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

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

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

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

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

Short Answer Questions

1. In line 17, what kind of a person is described by the word "haughtiness"?

2. Where does the speaker say she obtained her gifts?

3. What techniques are used in line 19, "’Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines"?

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

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

Short Essay Questions

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

2. 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?

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

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

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

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

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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