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

Multiple Choice Questions

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

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

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

4. 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) Personification.
(c) Simile.
(d) Metaphor.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

12. 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.

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

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

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

Short Answer Questions

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

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

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

4. What technique does the first line of the poem, "You may write me down in history," introduce?

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

(see the answer keys)

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