Question

From "The Walrus and the Carpenter"

by Lewis Carroll

1 The sun was shining on the sea
Shining with all his might:
He did his very best to make
The billows smooth and bright--
5 And this was odd , because it was
The middle of the night.


The moon was shining sulkily,
Because she thought the sun
Had got no business to be there
10 After the day was done--
"It's very rude of him," she said,
"To come and spoil the fun!"

1. Which of the following lines from the poem is an example of personification?

A. Shining with all his might:
B. The billows smooth and bright--
C. And this was odd, because it was
D. After the day was done--

2. What conclusion can you draw about the moon in the poem?

A. She believes the night belongs to her, not the sun.
B. She is angry because the sun is keeping her from sleeping.
C. She is jealous of how much brighter the sun is than she is.
D. She is having fun shining with the sun.

3. Which detail from the poem best supports the conclusion you drew in the previous question?

A. Shining with all his might:
B. And this was odd, because it was
The middle of the night.
C. The moon was shining sulkily,
D. Because she thought the sun
Had got no business to be there

4. Which is the best paraphrase of the first stanza?

A. The sun was shining on the waves of the ocean. Even with the sun out, it was so dark that it seemed like nighttime.
B. The sun was shining and making the waves of the sea bright. This was very strange, because it was night.
C. The sun was trying very hard to shine on the bright wakes. He couldn't shine hard enough, though, because it was too dark.
D. The sun was out. This made the waves beautiful and bright. Soon, though, it would be night and the sun would go away.

5. Which of the following words has negative connotations?

A. middle
B. billows
C. spoil
D. done

Answer 1

1.- The line that is an example of personification is shining with all his might, this sentence gives male personification to the sun.

2.-The conclusion that you can draw about the moon in the poem is A. She believes the night belongs to her, not the sun. We can draw this by reading these lines:

Because she thought the sun

Had got no business to be there

After the day was done

3.- The detail from the poem that best supports the drawn conclusion in number 2 is D. Because she thought the sun , Had got no business to be there. The expression had got no business shows that it was, in fact, the moon's business.

4.-The best paraphrase of the first stanza is B. The sun was shining and making the waves of the sea bright. This was very strange because it was night. The billows are wavy forms so this represents the waves and odd is a synonym of strange.

5.-The word that has negative connotations is C. spoil. It is used as the term applied to the food when it is spoiled, it is rotten, so it is not good anymore.