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

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

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

4. 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.

5. Which is the best definition for "trod" in the context of line 3?
(a) Throw or hurl downward.
(b) Drag along the floor or earth.
(c) Press down with the foot.
(d) The sound of footsteps.

Short Answer Questions

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

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

3. In line 17, what kind of a person is described by the word "haughtiness"?

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

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

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. 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?

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

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

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

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

(see the answer keys)

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