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

Multiple Choice Questions

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

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

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

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) Simile.
(b) Personification.
(c) Metaphor.
(d) Juxtaposition.

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

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

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

8. 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.

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

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

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

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

13. 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.

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

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

Short Answer Questions

1. Which is the most logical description of who "You" is in line 1?

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

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

4. Which technique is used in line 9, "Just like moons and like suns"?

5. What is the primary quality that the speaker's stanza eight description of a body of water is intended to convey?

(see the answer keys)

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