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

Multiple Choice Questions

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

2. 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.

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

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

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

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

7. 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) Metaphor.
(d) Simile.

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

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

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

11. 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.

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

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

14. 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 springtime."
(d) The "certainty of history."

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

Short Answer Questions

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

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

3. Why is the speaker's past "rooted in pain" (line 32)?

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

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

(see the answer keys)

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