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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In line 10, what does the speaker admit to having lost?
(a) Their college diploma.
(b) Their wedding ring.
(c) Their mother's watch.
(d) Their child's artwork.

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

3. How many lines does "One Art" have?
(a) 19.
(b) 20.
(c) 18.
(d) 17.

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

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

6. 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?
(a) Places and names are some of the last things that a person loses.
(b) Places and names are more upsetting to lose than small objects and small amounts of time.
(c) Places and names are examples of things that can be lost "farther" and "faster."
(d) Places and names are examples of things a person can only lose through "practice" and experience.

7. 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) Lost.
(b) Things.
(c) Intent.
(d) Many.

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

9. What is the most reasonable interpretation of the speaker's line 13 claim that they have "lost two cities"?
(a) The speaker is no longer interested in either city.
(b) The speaker is not welcome in either city.
(c) The speaker cannot find either city.
(d) The speaker no longer lives in either city.

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

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

12. 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) Personification.
(c) Hyperbole.
(d) Simile.

13. What "Art" does the title refer to?
(a) The art of mastering loss.
(b) The art of maintaining perspective.
(c) The art of disciplining the emotions.
(d) The art of maintaining relationships.

14. What is the meaning of the word "fluster" in line 4?
(a) Humorous coincidence.
(b) Confused agitation.
(c) Sudden, uncoordinated movement.
(d) Tiring inconvenience.

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

Short Answer Questions

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

2. In line 7, "Then practice losing farther, losing faster," rhythm is created through which devices?

3. What does the speaker use in line 5 as an example of a common lost object?

4. What kind of metrical foot is the most frequent in "One Art"?

5. 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?

(see the answer keys)

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