View a FREE sample

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

Multiple Choice Questions

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

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

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

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

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

Short Answer Questions

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

2. What kind of "certainty" does the speaker claim to have in line 10?

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

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

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

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

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

5. 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?

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

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)

This section contains 632 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample