View a FREE sample

This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What is a reasonable statement to make about the effect of the enjambment in lines 8 and 9, "places, and names, and where it was you meant/ to travel"?
(a) It creates an angry, agitated tone because of the isolation of the word "meant," which ends with a harsh sound.
(b) It creates the sense of something being missing or lost because the thought is interrupted by enjambment.
(c) It creates a humorous effect because the words that complete the thought on line 9 are unexpected.
(d) It creates irony because the thought's completion on line 9 is actually the opposite of what the speaker means.

2. Which technique is used in the speaker's claim to have lost "some realms I owned, two rivers, a continent" (line 14)?
(a) Imagery.
(b) Hyperbole.
(c) Personification.
(d) Simile.

3. What technique is employed in line 16, "Even losing you"?
(a) Dramatic irony.
(b) Sarcasm.
(c) Apostrophe.
(d) Understatement.

4. In lines 2 and 3, "so many things seem filled with the intent/ to be lost that their loss is no disaster," what is the antecedent of the word "their"?
(a) Many.
(b) Intent.
(c) Lost.
(d) Things.

5. Which is the best description of the tone of stanza one?
(a) Livid.
(b) Ebullient.
(c) Sanguine.
(d) Bewildered.

6. Stanzas four through six have which techniques in common?
(a) Second person and imperative mood.
(b) First person and indicative mood.
(c) First person and imperative mood.
(d) Second person and indicative mood.

7. What does the speaker use in line 5 as an example of a common lost object?
(a) Keys.
(b) Pens.
(c) Glasses.
(d) Socks.

8. Which is a reasonable statement of how the punctuation and syntax of the final stanza affect the stanza's tone?
(a) They create a rolling rhythm that invokes the light, carefree tone of a nursery rhyme.
(b) They accelerate the pace as the stanza unfolds, creating a sense of urgency.
(c) They create a choppy sound that indicates anger.
(d) They slow its pace and create a sense of uncertainty.

9. How many stanzas does "One Art" have?
(a) 8.
(b) 9.
(c) 7.
(d) 6.

10. Which word in lines 10 and 11, "And look! my last,/ or next-to-last, of three loved houses went," creates a momentary shift in verb mood?
(a) The word "loved."
(b) The word "went."
(c) The word "look."
(d) The word "next."

11. How many refrains does "One Art" contain?
(a) 2.
(b) 3.
(c) 4.
(d) 1.

12. In the first stanza, what does the speaker suggest makes the loss of some things especially easy to accept?
(a) They are difficult to live with.
(b) They are small and insignificant.
(c) They seem to want to get lost.
(d) They are part of a distant past.

13. What is the verb mood of line 4, "Lose something every day"?
(a) Imperative.
(b) Indicative.
(c) Interrogative.
(d) Subjunctive.

14. What does the second stanza suggest the "art" of losing consists of?
(a) Ignoring loss.
(b) Conquering loss.
(c) Grieving loss.
(d) Accepting loss.

15. Who is the author of "One Art"?
(a) Elizabeth Bishop.
(b) Sylvia Plath.
(c) Audre Lourde.
(d) Lucille Clifton.

Short Answer Questions

1. In line 10, what does the speaker admit to having lost?

2. What does the colon at the end of line 7, "Then practice losing farther, losing faster," indicate about the "places, and names" in line 8?

3. What is used for the first time in the poem's final stanza?

4. Lines 4 and 6, ending in the words "fluster" and "master," exhibit what type of rhyme?

5. What is the format of "One Art"?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 596 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample