3rd quarter 2012
Multiple Choice
Identify the letter of the choice that best completes the statement or answers the question.
Comprehension
The questions below refer to the selections “A Rose for Emily”; “Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech, 1950.”
____ 1. The emotions a reader might be expected to feel toward Emily include —
a. amusement and gratitude c. contempt and disappointment
b. pity and horror d. approval and satisfaction
____ 2. After her father dies, Emily —
a. moves to another town c. becomes a supporter of the arts
b. sees many suitors d. refuses to acknowledge his death
____ 3. The last time the townspeople see Homer Barron alive, he is —
a. buying a suit of clothes c. proposing marriage to Emily
b. drinking with other men d. entering Emily’s house
____ 4. The strand of gray hair discovered at the end of the story implies that —
a. Emily has lain beside the skeleton
b. Homer Barron had gray hair
c. Homer Barron kept a lock of Emily’s hair
d. Emily was much older than Homer
____ 5. Colonel Sartoris influences Emily by making her —
a. think about future suitors c. feel as if the world is ending
b. feel as if she is above the law d. think about military matters
____ 6. To influence the development of her character, Emily’s father —
a. drives off suitors and prevents her from marrying
b. refuses to allow her to use the family name
c. forces her to work in the family business
d. forgets to leave anything to her in his will
____ 7. Which of Homer Barron’s actions has the greatest effect on the development of Emily’s character?
a. Taking her to visit the North
b. Sometimes going drinking without her
c. Returning to town after an absence
d. Enraging her by rejecting her
____ 8. The narrator generalizes about people by saying that “we knew that with nothing left, she would have to cling to that which had robbed her, as people will.” Miss Emily’s behavior supports this generalization because she —
a. refuses to pay her taxes
b. gains a lot of weight
c. goes out with Homer Barron
d. refuses to admit that her father is dead
____ 9. Judging from William Faulkner’s Nobel Prize acceptance speech, what aspect of Miss Emily would he have admired most?
a. Her love for Homer Barron
b. Being out of touch with reality
c. Having an “inexhaustible voice”
d. Her enduring from generation to generation
____ 10. In his speech, Faulkner says that “the human heart in conflict with itself” is the only thing worth writing is about. “A Rose for Emily” portrays the human heart in conflict with itself by showing that Emily —
a. felt both love and hate for Homer Barron
b. performed all her actions with an aristocratic sense of sureness
c. kept the same black servant throughout her life
d. was a Grierson through and through
Literary Focus: Setting
The questions below refer to the selection “A Rose for Emily.”
____ 11. The small-town setting of the story helps the reader understand —
a. why the thwarting of Emily’s desire to marry mattered so much
b. the history of the Civil War
c. why Emily’s father did not let her marry
d. the tolerant attitudes of the townspeople toward African Americans
____ 12. The town described in the story is a(n) —
a. idealized view of Southern society
b. unnecessary backdrop to the action
c. distraction from more important things
d. crucial part of the story’s plot
____ 13. All of the following factors are important aspects of this story’s setting except —
a. Colonel Sartoris’s death c. customs for treating the upper classes
b. the old, decaying house d. attitudes toward African Americans
Reading Skills: Making Inferences About Characters
The question below refers to the selection “A Rose for Emily.”
____ 14. All of the following details help you make the inference that Miss Emily is a murderer except the —
a. smell in the house c. arsenic she buys
b. disappearance of Homer Barron d. market basket
Comprehension
The questions below refer to the selection “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock.”
____ 15. Which of the following statements best reflects Prufrock’s view of himself?
a. I am a victim of bad luck. c. Women have always admired me.
b. I am unable to take risks. d. I am an adventurous youth.
