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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. Which is the best definition for "trod" in the context of line 3?
(a) Drag along the floor or earth.
(b) Press down with the foot.
(c) Throw or hurl downward.
(d) The sound of footsteps.

2. What is the primary quality that the speaker's stanza eight description of a body of water is intended to convey?
(a) Power.
(b) Persistence.
(c) Independence.
(d) Endurance.

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

4. Why is the speaker's past "rooted in pain" (line 32)?
(a) Because of bigotry and discrimination.
(b) Because no one appreciates her value.
(c) Because of the death of a loved one.
(d) Because she has been abandoned by someone she loves.

5. What words create a refrain in the final two stanzas of the poem?
(a) "Still I rise."
(b) "I rise."
(c) "Again I rise."
(d) "I rise and rise."

Short Answer Questions

1. In the fourth stanza, what kind of person does the speaker ask if "you" want her to be?

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

3. Which is the first stanza of the poem that is longer than four lines?

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

5. Which two things does the final stanza use to represent the past and present?

(see the answer key)

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