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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. How many refrains does "One Art" contain?

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

3. Which is a reasonable statement of how the punctuation and syntax of the final stanza affect the stanza's tone?

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

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

Short Essay Questions

1. To whom is the parenthetical comment "(Write it!)" addressed in line 19, and how does this comment impact the reader's understanding of the poem?

2. How does the speaker's diction increase the emotional stakes as the poem progresses?

3. What are the refrains employed in "One Art"?

4. How does the speaker arrange the examples of things that can be lost?

5. On the surface level, what is the main message of "One Art"?

6. What is the poem's dominant meter, and how is it regularly interrupted?

7. Which two verb moods are used in "One Art," and where are they employed?

8. How does the change in stanza structure in the final stanza mimic the poem's changing meaning?

9. What difference is there in the way the two refrain lines are repeated throughout the poem?

10. Describe the form of "One Art."

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Bishop's "One Art" is considered to be an excellent example of the villanelle form--not because of her perfect adherence to the "rules" of the villanelle, but because the form is ideally suited to the messages she is trying to convey. Write an essay that explicates the poem's structure and shows why it is ideally suited to the poem's meaning.

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay that analyzes the significance of two of the objects Bishop lists as items that may be--or have been--lost. Consider whether the items have a figurative significance, how they relate to one another, and how they support the poem's overall meaning. Support your argument with both quoted and paraphrased evidence from the text.

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay that affirms, refutes, or qualifies the following statement: "Elizabeth Bishop's poem 'One Art' fails to convey emotion due to a lack of imagery and strongly connotative diction."

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