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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) Oxymoron.
(b) Allegory.
(c) Allusion.
(d) Juxtaposition.

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

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

4. 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.

5. 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) Simile.
(d) Personification.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

15. 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.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who is the author of "Still I Rise"?

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

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

4. What techniques are used in line 19, "’Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines"?

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

(see the answer keys)

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