____ 16. Prufrock seems to be a man who has —
a. suffered a hard life in working-class London
b. had a happy home and family
c. avoided opportunities for change
d. treated others cruelly and has withheld forgiveness
____ 17. The epigraph to the poem can be found —
a. before the first line c. in the biography of T. S. Eliot
b. at the end d. in the repeated lines
____ 18. When the speaker compares the evening to “a patient etherized upon a table,” he is emphasizing the —
a. excitement that lies ahead
b. human quality of the evening and the patient
c. lifelessness of the night
d. doctor-patient relationship
____ 19. To which of the following works does the poem not make an allusion?
a. The Bible c. A poem by Walt Whitman
b. A play by Shakespeare d. A great Italian artist
____ 20. Which of the following phrases or lines is not repeated in the poem?
a. “Scuttling across the floors of silent seas.”
b. “And would it have been worth it, after all . . .”
c. “That is not what I meant, at all.”
d. “There will be time. . . .”
____ 21. Which of the following lines is repeated in the poem to poetic effect?
a. “Do I dare?”
b. “In a minute there is time. . . .”
c. “Of restless nights in one-night cheap hotels . . .”
d. “In the room the women come and go . . .”
____ 22. Prufrock thinks of the frolicking mermaids as creatures who —
a. know that the ocean is safer than land c. laugh at Romanticism
b. crawl on the bottom of the sea d. live in a world of freedom and beauty
____ 23. Which image most clearly shows Prufrock’s timidity and his inability to make a decision?
a. “After the novels, after the teacups, after the skirts that trail along the floor — . . .”
b. “Shall I part my hair behind? Do I dare to eat a peach?”
c. “Human voices wake us, and we drown.”
d. “To have squeezed the universe into a ball . . .”
____ 24. What does Prufrock mean when he says, “I am not Prince Hamlet, nor was meant to be; / Am an attendant lord . . .”?
a. I am a villain, not a hero.
b. I am no hero, but just a minor character on the stage of my own life.
c. The mermaids will never sing to me.
d. I am the lord of all around me.
Literary Focus: Dramatic Monologue
The questions below refer to the selection “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock.”
____ 25. Prufrock’s dramatic monologue enables the reader to —
a. see logical, sequential connections between ideas
b. understand the lives of many characters at once
c. witness the key events of Prufrock’s childhood
d. follow the stream of Prufrock’s rambling thoughts
____ 26. Which line immediately tells the reader that “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” is a dramatic monologue?
a. “Let us go then, you and I . . .”
b. “To lead you to an overwhelming question . . .”
c. “Like a patient etherized upon a table . . .”
d. “The yellow fog that rubs its back upon the window-panes . . .”
____ 27. Like all dramatic monologues, “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” —
a. contains allusions c. relies heavily on images
b. uses figures of speech d. is told in the first person
Reading Skills: Identifying the Main Idea and Supporting Details
The question below refers to the selection “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock.”
____ 28. Which of the following sentences best states the main idea of the poem?
a. Love is impossible to find. c. People no longer yearn for heroes.
b. Modern life is spiritually empty. d. Modern people are generous and kind.
Comprehension
The questions below refer to the selections “The Negro Speaks of Rivers”; “the mississippi river empties into the gulf.”
____ 29. One river that is not mentioned in “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” is the —
a. Rio Grande c. Nile
b. Congo d. Mississippi
____ 30. What do the rivers named in “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” have in common?
a. They are in Africa.
b. They are historically important to the speaker.
c. They have yearly floods.
d. Famous dams have been built on them.
____ 31. According to the speaker, his soul is like a river because it —
a. flows gently wherever it can
b. dries up at times or rushes in torrents at others
c. has grown deep over time
d. is hard to contain
____ 32. What aspect of human biology does the speaker compare to rivers?
a. Digestion c. Respiration
b. Reproduction d. Circulation
____ 33. The line “I looked upon the Nile and raised the pyramids above it” shows that the speaker —
a. identifies himself with his cultural ancestors
b. lived thousands of years ago
c. could not possibly have also seen Abe Lincoln on the Mississippi
d. is Egyptian
____ 34. The words muddy, golden, dusky, and dawns evoke images of —
a. sight c. smell
b. hearing d. ouch
____ 35. What form is “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” written in?
a. Sonnet c. Free verse
b. Ballad d. Blank verse
____ 36. In “the mississippi river empties into the gulf,” some people “mistakenly” —
a. go sailing in bad weather c. live solely in the present
b. trust too much in the future d. are afraid to risk entering the water
____ 37. What quality of rivers is examined in both “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” and “the mississippi river empties into the gulf”?
