View a FREE sample

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

Multiple Choice Questions

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

2. What precious stones does the speaker use to evoke beauty and value in the simile in line 27?
(a) Emeralds.
(b) Sapphires.
(c) Rubies.
(d) Diamonds.

3. Which is the most logical description of who "You" is in line 1?
(a) Scholars and critics.
(b) People of the past.
(c) An unnamed oppressor.
(d) A romantic partner.

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

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

6. Which is the best definition of "beset" in line 6?
(a) Cradled.
(b) Troubled.
(c) Decorated.
(d) Inspired.

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

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

9. 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) Alliteration and assonance.
(d) Onomatopoeia and alliteration.

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

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

12. In the final quatrain, what does the speaker wonder about upsetting "you" with?
(a) Beauty.
(b) Intelligence.
(c) Sexiness.
(d) Kindness.

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

14. Which is the first stanza of the poem that is longer than four lines?
(a) 9.
(b) 7.
(c) 6.
(d) 8.

15. In line 17, what kind of a person is described by the word "haughtiness"?
(a) Strange and eccentric.
(b) Arrogant and proud.
(c) Mean-spirited and petty.
(d) Sneaky and dishonest.

Short Answer Questions

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

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

3. Where does the speaker say she obtained her gifts?

4. Which is the best definition for "trod" in the context of line 3?

5. How does the speaker characterize herself in line 4?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 428 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample