- Fri Aug 02, 2019 4:28 pm
#67005
Hi G.
(A) is a classic half-right answer choice. The first part, about strict adherence to the sonnet form, is correct. However, the second part, about the goal of recreating the atmosphere of 16th-century poetry, is not. Why? The question stem here is referring to Cullen's own position on his poetry, not that of any critics. The second paragraph mentions that some of his critic's praised “The Ballad of the Brown Girl” for capturing "the atmosphere typical of the English ballad form of past centuries." But that's not necessarily Cullen's position, of which we only know that he believed poetry should be "lofty thoughts beautifully expressed.” Not a lot to go on, but it does suggest that he was as interested in substance as style. (A) is only talking about style.
Contrast that to (E), where we have the same conventional sonnet but now written to talk about a "lofty thought," the inevitability of death. This is both style and substance, fitting much closer than (A) does to the quote given in the first paragraph.
Hope this clears things up!
