Poetry Pretest – 9th PLCSpring 2011

Directions: Read the poems and answer the multiple choice questions based on the poems.

I’ve Known Rivers
By Langston Hughes
I've known rivers:
I've known rivers ancient as the world and older than the
flow of human blood in human veins.
My soul has grown deep like the rivers.
I bathed in the Euphrates when dawns were young.
I built my hut near the Congo and it lulled me to sleep.
I looked upon the Nile and raised the pyramids above it.
I heard the singing of the Mississippi when Abe Lincoln
went down to New Orleans, and I've seen its muddy
bosom turn all golden in the sunset.
I've known rivers:
Ancient, dusky rivers.
My soul has grown deep like the rivers.
1. / Identify the tone of the poem from the first four lines.
  1. introspective
/
  1. energetic

  1. angry
/
  1. happy

2. / How does the tone affect the poem’s meaning?
  1. It shows the poet’s anger
/
  1. It helps the flow of his thoughts.

  1. The tone makes the message serious and important.
/
  1. It does not affect the meaning

3. / The rivers are a metaphor that Hughes uses for:
  1. Freedom
/
  1. His connection to Africa

  1. The pyramids
/
  1. His love for water.

4. / The rivers are compared to human veins in order to:
  1. Show how blood flows
/
  1. Reinforce his African ancestry

  1. Provide the image of mountains.
/
  1. Prove that blood is thicker than water

5. / Why does the poet repeat the simile: “My soul has grown deep like the rivers”?
A.Hughes wants to emphasize the importance of his African heritage. / B.He ran out of creative thoughts.
C. Create a joyful tone. / D. Show how deep the river is
6. / What does the use of dawn and sunset as imagery reveal to the reader?
/
  1. How old the rivers are
/
  1. The passage of time.

C. The rotation of the earth. / D. The importance of the sun to the author.
7. / What literary device does the repetition of the following lines demonstrate:
“I bathed in the Euphrates when dawns were young. I built my hut near the Congo and it
lulled me to sleep”?
  1. Assonance
/ B End Rhyme
C. Parallelism / D. Simile
8. / The poet makes a reference to Abe Lincoln. This is an allusion to:
  1. Lincoln’s 1853 New Orleans visit
/
  1. Lincoln’s march on Louisiana

  1. The tall black hat
/ D. Lincoln freeing the slaves
O Captain! My Captain!
by Walt Whitman
*Written after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.
Captain! my Captain! our fearful trip is done,
The ship has weather'd every rack, the prize we sought is won,
The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,
While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring;
But O heart! heart! heart!
O the bleeding drops of red,
Where on the deck my Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead.
O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells;
Rise up -- for you the flag is flung -- for you the bugle trills,
For you bouquets and ribbon'd wreaths -- for you the shores a-crowding,
For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning;
Here Captain! dear father!
This arm beneath your head!
It is some dream that on the deck,
You've fallen cold and dead.
My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still,
My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will,
The ship is anchor'd safe and sound, its voyage closed and done,
From fearful trip the victor ship comes in with object won;
Exult O shores, and ring O bells!
But I with mournful tread,
Walk the deck my Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead.
9. / The following line demonstrates an example of alliteration:
  1. “for you the flag is flung”
/
  1. “O the bleeding drops of red”

  1. Fallen cold and dead.
/
  1. “This arm beneath your head!”

10. / “O Captain! My Captain!” is a metaphor for:
A. Captain Crunch / B. Robert E. Lee
C. Walt Whitman / D. Abraham Lincoln
11. / The “ship” that is “anchor’d safe and sound, its voyage closed and done” is a metaphor for:
  1. the United States at the end of the Civil War
/
  1. CSS Hunley

C.USS Constitution / D. Lincoln’s coffin
12. / Identify the tone in these lines:
“O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells;
Rise up -- for you the flag is flung – for you the bugle trills,
For you bouquets and ribbon’d wreaths – for you the shores a-crowding”
A. sad / B. angry
C. painful / D. joyful
13. / From the contradictory tones, the reader can infer that:
A. the speaker is still upset over the Civil War / B. the speaker is conflicted about his emotions
C. the speaker is excited / D. the speaker is angry at Lincoln for dying
14. / Identify the tone in these three lines:
“But O heart! heart! heart!
O the bleeding drops of red,
Where on the deck my Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead.”
A. sorrowful / B. sad
C. happy / D. angry
15. / How does the imagery in the line “his lips are pale and still” affect the tone?
A. creates a joyful image / B. makes the author happy that Lincoln is at peace
C. creates a somber atmosphere / D. It creates a quiet reflective feeling in the reader
16. / Why does the author use parallelism at the end of each stanza?
  1. To remind the reader that the war is over.
/
  1. To reinforce the finality of death