a. Unpredictability c. Danger
b. Timeless flow d. Economic importance
____ 38. The first line of “the mississippi river empties into the gulf,” “and the gulf enters the sea and so forth,” shows you that Lucille Clifton’s poem —
a. is a narrative
b. describes the experiences of African Americans
c. was written earlier than “The Negro Speaks of Rivers”
d. uses the rhythms of colloquial speech
Literary Focus: Repetition
The questions below refer to the selections “The Negro Speaks of Rivers”; “the mississippi river empties into the gulf.”
____ 39. One type of repetition is a refrain, which is a(n) —
a. event that recurs in several parts of a ballad
b. repeated consonant sound at the beginnings of words
c. repeated pattern of stressed syllables
d. repeated line or lines in a poem or song
____ 40. What is one refrain in “The Negro Speaks of Rivers”?
a. “ancient as the world and older than the flow”
b. “I built my hut near the Congo and it lulled me to sleep.”
c. “I’ve known rivers.”
d. “Ancient, dusky rivers.”
____ 41. What is another refrain in “The Negro Speaks of Rivers”?
a. “I’ve seen its muddy bosom turn all golden in the sunset.”
b. “I bathed in the Euphrates.”
c. “I heard the singing of the Mississippi.”
d. “My soul has grown deep like rivers.”
____ 42. Which of the following statements describes another type of repetition in the second stanza of “The Negro Speaks of Rivers”?
a. A different river is named in each of the first four lines.
b. It has four lines that begin with the pronoun I and a past-tense verb.
c. The first three lines each end with a period.
d. The speaker talks about Abe Lincoln.
Comprehension
The questions below refer to the selections “The Weary Blues”; “Harlem”; “Heyday in Harlem.”
____ 43. The song performed in “The Weary Blues” addresses —
a. all people who are unhappy c. the musician’s poor health
b. the plight of underpaid musicians d. men without children
____ 44. Who utters lines 25–26, “‘I got the Weary Blues / And I can’t be satisfied’”?
a. The speaker of the poem c. The musician
b. Langston Hughes d. A man in the audience
____ 45. The lines in quotation marks in the poem come from —
a. dialogue between the speaker and the musician
b. the lyrics of the song the speaker hears
c. the title “The Weary Blues”
d. a conversation between members of the audience
____ 46. At the end of “The Weary Blues,” the musician —
a. sleeps like the dead c. smiles at the audience
b. meets the poet d. passes a hat around for money
____ 47. Which of the following elements does the poem “The Weary Blues” not have in common with blues songs?
a. Emotionally powerful words c. Instrumental accompaniment
b. Rhythmic lines d. Clever use of repetition
____ 48. In the poem “Harlem” the speaker uses the pronoun we to refer to —
a. residents of New York
b. poets and other artists
c. people who remember the Depression
d. African Americans in Harlem
____ 49. In “Harlem” the phrase “what / We remember” in lines 22–23 does not refer to —
a. dishonest acts committed against African Americans
b. the end of legal segregation in the United States
c. delays in achieving equality and justice
d. increasing hardship during the Depression
____ 50. What solution does the speaker of the poem offer for the problems of Harlem?
a. Violent rebellion c. Hard work and ambition
b. Peaceful protest against unjust laws d. No clear solution
____ 51. “Heyday in Harlem” accomplishes all of the following purposes except to —
a. describe Harlem during the period of its renaissance
b. sketch how blacks and whites interacted, or did not interact, at that time
c. explain house-rent parties
d. state why Langston Hughes came to Harlem and why he left
____ 52. Both “Harlem” and “Heyday in Harlem” —
a. offer optimistic views of Harlem
b. show a realistic understanding of Harlem life
c. are cheerful in the face of prejudice
d. are written in free verse
Literary Focus: Rhythm and Mood
The questions below refer to the selections “The Weary Blues”; “Harlem”; “Heyday in Harlem.”
