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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

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

2. Which two things does the final stanza use to represent the past and present?
(a) A seed and a sprout.
(b) The directions east and west.
(c) Night and daybreak.
(d) Gathering clouds and rain.

3. What kind of "certainty" does the speaker claim to have in line 10?
(a) The "certainty of history."
(b) The "certainty of tides."
(c) The "certainty of air."
(d) The "certainty of springtime."

4. Who is the author of "Still I Rise"?
(a) Alice Walker.
(b) Toni Morrison.
(c) Nikki Giovanni.
(d) Maya Angelou.

5. What body of water does the speaker claim to be in the eighth stanza?
(a) A lake.
(b) An ocean.
(c) A river.
(d) A stream.

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

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

8. What technique is used in line 21, "You may shoot me with your words"?
(a) Innuendo.
(b) Metaphor.
(c) Kenning.
(d) Simile.

9. What words create a refrain in the final two stanzas of the poem?
(a) "Again I rise."
(b) "I rise and rise."
(c) "I rise."
(d) "Still I rise."

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

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

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

13. What techniques are used in line 19, "’Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines"?
(a) Alliteration and assonance.
(b) Onomatopoeia and alliteration.
(c) Assonance and sibilance.
(d) Sibilance and onomatopoeia.

14. How does the speaker characterize herself in line 4?
(a) Lighthearted and silly.
(b) Brave and perseverent.
(c) Intelligent and curious.
(d) Lively and confident.

15. In line 17, what kind of a person is described by the word "haughtiness"?
(a) Mean-spirited and petty.
(b) Sneaky and dishonest.
(c) Arrogant and proud.
(d) Strange and eccentric.

Short Answer Questions

1. Which is the best definition for "trod" in the context of line 3?

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

3. Which technique is frequently used at the beginnings of stanzas?

4. Why is the speaker's past "rooted in pain" (line 32)?

5. What is the primary quality that the speaker's stanza eight description of a body of water is intended to convey?

(see the answer keys)

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