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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 7 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

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

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

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

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

5. 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.

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

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

4. What words create a refrain in the final two stanzas of the poem?

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

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe how the final two stanzas of the poem differ from the first seven stazas.

2. Describe the pattern that stanzas 2, 4, 5, and 7 have in common.

3. In the final stanza, what metaphor does the speaker use, and what does it signify?

4. What oppressive actions does the speaker suggest "you" might take, and how does she say she will respond?

5. What do all of the questions the speaker asks have in common?

6. What specific historical phenomenon does the speaker talk about rising above in the final two stanzas, and what allusion does she use to introduce the topic?

7. Why is the poem titled "Still I Rise" and not just "I Rise"--what additional idea does the word "Still" convey?

(see the answer keys)

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