Year 8 Poetry Practice Exam (10 minutes reading + 40
minutes writing)
Total Marks: 20
Read the following poems carefully and answer all questions.
You may annotate the poems as you read to help with your answers.
You will have 10 minutes reading time and 40 minutes to write your responses.
You may not make any annotations or marks during your reading time.
Use the space provided to answer the questions - the number of lines provided is a suggested
length!
Poem 1: Sonnet 18 by William Shakespeare
Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer’s lease hath all too short a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance or nature’s changing course untrimm’d;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade,
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st;
Nor shall Death brag thou wander’st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou grow’st:
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.
Question 1 – (1 mark)
Identify the meter that the poem is written in.
Question 2 – (5 marks)
Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18 uses extended metaphor and personification. Explain how these
techniques help the speaker express their feelings about love and immortality.
ADDITIONAL WRITING SPACE
Poem 2: Haiku by Matsuo Bashō (Translated)
An old silent pond
A frog jumps into the pond—
Splash! Silence again.
Question 3 – (1 mark)
Identify one example of onomatopoeia in the poem
Question 4 – (2 marks)
The haiku by Bashō is very brief but still evokes emotion. Analyse how structure, imagery,
AND/OR contrast create a sense of calm and surprise in the haiku.
ADDITIONAL WRITING SPACE
Poem 3: Mother to Son by Langston Hughes
Well, son, I’ll tell you:
Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.
It’s had tacks in it,
And splinters,
And boards torn up,
And places with no carpet on the floor—
Bare.
But all the time
I’se been a-climbin’ on,
And reachin’ landin’s,
And turnin’ corners,
And sometimes goin’ in the dark
Where there ain’t been no light.
So boy, don’t you turn back.
Don’t you set down on the steps
’Cause you finds it’s kinder hard.
Don’t you fall now—
For I’se still goin’, honey,
I’se still climbin’,
And life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.
Question 5 – (3 marks)
How does Langston Hughes use symbolism in Mother to Son to communicate the theme of
perseverance?
Poem 4: Hope is the Thing with Feathers by Emily Dickinson
“Hope” is the thing with feathers—
That perches in the soul—
And sings the tune without the words—
And never stops—at all—
And sweetest—in the Gale—is heard—
And sore must be the storm—
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm—
I’ve heard it in the chillest land—
And on the strangest Sea—
Yet—never—in Extremity,
It asked a crumb—of Me.
Question 6 – (2 marks)
Identify one metaphor in Hope is the Thing with Feathers and briefly explain what it represents.
Question 7 – (6 marks)
Choose two poems and compare how tone and other techniques are used to convey the poet’s
message. Use at least two techniques/devices from each poem in your response. Structure your
response with a short introduction, TWO body paragraphs, and a conclusion
ADDITIONAL SPACE