Poetry Test Study Guide
6th Grade Language Arts
Test Date: Thurs. 2/13/14
You will need to know the following poetry terms. I will present them in multiple choice, matching, or
true-false questions. You will NOT have to memorize the exact wording of definitions, but rather be
able to identify correct definitions. That is, you will have something to work with; I will NOT ask you to
pull definitions out of thin air.
alliteration, assonance, & consonance:
alliteration: the repetition of consonant sounds, usually at the beginning of words or syllables
example: “I got mad at my mother / so I flew to the moon“ (“Mad,” Naomi Shihab Nye)
assonance: the repetition of vowel sounds, especially in a line of poetry
example: “or picked the melody with quick fingertips“ (“Maestro,” Pat Mora)
consonance: the repetition of consonant sounds at the end of stressed syllables; almost like rhyme, but
with different vowel sounds in front of the repeating consonants
example: “dials and bells and / healing hallelujah” (“To Young Readers,” Gwendolyn Brooks)
allusion: a reference in a work of literature to a well-known character, place, or situation in history,
politics, or science or from another work of literature, music, or art
example: “mirror, mirror on the wall” in Pat Mora’s “Same Song” is an allusion to “Snow White”
free verse: poetry that has no fixed pattern of meter, rhyme, line length, or stanza arrangement
example: “who knows if the moon’s” by E. E. Cummings
imagery: language that emphasizes sensory impressions to help the reader of a literary work see, hear,
feel, smell, and taste the scenes described in the work
example: “but he hears only his mother’s voice” (“Maestro,” Pat Mora)
meter: a regular pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables that gives a line of poetry a predictable
rhythm
example: “The Courage That My Mother Had” is written in iambic tetrameter, which means that
in each line there are four sets of units like this: unstressed syllable, stressed syllable;
“The GOLden BROOCH my MOther WORE”
onomatopoeia: the use of a word or phrase that actually imitates or suggests the sound of what it
describes
example: “jerking,” “lisp,” and “bark” (“My Parents,” Stephen Spender)
personification: a figure of speech in which an animal, object, or idea is given human form or
characteristics
example: “Where wretchedness will hang its head” (“I Dream a World,” Langston Hughes)
poetry vs. prose:
poetry: a form of literary expression that differs from prose in emphasizing the line as the unit of
composition; many other traditional characteristics of poetry – emotional, imaginative language; use of
metaphor and simile; division into stanzas; rhyme; regular patterns of stress, or meter – apply to some
poems but not to others
example: any of the poems we have read thus far
prose: writing that is similar to everyday speech and language, as opposed to poetry; its form is based
on sentences and paragraphs without the patterns of rhyme, controlled line length, or meter found in
much poetry; fiction and nonfiction are the major categories of prose; most modern drama is also
written in prose
example: novels, short stories, essays, etc.
repetition: the recurrence of sounds, words, phrases, lines, or stanzas in a speech or piece of writing;
repetition increases the feeling of unity in a work; when a line or stanza is repeated in a poem or song, it
is called a refrain
example: the phrases “keen city” and “pretty people” are repeated in “who knows if the
moon’s” by E. E. Cummings
rhyme & rhyme scheme:
rhyme: the repetition of sounds at the ends of words that appear close to each other in a poem
example: “Shadows on the wall / Noises down the hall” (“Life Doesn’t Frighten Me,” Maya
Angelou)
rhyme scheme: the pattern of rhyme formed by the end rhyme in a poem; rhyme scheme is designated
by the assignment of a different letter of the alphabet to each new rhyme
example:
Shadows on the wall
A
Noises down the hall
A
Life doesn’t frighten me at all
A
Bad dogs barking loud
B
Big ghosts in a cloud
B
Life doesn’t frighten me at all. A
This stanza of “Life Doesn’t Frighten Me” by Maya Angelou has a AAABBA rhyme scheme.
simile vs. metaphor:
simile: a figure of speech using like or as to compare seemingly unlike things
example: “I feared more than tigers their muscles like iron” (“My Parents,” Stephen Spender)
metaphor: a figure of speech that compares or equates seemingly unlike things. In contrast to a simile,
a metaphor does NOT use like or as
example: “Good books are / bandages” (“To Young Readers,” Gwendolyn Brooks)
speaker: the voice of a poem; equivalent to the narrator in a work of prose; the speaker’s words
communicate a particular tone or attitude toward the subject of a poem
example: In “My Father Is a Simple Man,” Luis Omar Salinas’s speaker is an adult speaking
about an elderly father who is kind, patient, hard-working, and street smart.
