50 multiple‑choice questions (with answers) based on Edmund Spenser’s sonnet “One Day I Wrote Her Name” (Sonnet 75). They cover structure, themes, language, and deeper interpretation:

50 multiple‑choice questions (with answers) based on Edmund Spenser’s sonnet “One Day I Wrote Her Name” (Sonnet 75). They cover structure, themes, language, and deeper interpretation:

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1–10: Form & Structure

1. How many lines are in the poem?
   A) 12  B) 14  C) 10  D) 16
   Answer: B

2. What poetic form is used?
   A) Elegy  B) Sonnet  C) Ode  D) Ballad
   Answer: B

3. What is the rhyme scheme?
   A) ABBA ABBA CDE CDE  B) ABAB CDCD EFEF GG  C) AABB CCDD EEFF GG  D) ABAB BCBC CDCD EE
   Answer: A

4. What meter is predominantly used?
   A) Trochaic tetrameter  B) Iambic pentameter  C) Anapestic trimeter  D) Dactylic hexameter
   Answer: B

5. How many quatrains are in the sonnet before the couplet?
   A) 3  B) 2  C) 4  D) 1
   Answer: A

6. Which lines form the final couplet?
   A) 1–2  B) 13–14  C) 11–12  D) 7–8
   Answer: B

7. The shift in argument occurs at which line?
   A) Line 5  B) Line 9  C) Line 12  D) Line 14
   Answer: B

8. What literary device is used heavily in the quatrains?
   A) Metaphor  B) Alliteration  C) Epistle  D) Anaphora
   Answer: A

9. Spenser repeats the word “ever” to emphasize:
   A) Permanence  B) Doubt  C) Motion  D) Growth
   Answer: A

10. The sonnet ends with a:
    A) Question  B) Exclamation  C) Statement  D) Wish
    Answer: C

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11–20: Literal Meaning

11. On the beach the poet:
    A) Wrote her name in the sand  B) Sang her name  C) Spoke her name aloud  D) Whispered her name
    Answer: A

12. The tide:
    A) Ignored the name  B) Erased it  C) Highlighted it  D) Doubled it
    Answer: B

13. The poet’s second act is to:
    A) Write again  B) Erase it  C) Sing her praises  D) Forget her
    Answer: A

14. Why does he write again?
    A) To correct spelling  B) To preserve the name  C) To show Achilles  D) For fun
    Answer: B

15. The final couplet reveals the poet’s belief that:
    A) Love can conquer death  B) Poems always fail  C) Sand is eternal  D) Writing is useless
    Answer: A

16. What does “eternallizing love” refer to?
    A) Memory  B) Poetry  C) Statues  D) Churches
    Answer: B

17. The tide symbolizes:
    A) Time  B) Grace  C) Nature’s kindness  D) The sea only
    Answer: A

18. Writing in sand is a metaphor for:
    A) Fragile memory  B) Permanent record  C) Fame  D) Ignorance
    Answer: A

19. By the end, the poet hopes:
    A) Her name will wash away  B) Their love will live forever  C) She will forget him  D) Tide will stop
    Answer: B

20. The “I” voice in the poem is:
    A) A friend  B) The poet  C) A rival  D) A sailor
    Answer: B

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21–30: Language & Imagery

21. “One day I wrote her name upon the strand,” the “strand” is:
    A) A beach  B) A rope  C) A letter  D) A song
    Answer: A

22. The phrase “in the sand” means:
    A) In stone  B) On the beach  C) In water  D) In air
    Answer: B

23. “But came the tide…” uses:
    A) Personification  B) Hyperbole  C) Simile  D) Irony
    Answer: A

24. The tide “washed it away” shows:
    A) Cleansing  B) Destruction  C) Surprise  D) Painted it
    Answer: B

25. “Vayne man” is archaic for:
    A) Arrogant man  B) Worthless man  C) Popular man  D) Brave man
    Answer: B

26. “Here shall ye stay” shows:
    A) Confidence  B) Surrender  C) Doubt  D) Fear
    Answer: A

27. “Where whenas death shall all the world subdue” refers to:
    A) Pessimism  B) Apocalypse  C) Future oblivion  D) Birth
    Answer: C

28. “Your name shall be” conveys:
    A) Command  B) Hope  C) Prediction  D) Desire
    Answer: C

29. The lines “So long as men can breathe…” use:
    A) Allegory  B) Meter  C) Repetition for emphasis  D) Dialogue
    Answer: C

30. The imagery of sand suggests:
    A) Strength  B) Fragility and impermanence  C) Coldness  D) Joy
    Answer: B

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31–40: Themes & Interpretation

31. The central theme is:
    A) Nature’s power  B) Love and immortality  C) War  D) Religion
    Answer: B

32. The poem is an example of:
    A) Metaphysical poetry  B) Renaissance love lyric  C) Epic poetry  D) Pastoral elegy
    Answer: B

33. By writing again, the poet shows:
    A) Despair  B) Denial of loss  C) Perseverance in love  D) Sarcasm
    Answer: C

34. The “vain man” remark criticizes:
    A) The sea  B) Other poets  C) Himself  D) Her
    Answer: B

35. Poetry here is portrayed as:
    A) Temporary  B) Eternalizing  C) Useless  D) Dangerous
    Answer: B

36. Death in the poem is:
    A) Final  B) Conquered by verse  C) Feared absolutely  D) Ignored
    Answer: B

37. One tension in the poem is between:
    A) Sea and sky  B) Nature and art  C) Love and hate  D) Heroism and cowardice
    Answer: B

38. The poet sees his verse as:
    A) A remedy for mortality  B) A curse  C) A distraction  D) A joke
    Answer: A

39. “As long as men can breathe”—this phrase implies:
    A) Love ends with death  B) Poetry lasts until end of time  C) Humans are immortal  D) Waves keep coming
    Answer: B

40. The poem critiques:
    A) Vanity of ephemeral things  B) Strength of love  C) Power of nature  D) Political systems
    Answer: A

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41–50: Deeper Reading & Context

41. The poet’s technique is known as:
    A) Ekphrasis  B) Conceit  C) Stream of consciousness  D) Pastoral
    Answer: B

42. The repeated writing is symbolic of:
    A) Habit  B) Ritual in courtship  C) Artistic persistence  D) Alliterative sound
    Answer: C

43. The poem was written in:
    A) Victorian era  B) Elizabethan era  C) Medieval age  D) Modern times
    Answer: B

44. The poem’s optimism lies in:
    A) Eternal memory through verse  B) Belief in afterlife  C) Properties of sand  D) Strength of waves
    Answer: A

45. Spenser believed that poetry:
    A) Is inferior to painting  B) Can immortalize loved ones  C) Is for common people  D) Should be silent
    Answer: B

46. The poem fits the Petrarchan sonnet tradition of:
    A) Love and confession  B) Seafaring adventures  C) Satire  D) Political commentary
    Answer: A

47. Death is a temporary force because of:
    A) Nature’s cycles  B) The permanence of written word  C) Human forgetting  D) Religious faith
    Answer: B

48. The term “subdue” suggests:
    A) Gentle defeat  B) Overpowering force  C) Friendly persuasion  D) Divine gift
    Answer: B

49. The poem ultimately celebrates:
    A) Nature’s dominance  B) Legacy through art  C) Human arrogance  D) Social inequality
    Answer: B

50. “One day I wrote...” is a meditation on:
    A) Vanity of human acts  B) Ephemerality and poetic immortality  C) Beauty of the seashore  D) Terror of the ocean
    Answer: B