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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. What is the name of the metrical foot that appears at the end of lines 1 and 3 in most of the stanzas?

2. What is different about the final stanza of "One Art"?

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

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

5. In the first stanza, what does the speaker suggest makes the loss of some things especially easy to accept?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

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

5. 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?

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

7. Describe the form of "One Art."

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

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay that makes and defends a claim about irony in "One Art." Support your argument with both quoted and paraphrased evidence from the text.

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay that analyzes whether Bishop is the speaker of "One Art." Be sure to acknowledge arguments on both sides of this question before you ultimately make your case for one side or the other. Support your argument with both quoted and paraphrased evidence from the text.

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay that analyzes tone shifts in "One Art." Identify where these occur, examine how they are created, and explain their purpose in supporting meaning. Support your claims with quoted evidence from the text.

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