over time but lasts forever
- if the speaker is wrong about this, then love is not real
-permanent/idealized love
What are the key aspects of 'Sonnet 116'? - Answer - mixture of enjambment and caesura
- true love cannot be removed or dissolved
- like a lighthouse or the North Star
- beauty is destroyed with time but love isn't
- stars and ships are constants
- speaker is extremely certain
-love transcends time
-love overcomes all
What is the historical context about John Donne? - The Flea - Answer - Metaphysical Poet
-from a roman catholic family when it was illegal
- well-educated
- spent his money on women, literature, leisure
- gave up Catholicism to become an Anglican preacher
-Did not want to make his poetry publicly available as he thought it was beneath his dignity
- poetry written for wealthy patrons
- three stages of young and lustful, lover, religious poetry and prose of St Paul's