____ 53. In poetry, rhythm refers to —
a. the rise and fall of stressed and unstressed syllables
b. vowel sounds repeated at the ends of words
c. free (unmetered) verse as opposed to formal verse
d. formal verse as opposed to free verse
____ 54. Rhythms in “The Weary Blues” —
a. are unvarying from line to line
b. reflect the rhythms of song and speech
c. require a piano accompaniment in order to really be felt
d. are those of the traditional sonnet
____ 55. The mood of a work is the —
a. way in which the writer uses language
b. author’s emotional state
c. attitude of the poet
d. atmosphere or dominant feeling
____ 56. The mood of “Harlem” does not include —
a. an ominous sense of future conflict c. anger about present conditions
b. simple joy in being alive d. bitterness about the past
Answer Section
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. ANS: B OBJ: 11.1.2 (setting and mood / atmosphere)
2. ANS: D OBJ: 11.1.3.1 (characterization)
3. ANS: D OBJ: 11.1.1 (plot)
4. ANS: A OBJ: 11.1.1 (plot)
5. ANS: B OBJ: 11.1.3.2 (character interactions)
6. ANS: A OBJ: 11.1.3.2 (character interactions)
7. ANS: D OBJ: 11.1.3.2 (character interactions)
8. ANS: D OBJ: 11.1.3.1 (characterization), 11.2.1.6 (making generalizations)
9. ANS: D
OBJ: 11.2.1.25 (synthesizing sources), 11.1.3.1 (characterization), 11.2.1.28 (drawing conclusions)
10. ANS: A
OBJ: 11.2.1.25 (synthesizing sources), 11.1.3.2 (character interactions), 11.2.1.28 (drawing conclusions)
11. ANS: A OBJ: 11.1.2 (setting and mood / atmosphere), 11.1.3.2 (character interactions)
12. ANS: D OBJ: 11.1.2 (setting and mood / atmosphere), 11.1.1 (plot)
13. ANS: A OBJ: 11.1.2 (setting and mood / atmosphere)
14. ANS: D OBJ: 11.1.3.1 (characterization)
15. ANS: B OBJ: 11.1.3.1 (characterization)
16. ANS: C OBJ: 11.1.3.1 (characterization)
17. ANS: A OBJ: 11.2.1.10 (monitoring your reading / comprehension)
18. ANS: C OBJ: 11.1.9.13 (figurative language / figures of speech), 11.1.9.33 (simile)
19. ANS: C OBJ: 11.1.9.1 (allusion)
20. ANS: A OBJ: 11.1.9.29 (repetition / refrain)
21. ANS: A OBJ: 11.1.9.29 (repetition / refrain), 11.1.9.36 (style)
22. ANS: D OBJ: 11.1.9.18 (imagery)
23. ANS: B OBJ: 11.1.9.18 (imagery)
24. ANS: B OBJ: 11.2.1.13 (paraphrasing)
25. ANS: D OBJ: 11.1.11.4 (dramatic monologue)
26. ANS: A OBJ: 11.1.11.4 (dramatic monologue), 11.1.4 (point of view)
27. ANS: D OBJ: 11.1.11.4 (dramatic monologue), 11.1.4 (point of view)
28. ANS: B OBJ: 11.2.1.9 (identifying the main idea), 11.2.2.10 (supporting details)
29. ANS: B OBJ: 11.2.1.10 (monitoring your reading / comprehension)
30. ANS: A OBJ: 11.2.1.28 (drawing conclusions)
31. ANS: C OBJ: 11.1.9.13 (figurative language / figures of speech), 11.1.9.33 (simile)
32. ANS: B OBJ: 11.2.1.8 (making inferences)
33. ANS: C OBJ: 11.2.1.8 (making inferences)
34. ANS: D OBJ: 11.1.9.18 (imagery)
35. ANS: A OBJ: 11.1.11.7 (free verse)
36. ANS: D OBJ: 11.2.1.8 (making inferences)
37. ANS: A OBJ: 11.2.1.25 (synthesizing sources)
38. ANS: A OBJ: 11.1.9.36 (style)
39. ANS: D OBJ: 11.1.9.29 (repetition / refrain)
40. ANS: C OBJ: 11.1.9.29 (repetition / refrain)
41. ANS: D OBJ: 11.1.9.29 (repetition / refrain)
42. ANS: B OBJ: 11.1.9.29 (repetition / refrain)
43. ANS: A OBJ: 11.2.1.8 (making inferences)
44. ANS: C OBJ: 11.2.1.10 (monitoring your reading / comprehension)
45. ANS: B OBJ: 11.2.1.10 (monitoring your reading / comprehension)
46. ANS: A OBJ: 11.2.1.10 (monitoring your reading / comprehension)
47. ANS: C
OBJ: 11.1.9.10 (diction), 11.1.9.32 (rhythm / cadence and meter), 11.1.9.29 (repetition / refrain)
