1. Which one of the following sentences is an example of a metaphor? A. The breeze blew the branches back and forth. B. I’m as hungry as a wolf. C. She eats like a bird.
D. I am a rock.
2. What is the most probable reason that rhyme and repetition first found their ways into poems? A. The poems were easier to remember and pass on. B. Heroes in epics tended to talk that way. C. They were written for the upper class.
D. People wanted a beat they could dance to. 3. The final two lines of Shakespeare’s “Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day?” promises the subject
of his sonnet A. unfading youth. B. immortality. C. an endless summer. D. undying devotion.
4. The phrase “mid-May” is an example of A. alliteration. B. consonance. C. assonance.
D. metaphor.
5. Which of these lines contains a metaphor? A. She offered him a hundred-watt smile. B. You are like a sun to me. C. Now is your final hour.
D. Like unto death was her countenance. 6. Study the following lines:
If this be error and upon me proved, I never writ, nor no man ever loved.
These lines are an example of a/an A. quatrain. B. octet. C. couplet.
D. sestet.
7. When a poet wishes to use figurative language, he or she will use words that are A. only connotative. B. both connotative and denotative. C. ambiguous.
D. only denotative.
8. Which line best illustrates alliteration? A. Cluck and pluck gave Hattie luck B. Precision slices narrow corridors of contentment C. Thus Henry wrested gain from despair D. And sings a solitary song
9. “Let Me Not to the Marriage of True Minds” is an example of which type of poem? A. Descriptive B. Narrative C. Dramatic
D. Discursive
10. A definition of formal poetry is verse that A. has no rhyme scheme. B. is written in blank verse. C. uses figurative language.
D. sticks to certain traditional patterns. 11. Among early epic poems, _______ is the story of a man who searches out a beloved friend in the land
of the dead.
A. Gilgamesh B. The Odyssey C. Beowulf D. The Iliad
12. Notable poets have attempted to define poetry. Among these efforts, the idea that poetry is an ancient technology came from
A. Robert Pinsky.
B. Robert Frost. C. Billy Collins. D. Maya Angelou.
13. Which one of the following phrases is an example of consonance? A. River birch and upland beech B. From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be C. Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines
D. Drink to me only with thine eyes
14. The line “I wandered lonely as a cloud” is an example of A. alliteration. B. a simile. C. a couplet.
D. a metaphor.
15. Which one of the following words is an iamb? A. Rachel B. JoAnne C. Alice
D. Sally
16. Who are the “fools” mentioned in the poem “Trees”? A. Robins B. Poets C. Trees
D. Gods
17. Emphasizing the importance of order, law, discipline, and tradition is typical of _______ literature. A. dramatic B. Classical C. Romantic
D. discursive 18. Scan this line from Cowley’s poem: “its hills bent low within my reach.” How many feet does this line
contain? A. 7 B. 4 C. 6
D. 5
19. Which one of the poems you’ve read uses the words floats, fluttering, and dancing? A. “The Long Voyage”
B. “Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day?” C. “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” D. “Let Me Not to the Marriage of True Minds”
20. Which one of the following lines best illustrates personification? A. Spring is a dream unsung. B. She floated graceful as a dove. C. A narrow wind complains all day.
D. The fog comes on little cat feet.