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

2. 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.

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

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

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

Short Answer Questions

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

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

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

4. Which two things does the final stanza use to represent the past and present?

5. How does the speaker characterize herself in line 4?

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

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

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

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

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

(see the answer keys)

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