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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What technique does the first line of the poem, "You may write me down in history," introduce?
(a) Allegory.
(b) Apostrophe.
(c) Catalog.
(d) Verbal irony.

2. What kind of "certainty" does the speaker claim to have in line 10?
(a) The "certainty of springtime."
(b) The "certainty of tides."
(c) The "certainty of air."
(d) The "certainty of history."

3. What techniques are used in line 19, "’Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines"?
(a) Assonance and sibilance.
(b) Sibilance and onomatopoeia.
(c) Onomatopoeia and alliteration.
(d) Alliteration and assonance.

4. In the fourth stanza, what kind of person does the speaker ask if "you" want her to be?
(a) Sad and meek.
(b) Tired and distracted.
(c) Angry and afraid.
(d) Distant and uninvolved.

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

6. Which technique is used in line 9, "Just like moons and like suns"?
(a) Euphemism.
(b) Parallelism.
(c) Allusion.
(d) Dialect.

7. Which technique is frequently used at the beginnings of stanzas?
(a) Rhetorical question.
(b) Internal rhyme.
(c) Cacophony.
(d) Onomatopoeia.

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

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

10. What technique is used in lines 7 and 8, "’Cause I walk like I've got oil wells/ Pumping in my living room"?
(a) Juxtaposition.
(b) Metaphor.
(c) Personification.
(d) Simile.

11. Who is the author of "Still I Rise"?
(a) Toni Morrison.
(b) Alice Walker.
(c) Nikki Giovanni.
(d) Maya Angelou.

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

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

14. What technique is used in line 21, "You may shoot me with your words"?
(a) Simile.
(b) Metaphor.
(c) Innuendo.
(d) Kenning.

15. What is the rhyme scheme of the first seven stanzas?
(a) ABCB.
(b) ABAC.
(c) ABBA.
(d) ABAB.

Short Answer Questions

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

2. Which is the most logical description of who "You" is in line 1?

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

4. What technique is used in line 29, "Out of the huts of history’s shame"?

5. What is the primary quality that the speaker's stanza eight description of a body of water is intended to convey?

(see the answer keys)

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