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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. In the final quatrain, what does the speaker wonder about upsetting "you" with?
(a) Beauty.
(b) Sexiness.
(c) Intelligence.
(d) Kindness.

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

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

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

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

Short Answer Questions

1. What body of water does the speaker claim to be in the eighth stanza?

2. What technique is used in lines 7 and 8, "’Cause I walk like I've got oil wells/ Pumping in my living room"?

3. What technique is used in line 21, "You may shoot me with your words"?

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

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

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

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

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

(see the answer keys)

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