CSET Subtest 1 Practice Test

The earliest sonnets are believed to have been written in Sicily during the thirteenth century. In the early sixteenth century, Sir Thomas Wyatt and Henry Howard, Earl
of Surrey, introduced the Italian, or Petrarchan, sonnet to England. By the late sixteenth century, Surrey had changed the structure and rhyme scheme of the sonnet from abbaabba, cdecde (or cdcdcd), to abba, cdcd, efef, gg, and the new English sonnet form was established.

In this paragraph, the phrase "As I strolled through the door" works most sensibly and effectively in the blank. This clausal modifier, paired with the independent clause "I froze in my tracks," works best to set up a sudden change in the formerly relaxed and casual manner of the narrator. This modifier also makes the most sense chronologically, since the narrator cannot experience feelings of nervousness or foolishness or settle himself down at the desk until after strolling through the door of the classroom and then freezing in his tracks.

Imagist poetry is typically written in free verse, draws on a wide range of subject matter, is expressed in common speech, and relies on a clear, concentrated image to convey meaning. In this excerpt, a singular image (a bleak, roadside landscape) is presented in plain language ("broad, muddy fields / brown with dried weeds") and in no particular metrical or verse form.

"Local color" writing typically includes detailed descriptions of a particular region and of the unique—and sometimes eccentric—customs, dress, and manner of speaking and thinking of those who inhabit the region. The technique gives the narrative an air of authenticity and serves to pique the curiosity of readers.

In this passage, the ocean is quite clearly personified as a pitiless, wrathful being bent on crushing the men in the boat. The ocean has a "slaty," "grim" aspect and a furious attitude, evinced by the constant "snarling of the crests" and the "final outburst" of one of its waves.

Young adult literature usually features a teenage protagonist and provides reflections on and interpretations of his or her particular point of view. Also, the action or
events in a work of young adult literature tend to occur quickly. The dialogue is direct, sometimes confrontational, and the story takes place over a relatively short period of time, such as a summer vacation or school trip.

An American slave narrative is an autobiographical account of life as a slave. As part of the account, the narrator typically provides vivid descriptions of the horrors of
slavery, including the appalling transatlantic Middle Passage that many African slaves were forced to endure. During a slave ship's passage, the human "cargo were confined together," in extremely close quarters belowdecks, creating "absolutely pestilential" conditions.

Psychoanalytic criticism is based on the idea that literary works can reflect the imagined fulfillment of the author's thoughts and desires that are denied in real, everyday life or are prohibited by social or cultural standards—i.e., thoughts and desires that are censored by the self, or repressed. In this excerpt, the narrator is "filled with thoughts," most of which go unspoken or are repressed. However, she is still sometimes able to imagine these thoughts playing out freely—they "came pirouetting and stepping delicately, spread their tails, pecked their way. . . ."

The rationalism of the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries held that all truths, especially religious ones, were accessible and comprehensible through pure human reason; reason was in itself a source of knowledge superior to and independent of sense perceptions. In this excerpt, Swift mocks the rationalist view by equating the knowledge that reason supposedly brings with rising "vapor" or "smoke" and asserting that the sources of the vapor or smoke are immaterial ("it is of no import where the fire was kindled"). So, with pure reason only—i.e., without the power of discernment—the "exhalations from the sea" become equivalent to the "steams from dunghills," which is a ridiculous notion.

All Literature of the Absurd imparts the idea that the existence and actions of human beings are, in effect, senseless, useless, and therefore absurd. In Theatre of the Absurd, then, the characters' speech reflects this senselessness, as in Waiting for Godot, one of the characters remarks, "Nothing happens, nobody comes, nobody goes, it's awful."

The subject of a bildungsroman, or "novel of formation,"
typically has to do with the moral, spiritual, or intellectual development of a young protagonist. The novels A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, A Sentimental Education, and The Magic Mountain all have as their central characters a child or a young adult who, over the course of the story, and through varied and extensive life experiences, matures and eventually cultivates a distinct personal identity

Morality plays, popular in Europe during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, were dramatized allegories of the representative Christian life. The protagonist usually represents humankind while other characters symbolize or personify various virtues and vices, such as the Four Daughters of God (Mercy, Justice, Temperance, and Truth).

Neoclassical writers took as their primary subject human
beings and what human beings possess in common—their shared thoughts, feelings, experiences, and characteristics. In their works, Pope, Dryden, and Johnson made general observations about human beings, and in doing so, often produced adages with satiric overtones (e.g., "Man never thinks himself happy, but when he enjoys those things which others want or desire."—Pope).

For a report on the earth's major ecosystems, a writer would find extended definitions to be an effective mode of development, especially if writing for an audience of nonspecialists. Each section of the report would include an extended definition of one of the earth's ecosystems—in this case, the ocean ecosystem. This section would begin with a formal sentence definition that establishes a focus (e.g., "Oceans make up the earth's largest ecosystem, covering around 75% of the planet's surface"), followed by several shorter definitions that clarify or elaborate on the first, formal definition. The overall objective would be to explain the complex term ocean ecosystem to a lay audience by anticipating and responding to various questions about it: What is the ocean ecosystem? What are some of the things it does? How significant is it to the planet?

The modernist movement in literature developed during the
turbulent events of the early to middle twentieth century. In response to the devastation of war, and feeling disconnected from the traditions of the past, many modern writers infused their works with an extreme sense of uncertainty, disillusionment, and despair. The language and imagery used in this poem ("cry," "weeps," "mourns," "useless," "impossible," and "evening without morning") invoke the inevitability of death and create a stark and unsettling atmosphere, which is characteristic of modernist poetry.