C. To show the speaker’s grief and suffering. / D. Because that is how the poem is written
17. / This poem is an allusion to:
  1. The end of the Civil War and death of Abraham Lincoln
/
  1. The Revolutionary War

C. The Spanish American War / D. Abraham Lincoln and Robert E. Lee
18. / Which of the following lines demonstrates parallelism?
A. Here Captain! dear father! /
  1. But O heart! heart! heart!

C. This arm beneath your head! / D. Exult O shores, and ring O bells!
“The Seven Ages of Man”
by William Shakespeare
All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players:
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages. At first the infant,
Mewling and puking in the nurse’s arms.
And then the whining schoolboy, with his satchel.
And shining morning face, creeping like snail
Unwillingly to school. And then the lover,
Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad
Made to his mistress’ eyebrow. Then a soldier,
Full of strange oaths, and bearded like the pard,
Jealous in honor, sudden and quick in quarrel,
Seeking the bubble reputation
Even in the cannon’s mouth. And then the justice,
In fair round belly with gold capon lined,
With eyes severe and beard of formal cut,
Full of wise saws and modern instances;
And he plays his part. The sixth age shifts
Into the lean and slippered pantaloons,
With spectacles on nose and pouch on side,
His youthful hose well saved, a world too wide
For his shrunk shank; and his big manly voice,
Turning again towards treble, pipes
And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all,
That ends this strange eventful history
Is second childishness, and mere oblivion,
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.
Notes:
  1. Players – actors 10. Hose – stockings
  2. Ages – periods of life 11. Shank – leg
3. Mewling – whimpering, crying like a baby 12. Sans – lacking, without
4. Pard – a panther
5. Jealous in honor – very concerned about his honor
6. Justice – a judge
7. Capon – a roasted chicken. The speaker is implying that the
judge has been bribed with the present of a fat chicken.
8.Wise saws and modern instances: wise sayings and modern examples that show the truth of the sayings.
9. Pantaloons – a thin, foolish old man – originally a character in old comedies
19. / Select the line that contains a simile:
  1. “And then the whining schoolboy, with his satchel,
    And shining morning face, creeping like snail….”
/
  1. “Even in the cannon’s mouth”

B. “Turning again towards treble, pipes” / D. “Is second childishness, and mere oblivion”
20. / The end of the poem leaves a depressing image. If we were to write and add a simile to the poem, which one would enhance this image?
A. “a man with angelic smiles” / B. “an actor and a baby are one”
C. “sleeping with babies and pups” / D. “a half-dead corpse abandoned like a forgotten prop”
21. / The author lists the many parts that a person plays on a stage in the sameorder throughout the poem such as:
“At first the infant…”
“And then the lover…”
“Then the soldier…”
This is an example of:
A.alliteration / B. onomatopoeia
C. parallelism / D. personification
22. / An example of alliteration would be:
A. “That ends this strange eventful history” / B. “quick in quarrel”
C. “bearded like the pard” / D. “and his big manly voice”
23. / If this poem had mentioned a specific actor or a real play, that would be a(n):
  1. Allusion
/
  1. Figurative language

C. Simile / D. Imagery
24. / The line that describes the “young lover, sighing like furnace,” leads the reader to imagine:
  1. A tired man
/
  1. An asthmatic teenager

C. a hot lover / D. a warm home
25. / The author uses the image of the soldier to represent:
  1. A patriotic man
/ B. The deadliness of war
C. A strong man / D. an ambitious adult
26. / At the very end of the poem, the man’s voice turns “toward childish treble” because:
  1. He’s Justin Bieber
/
  1. He has become like a baby again

  1. He has been kicked
/
  1. He has died

“Nothing Gold Can Stay”
By Robert Frost
"Nature's first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf's a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay."
27. / The reference to Eden is a(n):
A. Biblical Allusion / B. Assonance
C. Alliteration / D. Classical Allusion
28. / The line “Nature’s first green is gold” is an example of:
A. Simile / B. Imagery
C. Onomotopeia / D. Parallelism
29. / The rhyme scheme for this poem is:
A. ABAB / B. AABB
C. ABBA / D. ABCA
30. / This poem is a metaphor for:
A. Childhood / B. Trees
C. Nature / D. Eden