In the comments section of this post, I have put all the comprehension question answers for the stories that we have covered in the Time and Eternity unit. This will help you study for your final exam.
Your final exam will be like a normal unit test: it will have comprehension questions taken from the textbook and it will contain one passage identification and analysis.
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The Interlopers- Comprehension Questions
1. What started the quarrel long ago between Ulrich von Gradwitz and Georg Znaeym. Why did it continue?
A dispute between their grandfathers over a narrow strip of forest land started the quarrel. The quarrel continued because Ulrich and Georg held on to the hatred and bitterness they had for one another and it also continued because they had been taught to hate one another by their families.
2. Why were Ulrich and Georg in the forest on such a stormy night?
Georg was engaged in poaching, and Ulrich was trying to catch Georg poaching.
3. What event prevented the two men from attacking each other?
A bolt of lightning hit a beech tree which pinned both men under a mass of fallen branches.
4. Who was the first to become friendly toward his enemy? How did he convey his desire to forgive and forget the old feud?
Ulrich was first. He conveyed his desire first by offering Georg some of his wine. Then, he did it by pledging himself to have his men free Georg unharmed if they arrived first. Finally, Ulrich asked Georg to help stop the quarrel.
5. What makes the ending of the story ironic? Why do you think the author chose to stop the story at this point?
The ending is ironic because the men had twice stated that there was no interloper that could prevent them from a life of friendship. The wolves that arrive on the scene could kill the men, putting an end to the friendship before it got a good start. If Georg and Ulrich had not tried to injure one another, they would have never been in this situation. The author may have wanted to keep the reader uncertain of what happened, or he might have wanted the story’s ending to have a haunting effect—so that the reader would really think about how the time to make peace is actually much shorter than we think.
THEME: The time to make peace is short, so don’t waste your life in anger when you could be setting things right—you may not have as much time as you think you do.
DOMINANT LITERARY TERMS:
Conflict
Foreshadowing
Situational Irony
3rd person limited perspective
Symbol
Surprise ending
Suspense
Suspenseful mood
A Psalm of Life Comprehension Questions
1. Explain the first stanza in your own words.
The author does not want anyone to try to convince him that life is only a meaningless dream, for he says that a sleeping, passionless soul is a dead soul and life is not always what it appears to be.
2. What does the poem say about time?
The poem says that time moves by quickly, so the opportunity to use your time well is actually very short. The author says that we shouldn’t spend all our time thinking about the past or about the future, but instead, we must act in the present so that we can make the legacy of our lives timeless masterpieces that live far longer than we actually do. In this way, our lives can be inspirations to those who come after us and who struggle—they can look on our lives as comfort just as we look on the lives of the great heroes of the past to give us hope for the future.
3. What action does the poet urge upon his readers?
He urges his readers to be both active and patient, making the most of time and life.
THEME: CARPE DIEM! Live your life with passion and live it now! Don’t waste your time mindlessly going about like a robot, forgetting how little time we actually have to live on this earth. Every day is an opportunity to make your life a work of art…. and art, unlike our own ephemeral existence, can exist for thousands of years. Your life should be filled with purpose-filled actions and with great patience as you strive to achieve your goals.
Key Literary Terms:
Metaphor
Rhyme
Biblical Allusion
Simile
Repetition
Comprehension Question answers for ‘Nothing Gold Can Stay’ and ‘On the Vanity of Earthly Greatness’
1. What is the theme of ‘Nothing Gold Can Stay’?
The theme is the inconstancy of earthly perfection and beauty. Nothing that is lovely or perfect on this earth will ever stay that way—and furthermore, these beautiful or lovely things often lose their beauty and perfection VERY quickly.
2. Explain the first two lines of ‘Nothing Gold Can Stay’
The leaves that plants and trees begin putting forth in spring are of a gold-green hue that lasts only a short time. It also means that the beauty of spring is short lived and precious.
3. Do you agree with the poem’s conclusion? Why or why not?
While it is true that the world’s physical objects do decay and fade away, there are some intangible things, such as God’s attributes (truth, justice, honor) that never lose their brightness.
Comprehension Question answers for ‘On the Vanity of Earthly Greatness’
1. What is the theme of this poem? How does the author get his idea across?
The theme is that worldly strength and power pass away. The author contrasts the former state of things and people with their current unimpressive state.
2. Does the serious-sounding title seem to fit the rest of the poem? Why do you think the author chose the title?
The title does not seem to fit the poem’s style. He probably chose the title because the thought it conveys is the theme of the poem—the title sounds very impressive and powerful, but then the content of the poem is quite light- hearted, so it is much like the other examples in the poem. The pairing of a serious title with a seemingly fluffy poem also makes the tone of the poem humorous.
KEY THEMES:
The things that this earth values, such as beauty, perfection, power, and influence eventually fade away and become nothing when faced with the inevitable march of time.
Key Literary Terms for ‘Nothing Gold’
Imagery
Symbolism
Theme
Rhyme
Metaphor
Biblical Allusion
Key Literary Terms for ‘On the Vanity’
Tone
Historical Allusion
Metaphor
Rhyme
Theme
How Did You Die Comprehension Questions
1. What question is asked in the last line of each stanza? Why are these questions important?
The questions at the end of the stanzas are the following: ‘How did you take it?’ and ‘How did you fight—and why? And “How did you die?” These questions are important because they emphasize the poem’s theme—one’s motivations and determinations are more important than whether one is seen as a success or failure.
2. Explain lines 5-6 in your own words.
Difficulties, large or small, only prove as burdensome as you allow them to be.
