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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Section 1: "Still I Rise," Lines 1 - 43 .

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How does the speaker characterize herself in line 4?
(a) Lively and confident.
(b) Lighthearted and silly.
(c) Intelligent and curious.
(d) Brave and perseverent.

2. What technique is used in line 29, "Out of the huts of history’s shame"?
(a) Oxymoron.
(b) Allegory.
(c) Allusion.
(d) Juxtaposition.

3. Which two things does the final stanza use to represent the past and present?
(a) The directions east and west.
(b) A seed and a sprout.
(c) Gathering clouds and rain.
(d) Night and daybreak.

4. What body of water does the speaker claim to be in the eighth stanza?
(a) A lake.
(b) A river.
(c) An ocean.
(d) A stream.

5. Where does the speaker say she obtained her gifts?
(a) From well-chosen friends.
(b) From her ancestors.
(c) From effort and hard work.
(d) From the passage of time.

Short Answer Questions

1. What precious stones does the speaker use to evoke beauty and value in the simile in line 27?

2. What kind of "certainty" does the speaker claim to have in line 10?

3. In the final quatrain, what does the speaker wonder about upsetting "you" with?

4. What technique is used in lines 7 and 8, "’Cause I walk like I've got oil wells/ Pumping in my living room"?

5. Why is the speaker's past "rooted in pain" (line 32)?

(see the answer key)

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