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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. 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?
(a) The word "next."
(b) The word "loved."
(c) The word "look."
(d) The word "went."

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

3. What is the name of the metrical foot that appears at the end of lines 1 and 3 in most of the stanzas?
(a) Tribrach.
(b) Amphibrach.
(c) Anapest.
(d) Dactyl.

4. What is the format of "One Art"?
(a) Villanelle.
(b) Sestina.
(c) Ballad.
(d) Sonnet.

5. What is the verb mood of line 4, "Lose something every day"?
(a) Subjunctive.
(b) Indicative.
(c) Imperative.
(d) Interrogative.

Short Answer Questions

1. What technique is employed in line 16, "Even losing you"?

2. Who is the author of "One Art"?

3. What is the rhyme scheme of the first five stanzas of "One Art"?

4. In line 7, "Then practice losing farther, losing faster," rhythm is created through which devices?

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

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

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

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

6. 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?

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

8. Describe the form of "One Art."

9. What are the refrains employed in "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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