48. ANS: D OBJ: 11.2.1.8 (making inferences)
49. ANS: B OBJ: 11.2.1.8 (making inferences)
50. ANS: D OBJ: 11.2.1.10 (monitoring your reading / comprehension)
51. ANS: D OBJ: 11.2.1.23 (summarizing)
52. ANS: B OBJ: 11.2.1.25 (synthesizing sources)
53. ANS: A OBJ: 11.1.9.32 (rhythm / cadence and meter)
54. ANS: B OBJ: 11.1.9.32 (rhythm / cadence and meter)
55. ANS: D OBJ: 11.1.2 (setting and mood / atmosphere)
56. ANS: B OBJ: 11.1.2 (setting and mood / atmosphere)
Monday, March 5, 2012
#rd Nine-Weeks Study Guide, 2012
3rd quarter 2012
Multiple Choice
Identify the letter of the choice that best completes the statement or answers the question.
Comprehension
The questions below refer to the selections “A Rose for Emily”; “Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech, 1950.”
____ 1. The emotions a reader might be expected to feel toward Emily include —
| a. | amusement and gratitude | c. | contempt and disappointment |
| b. | pity and horror | d. | approval and satisfaction |
____ 2. After her father dies, Emily —
| a. | moves to another town | c. | becomes a supporter of the arts |
| b. | sees many suitors | d. | refuses to acknowledge his death |
____ 3. The last time the townspeople see Homer Barron alive, he is —
| a. | buying a suit of clothes | c. | proposing marriage to Emily |
| b. | drinking with other men | d. | entering Emily’s house |
____ 4. The strand of gray hair discovered at the end of the story implies that —
| a. | Emily has lain beside the skeleton |
| b. | Homer Barron had gray hair |
| c. | Homer Barron kept a lock of Emily’s hair |
| d. | Emily was much older than Homer |
____ 5. Colonel Sartoris influences Emily by making her —
| a. | think about future suitors | c. | feel as if the world is ending |
| b. | feel as if she is above the law | d. | think about military matters |
____ 6. To influence the development of her character, Emily’s father —
| a. | drives off suitors and prevents her from marrying |
| b. | refuses to allow her to use the family name |
| c. | forces her to work in the family business |
| d. | forgets to leave anything to her in his will |
____ 7. Which of Homer Barron’s actions has the greatest effect on the development of Emily’s character?
| a. | Taking her to visit the North |
| b. | Sometimes going drinking without her |
| c. | Returning to town after an absence |
| d. | Enraging her by rejecting her |
____ 8. The narrator generalizes about people by saying that “we knew that with nothing left, she would have to cling to that which had robbed her, as people will.” Miss Emily’s behavior supports this generalization because she —
| a. | refuses to pay her taxes |
| b. | gains a lot of weight |
| c. | goes out with Homer Barron |
| d. | refuses to admit that her father is dead |
____ 9. Judging from William Faulkner’s Nobel Prize acceptance speech, what aspect of Miss Emily would he have admired most?
| a. | Her love for Homer Barron |
| b. | Being out of touch with reality |
| c. | Having an “inexhaustible voice” |
| d. | Her enduring from generation to generation |
____ 10. In his speech, Faulkner says that “the human heart in conflict with itself” is the only thing worth writing is about. “A Rose for Emily” portrays the human heart in conflict with itself by showing that Emily —
| a. | felt both love and hate for Homer Barron |
| b. | performed all her actions with an aristocratic sense of sureness |
| c. | kept the same black servant throughout her life |
| d. | was a Grierson through and through |
Literary Focus: Setting
The questions below refer to the selection “A Rose for Emily.”
