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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How many stanzas does "One Art" have?
(a) 9.
(b) 6.
(c) 7.
(d) 8.

2. Which is the best description of the tone of stanza one?
(a) Ebullient.
(b) Livid.
(c) Sanguine.
(d) Bewildered.

3. What is the most reasonable interpretation of the speaker's line 13 claim that they have "lost two cities"?
(a) The speaker no longer lives in either city.
(b) The speaker is not welcome in either city.
(c) The speaker is no longer interested in either city.
(d) The speaker cannot find either city.

4. What does the colon at the end of line 7, "Then practice losing farther, losing faster," indicate about the "places, and names" in line 8?
(a) Places and names are examples of things that can be lost "farther" and "faster."
(b) Places and names are some of the last things that a person loses.
(c) Places and names are examples of things a person can only lose through "practice" and experience.
(d) Places and names are more upsetting to lose than small objects and small amounts of time.

5. Which is a reasonable statement of how the punctuation and syntax of the final stanza affect the stanza's tone?
(a) They slow its pace and create a sense of uncertainty.
(b) They accelerate the pace as the stanza unfolds, creating a sense of urgency.
(c) They create a rolling rhythm that invokes the light, carefree tone of a nursery rhyme.
(d) They create a choppy sound that indicates anger.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does the second stanza suggest the "art" of losing consists of?

2. In line 10, what does the speaker admit to having lost?

3. What is the verb mood of line 4, "Lose something every day"?

4. Which word in lines 10 and 11, "And look! my last,/ or next-to-last, of three loved houses went," creates a momentary shift in verb mood?

5. Which technique is used in the speaker's claim to have lost "some realms I owned, two rivers, a continent" (line 14)?

Short Essay Questions

1. Which two verb moods are used in "One Art," and where are they employed?

2. How does the speaker arrange the examples of things that can be lost?

3. What difference is there in the way the two refrain lines are repeated throughout the poem?

4. What are the refrains employed in "One Art"?

5. How does the change in stanza structure in the final stanza mimic the poem's changing meaning?

6. Describe the form of "One Art."

7. To whom is the parenthetical comment "(Write it!)" addressed in line 19, and how does this comment impact the reader's understanding of the poem?

8. What is the poem's dominant meter, and how is it regularly interrupted?

9. On the surface level, what is the main message of "One Art"?

10. How does the speaker's diction increase the emotional stakes as the poem progresses?

(see the answer keys)

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