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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 of bigotry and discrimination.
(b) Because of the death of a loved one.
(c) Because no one appreciates her value.
(d) Because she has been abandoned by someone she loves.

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

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

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

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

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

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

8. 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) Angry and afraid.
(d) Sad and meek.

9. 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."

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

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

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

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

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

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

Short Answer Questions

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

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

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

4. What precious stones does the speaker use to evoke beauty and value in the simile in line 27?

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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