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

Multiple Choice Questions

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Short Answer Questions

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

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

3. In line 17, what kind of a person is described by the word "haughtiness"?

4. Which technique is frequently used at the beginnings of stanzas?

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

(see the answer keys)

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