____ 11. The small-town setting of the story helps the reader understand —
| a. | why the thwarting of Emily’s desire to marry mattered so much |
| b. | the history of the Civil War |
| c. | why Emily’s father did not let her marry |
| d. | the tolerant attitudes of the townspeople toward African Americans |
____ 12. The town described in the story is a(n) —
| a. | idealized view of Southern society |
| b. | unnecessary backdrop to the action |
| c. | distraction from more important things |
| d. | crucial part of the story’s plot |
____ 13. All of the following factors are important aspects of this story’s setting except —
| a. | Colonel Sartoris’s death | c. | customs for treating the upper classes |
| b. | the old, decaying house | d. | attitudes toward African Americans |
Reading Skills: Making Inferences About Characters
The question below refers to the selection “A Rose for Emily.”
____ 14. All of the following details help you make the inference that Miss Emily is a murderer except the —
| a. | smell in the house | c. | arsenic she buys |
| b. | disappearance of Homer Barron | d. | market basket |
Comprehension
The questions below refer to the selection “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock.”
____ 15. Which of the following statements best reflects Prufrock’s view of himself?
| a. | I am a victim of bad luck. | c. | Women have always admired me. |
| b. | I am unable to take risks. | d. | I am an adventurous youth. |
____ 16. Prufrock seems to be a man who has —
| a. | suffered a hard life in working-class London |
| b. | had a happy home and family |
| c. | avoided opportunities for change |
| d. | treated others cruelly and has withheld forgiveness |
____ 17. The epigraph to the poem can be found —
| a. | before the first line | c. | in the biography of T. S. Eliot |
| b. | at the end | d. | in the repeated lines |
____ 18. When the speaker compares the evening to “a patient etherized upon a table,” he is emphasizing the —
| a. | excitement that lies ahead |
| b. | human quality of the evening and the patient |
| c. | lifelessness of the night |
| d. | doctor-patient relationship |
____ 19. To which of the following works does the poem not make an allusion?
| a. | The Bible | c. | A poem by Walt Whitman |
| b. | A play by Shakespeare | d. | A great Italian artist |
____ 20. Which of the following phrases or lines is not repeated in the poem?
| a. | “Scuttling across the floors of silent seas.” |
| b. | “And would it have been worth it, after all . . .” |
| c. | “That is not what I meant, at all.” |
| d. | “There will be time. . . .” |
____ 21. Which of the following lines is repeated in the poem to poetic effect?
| a. | “Do I dare?” |
| b. | “In a minute there is time. . . .” |
| c. | “Of restless nights in one-night cheap hotels . . .” |
| d. | “In the room the women come and go . . .” |
____ 22. Prufrock thinks of the frolicking mermaids as creatures who —
| a. | know that the ocean is safer than land | c. | laugh at Romanticism |
| b. | crawl on the bottom of the sea | d. | live in a world of freedom and beauty |
____ 23. Which image most clearly shows Prufrock’s timidity and his inability to make a decision?
| a. | “After the novels, after the teacups, after the skirts that trail along the floor — . . .” |
| b. | “Shall I part my hair behind? Do I dare to eat a peach?” |
| c. | “Human voices wake us, and we drown.” |
| d. | “To have squeezed the universe into a ball . . .” |
____ 24. What does Prufrock mean when he says, “I am not Prince Hamlet, nor was meant to be; / Am an attendant lord . . .”?
| a. | I am a villain, not a hero. |
| b. | I am no hero, but just a minor character on the stage of my own life. |
| c. | The mermaids will never sing to me. |
| d. | I am the lord of all around me. |
Literary Focus: Dramatic Monologue
The questions below refer to the selection “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock.”