3. Do you agree with the statement “It’s nothing against you to fall down flat,/but to lie there—that’s disgrace?” Why or why not?
I agree with this statement. When it comes to the everyday failures and disappointments of life, I think it is definitely dishonorable and disgraceful to give up and to stop striving to do your best. I think it’s an important part of life to recognize that we, as humans, are imperfect and sinful, and that the only thing we can do about this sin is to be aware of it, to do our best to avoid it, and then, if we fail and fall, to quickly go to God, confess it all to Him, and to try again to live a life that is pleasing to Him. To give up after falling and failing is to give up on God’s transforming power in our lives.
Theme: the overall theme of this poem is life, how we live our lives, and how we should look at our lives when we have failures and disappointments. This poem teaches the importance of tenacity, commitment, and a GOOD ATTITUDE in the face of trials and hardships, and how it’s through those things that you reveal your true strength of character and the true quality of your life.
Key Literary Terms:
Alliteration
Rhyme
Metaphor
Repetition
Theme
Personification
tone
We are Seven Comprehension Questions
1. Why was the girl persistent in saying that there were seven children in her family?
She did not think of death as an end or a separation, for she still felt close in spirit to her dead brother and sister. Even though she could not be with them physically, she still felt connected to them spiritually and emotionally.
2. Where was each one?
Two lived in Conway (another town), two were sailors and were at sea, two of them were buried in the graveyard near her home, and the little girl lived at home alone with her mother.
3. What attitude did the little girl have on death and the dead? Did the speaker share her view? Explain.
The little girl felt that death was not the end of life and that her dead siblings were still with her. The speaker did not share her views: he felt that the dead children’s spirits were in heaven, and thus should not be considered part of the family any more.
4. Do you think that the dialogue is a helpful device in this poem? Explain.
Yes, the dialogue helps in many ways. First of all, it makes the characters and the topic come alive through giving them their own voices—it makes it more interesting and realistic, since the conversation that the speaker has with the little girl is much like any conversation an adult would have with a child about something. Secondly, the repetition within the dialogue helps emphasize the theme of the poem, and last of all, the dialogue serves as a way to soften the heavy topic of the poem. The beginning of the poem opens with “What should a young child know of death?” a pretty heavy and dark question to begin any poem with—but the dialogue and the repetition of the argument between the man and child—which could be boiled down to “There are seven of us.”, “No, there are five of you.” “No, there are seven.” “No, five, etc.”—makes the tone lighter. The poem is written in the first person limited perspective (from the perspective of the poet), yet through the dialogue, the TRUE perspective of the poem ends up being the perspective of the child. This serves as a way to answer the question posed in the beginning of the poem and also serves as a way to soften/sweeten the overall tone of the poem, since the dominant voice in the dialogue is the child’s voice.
THEME: The overall theme of ‘We are Seven’ is that even though death may separate us physically from somebody that we love, death does not have the power to emotionally or spiritually separate us from our loved ones, and we will always be connected to them in spirit.
DOMINANT LITERARY TERMS:
Dialogue
Repetition
Rhyme
First person limited perspective
Tone
theme
The Pilgrimage Comprehension Questions
1. What places does the speaker go through on his journey?
The speaker goes through the ‘cave of Desperation’, the ‘rock of pride’, ‘phansie’s meadow’, ‘care’s cops’ and ‘the wilde of passion.’ The cave of desperation symbolically represents the times in our life when we are tempted to lose all hope and faith, or when we actually have fallen to this hopelessness and are trapped in a state of blindness. The rock of pride represents the times in our lives when we are tempted to let our hearts become hard because they are filled with pride and not willing to stay soft to the words of God—pride often makes us think that we do not need God and makes us hard to the wise instruction of others. Phansie means fancy—and fancy’s meadow is a pleasant place that is filled with dreams… but ONLY dreams. It represents the times in our lives where we are inactive because we are only DREAMING of the great things we will do instead of actually doing them. It is a place of all thought, and no follow-through. Care’s copse, or worry’s brush filled forest—stands for the times in our lives where we cannot move forward because all our worries about the future, or past, get in our way. These things hinder us and keep us from stepping forward, since fear holds us back just as brush would get in the way of someone who is trying to walk through a forest. The wilde of passion, or the untamed/untended land of passion, represents the times in our lives when we are consumed by a great passion for something— this passion has a lot of potential, yet it also has a lack of discipline in it, since it is not controlled at all. It is a place in our life where we COULD be productive, yet, often, are not, because we do not couple our strong desire with strong work towards an honorable goal or purpose.
2. What happens when he reaches the first hill in line 19? Why is he disappointed?
He finds only a lake of briny waters. He is disappointed because he had been expecting something else, and he is also disappointed because this lake is filled with the tears of others who have come before him, so this place is a place where others suffered before him. It is not at all the place he imagined.
3. Who is the King (line 27)?
The King is God.
4. What does the second hill symbolize? What is meant by the words “none goes that way and lives?”
The second hill symbolizes heaven. The words mean that people cannot reach heaven without dying—first, dying to themselves and taking on the life of Christ, and secondly, dying a physical death as well. In addition to that, these words serve as a warning, as a way to scare away the man as he journeys—the pursuit of heaven, the pursuit of the Christian walk, is a difficult and dangerous walk in the eyes of the world.
5. Death is compared to a chair in the last two lines. Why is this an appropriate metaphor?
Like a chair, death allows one to rest. Last of all, as Christians, when we die, we will be seated at the table of God in heaven.
KEY LITERARY TERMS:
Allegory
Symbol
Imagery
Theme
Rhyme
Conflict
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