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

Multiple Choice Questions

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

8. What is the primary quality that the speaker's stanza eight description of a body of water is intended to convey?
(a) Power.
(b) Persistence.
(c) Independence.
(d) Endurance.

9. What technique is used in lines 7 and 8, "’Cause I walk like I've got oil wells/ Pumping in my living room"?
(a) Personification.
(b) Juxtaposition.
(c) Simile.
(d) Metaphor.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Short Answer Questions

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

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

3. Which is the best definition of "beset" in line 6?

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

5. What technique is used in line 29, "Out of the huts of history’s shame"?

(see the answer keys)

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