____ 25. Prufrock’s dramatic monologue enables the reader to —
| a. | see logical, sequential connections between ideas |
| b. | understand the lives of many characters at once |
| c. | witness the key events of Prufrock’s childhood |
| d. | follow the stream of Prufrock’s rambling thoughts |
____ 26. Which line immediately tells the reader that “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” is a dramatic monologue?
| a. | “Let us go then, you and I . . .” |
| b. | “To lead you to an overwhelming question . . .” |
| c. | “Like a patient etherized upon a table . . .” |
| d. | “The yellow fog that rubs its back upon the window-panes . . .” |
____ 27. Like all dramatic monologues, “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” —
| a. | contains allusions | c. | relies heavily on images |
| b. | uses figures of speech | d. | is told in the first person |
Reading Skills: Identifying the Main Idea and Supporting Details
The question below refers to the selection “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock.”
____ 28. Which of the following sentences best states the main idea of the poem?
| a. | Love is impossible to find. | c. | People no longer yearn for heroes. |
| b. | Modern life is spiritually empty. | d. | Modern people are generous and kind. |
Comprehension
The questions below refer to the selections “The Negro Speaks of Rivers”; “the mississippi river empties into the gulf.”
____ 29. One river that is not mentioned in “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” is the —
| a. | Rio Grande | c. | Nile |
| b. | Congo | d. | Mississippi |
____ 30. What do the rivers named in “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” have in common?
| a. | They are in Africa. |
| b. | They are historically important to the speaker. |
| c. | They have yearly floods. |
| d. | Famous dams have been built on them. |
____ 31. According to the speaker, his soul is like a river because it —
| a. | flows gently wherever it can |
| b. | dries up at times or rushes in torrents at others |
| c. | has grown deep over time |
| d. | is hard to contain |
____ 32. What aspect of human biology does the speaker compare to rivers?
| a. | Digestion | c. | Respiration |
| b. | Reproduction | d. | Circulation |
____ 33. The line “I looked upon the Nile and raised the pyramids above it” shows that the speaker —
| a. | identifies himself with his cultural ancestors |
| b. | lived thousands of years ago |
| c. | could not possibly have also seen Abe Lincoln on the Mississippi |
| d. | is Egyptian |
____ 34. The words muddy, golden, dusky, and dawns evoke images of —
| a. | sight | c. | smell |
| b. | hearing | d. | ouch |
____ 35. What form is “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” written in?
| a. | Sonnet | c. | Free verse |
| b. | Ballad | d. | Blank verse |
____ 36. In “the mississippi river empties into the gulf,” some people “mistakenly” —
| a. | go sailing in bad weather | c. | live solely in the present |
| b. | trust too much in the future | d. | are afraid to risk entering the water |
____ 37. What quality of rivers is examined in both “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” and “the mississippi river empties into the gulf”?
| a. | Unpredictability | c. | Danger |
| b. | Timeless flow | d. | Economic importance |
____ 38. The first line of “the mississippi river empties into the gulf,” “and the gulf enters the sea and so forth,” shows you that Lucille Clifton’s poem —
| a. | is a narrative |
| b. | describes the experiences of African Americans |
| c. | was written earlier than “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” |
| d. | uses the rhythms of colloquial speech |
Literary Focus: Repetition
The questions below refer to the selections “The Negro Speaks of Rivers”; “the mississippi river empties into the gulf.”
