Honors Essay Questions for Poetry Test

Explicate the poem. Be sure to identify what the structure of the poem and why. In order to explicate the poem properly, you need to pull all of your knowledge of poetry such as figures of speech, sound devices, rhyme, rhyme scheme, connotation and denotation, and rhythm. I do not expect you to use all of these techniques; use the ones that apply to your explication with a clear explanation of why.

“My love is as a fever, longing still”
William Shakespeare

1 My love is as a fever, longing still
For that which longer nurseth the disease,
Feeding on that which doth preserve the ill,
The uncertain sickly appetite to please.
5 My reason, the physician to my love,
Angry that his prescriptions are not kept,
Hath left me, and I desperate now approve
Desire is death, which physic did except.
Past cure I am, now reason is past care,
10 And frantic-mad with evermore unrest;
My thoughts and my discourse as madmen's are,
At random from the truth vainly express'd;
For I have sworn thee fair and thought thee bright,
Who art as black as hell, as dark as night



1.
Richard Wright

I am nobody:
A red sinking autumn sun
Took my name away.


“Manhole Covers”
Karl Shapiro

1 The beauty of manhole covers--what of that?
Like medals struck by a great savage khan,
Like Mayan calendar stones, unliftable, indecipherable,
Not like the old electrum, chased and scored,
5 Mottoed and sculptured to a turn,
But notched and whelked and pocked and smashed
With the great company names
Gentle Bethlehem, smiling United States.
This rustproof artifact of my street,
10 Long after roads are melted away will lie
Sidewise in the grave of the iron-old world,
Bitten at the edges,
Strong with its cryptic American,
Its dated beauty.

DNA, RNA and Genetics Essay Questions

Once again, you will be preparing essay questions for your test on DNA and RNA. You have two essay options, from which one will be chosen on the day of the test. These will be 5 paragraph essays! You are expected to be able to answer either of these essays by the time of the test. You should be reading and researching material beyond what we have discussed in class to find complete answers for these questions. Be sure to prepare a relevant and detailed thesis statement that directly answers the questions that are asked.

1. What is the relationship between Gregor Mendel’s discovery of the inheritance of traits and modern genetics? Explain what Mendel theorized about genes and how traits were passed down at the time of his discoveries, and how later discoveries have supported his ideas. Use specific examples to show how our understanding of genetics has changed since Mendel’s time. Examples can include the structure and function of DNA, the process of protein synthesis or the role of chromosomes in meiosis and gamete formation.


2. Who was responsible for the discovery of DNA’s double helix structure and why was this discovery important? Discuss the events and discoveries that led up to the discovery of the structure of DNA. Be sure to include the different roles that individuals played in this discovery and an understanding of the structure of both the monomers and polymers of DNA. There were more people involved in this discovery than Watson and Crick, so be sure to discuss their contributions and any controversy surrounding the publication of the discovery and the resulting Nobel Prize received by Watson and Crick.