____ 39. One type of repetition is a refrain, which is a(n) —
| a. | event that recurs in several parts of a ballad |
| b. | repeated consonant sound at the beginnings of words |
| c. | repeated pattern of stressed syllables |
| d. | repeated line or lines in a poem or song |
____ 40. What is one refrain in “The Negro Speaks of Rivers”?
| a. | “ancient as the world and older than the flow” |
| b. | “I built my hut near the Congo and it lulled me to sleep.” |
| c. | “I’ve known rivers.” |
| d. | “Ancient, dusky rivers.” |
____ 41. What is another refrain in “The Negro Speaks of Rivers”?
| a. | “I’ve seen its muddy bosom turn all golden in the sunset.” |
| b. | “I bathed in the Euphrates.” |
| c. | “I heard the singing of the Mississippi.” |
| d. | “My soul has grown deep like rivers.” |
____ 42. Which of the following statements describes another type of repetition in the second stanza of “The Negro Speaks of Rivers”?
| a. | A different river is named in each of the first four lines. |
| b. | It has four lines that begin with the pronoun I and a past-tense verb. |
| c. | The first three lines each end with a period. |
| d. | The speaker talks about Abe Lincoln. |
Comprehension
The questions below refer to the selections “The Weary Blues”; “Harlem”; “Heyday in Harlem.”
____ 43. The song performed in “The Weary Blues” addresses —
| a. | all people who are unhappy | c. | the musician’s poor health |
| b. | the plight of underpaid musicians | d. | men without children |
____ 44. Who utters lines 25–26, “‘I got the Weary Blues / And I can’t be satisfied’”?
| a. | The speaker of the poem | c. | The musician |
| b. | Langston Hughes | d. | A man in the audience |
____ 45. The lines in quotation marks in the poem come from —
| a. | dialogue between the speaker and the musician |
| b. | the lyrics of the song the speaker hears |
| c. | the title “The Weary Blues” |
| d. | a conversation between members of the audience |
____ 46. At the end of “The Weary Blues,” the musician —
| a. | sleeps like the dead | c. | smiles at the audience |
| b. | meets the poet | d. | passes a hat around for money |
____ 47. Which of the following elements does the poem “The Weary Blues” not have in common with blues songs?
| a. | Emotionally powerful words | c. | Instrumental accompaniment |
| b. | Rhythmic lines | d. | Clever use of repetition |
____ 48. In the poem “Harlem” the speaker uses the pronoun we to refer to —
| a. | residents of New York |
| b. | poets and other artists |
| c. | people who remember the Depression |
| d. | African Americans in Harlem |
____ 49. In “Harlem” the phrase “what / We remember” in lines 22–23 does not refer to —
| a. | dishonest acts committed against African Americans |
| b. | the end of legal segregation in the United States |
| c. | delays in achieving equality and justice |
| d. | increasing hardship during the Depression |
____ 50. What solution does the speaker of the poem offer for the problems of Harlem?
| a. | Violent rebellion | c. | Hard work and ambition |
| b. | Peaceful protest against unjust laws | d. | No clear solution |
____ 51. “Heyday in Harlem” accomplishes all of the following purposes except to —
| a. | describe Harlem during the period of its renaissance |
| b. | sketch how blacks and whites interacted, or did not interact, at that time |
| c. | explain house-rent parties |
| d. | state why Langston Hughes came to Harlem and why he left |
____ 52. Both “Harlem” and “Heyday in Harlem” —
| a. | offer optimistic views of Harlem |
| b. | show a realistic understanding of Harlem life |
| c. | are cheerful in the face of prejudice |
| d. | are written in free verse |
Literary Focus: Rhythm and Mood
The questions below refer to the selections “The Weary Blues”; “Harlem”; “Heyday in Harlem.”
____ 53. In poetry, rhythm refers to —
| a. | the rise and fall of stressed and unstressed syllables |
| b. | vowel sounds repeated at the ends of words |
| c. | free (unmetered) verse as opposed to formal verse |
| d. | formal verse as opposed to free verse |
____ 54. Rhythms in “The Weary Blues” —
| a. | are unvarying from line to line |
| b. | reflect the rhythms of song and speech |
| c. | require a piano accompaniment in order to really be felt |
| d. | are those of the traditional sonnet |
____ 55. The mood of a work is the —
| a. | way in which the writer uses language |
| b. | author’s emotional state |
| c. | attitude of the poet |
| d. | atmosphere or dominant feeling |
____ 56. The mood of “Harlem” does not include —
| a. | an ominous sense of future conflict | c. | anger about present conditions |
| b. | simple joy in being alive | d. | bitterness about the past |
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