stanza: a group of lines forming a unit in a poem; stanzas are, in effect, the paragraphs of a poem
example: “The Courage That My Mother Had” by Edna St. Vincent Millay is written in stanzas of
four lines each; such stanzas are called quatrains.
symbol: any object, person, place, or experience that means more than what it is; symbolism is the use
of images to represent internal realities
example: The mirror in “Same Song” by Pat Mora perhaps symbolizes modern society – how we
place far too much emphasis on physical appearance.
theme: the main idea of a story, poem, novel, or play, usually expressed as a general statement; some
works have a stated theme, which is expressed directly; more frequently, works have an implied theme,
which is revealed gradually through other elements such as plot, character, setting, point of view,
symbol, and irony
example: We all have our own ways of trying to impress others; we all seek acceptance from
others in one way or another. (one possible theme in Pat Mora’s “Same Song”)
You will also have to answer questions about the following ten poems we have studied over the past
few weeks (all appear in the blue literature book). I will provide the text of a poem (whole poem or
excerpt) when I am asking something about that poem, so you do NOT have to try to memorize poems.
Again, if I am asking you a question about a certain poem, you will have the poem (or the necessary part
of it) in front of you. I am not at all looking to “zing” you or make you memorize the exact wording of a
bunch of stuff. I suggest that you take the following steps to prepare for this test: 1) study the poetry
terms above; 2) re-read the ten poems below and review the corresponding questions in the blue book
after each selection.
“The Courage That My Mother Had” by Edna St. Vincent Millay - pg. 135
“My Father Is a Simple Man” by Luis Omar Salinas - pg. 137
“To Young Readers” by Gwendolyn Brooks - pg. 158
“who knows if the moon’s” by E. E. Cummings - pg. 194
“My Parents” by Stephen Spender - pg. 306
“Same Song” by Pat Mora - pg. 309
“Maestro” by Pat Mora - pg. 312
“Mad” by Naomi Shihab Nye - pg. 331
“I Dream a World” by Langston Hughes - pg. 338
“Life Doesn’t Frighten Me” by Maya Angelou- pg. 340
NOTE: All definitions and poetry on this review sheet taken from our blue literature textbook:
Literature: Florida Treasures.
The Courage That My Mother Had
Edna St. Vincent Millay
My Father Is a Simple Man
Luis Omar Salinas
The courage that my mother had
Went with her, and is with her still:
Rock from New England quarried;
Now granite in a granite hill.
5
5
The golden brooch my mother wore
She left behind for me to wear;
I have no thing I treasure more:
Yet, it is something I could spare.
10
10
Oh, if instead she’d left to me
The thing she took into the grave! –
That courage like a rock, which she
Has no more need of, and I have.
15
To Young Readers
Gwendolyn Brooks
5
10
Good books are
bandages
and voyages
and linkages to Light;
20
are keys and hammers,
ripe redeemers,
dials and bells and
healing hallelujah.
25
Good books are good nutrition.
A reader is a Guest
nourished, by riches of the Feast,
to lift, to launch, and to applaud the
30
world.
35
I walk to town with my father
to buy a newspaper. He walks slower
than I do so I must slow up.
The street is filled with children.
We argue about the price
of pomegranates, I convince
him it is the fruit of scholars.
He has taken me on this journey
and it’s been lifelong.
He’s sure I’ll be healthy
so long as I eat more oranges,
and tells me the orange
has seeds and so is perpetual;
and we too will come back
like the orange trees.
I ask him what he thinks
about death and he says
he will gladly face it when
it comes but won’t jump
out in front of a car.
I’d gladly give my life
for this man with a sixth
grade education, whose kindness
and patience are true . . .
The truth of it is, he’s the scholar,
and when the bitter-hard reality
comes at me like a punishing
evil stranger, I can always
remember that here was a man
who was a worker and a provider,
who learned the simple facts
in life and lived by them,
who held no pretense.
And when he leaves without
benefit of fanfare or applause
I shall have learned what little
there is about greatness.
who knows if the moon’s
E. E. Cummings
Mad
Naomi Shihab Nye
who knows if the moon’s
a balloon,coming out of a keen city
in the sky – filled with pretty people?
(and if you and i should
5
5
get into it,if they
should take me and take you into their balloon,
why then
we’d go up higher with all the pretty people
10
10
15
than houses and steeples and clouds:
go sailing
away and away sailing into a keen
city which nobody’s ever visited,where
always
it’s
Spring)and everyone’s
in love and flowers pick themselves
15
My Parents
Stephen Spender
My parents kept me from children who were rough
Who threw words like stones and wore torn clothes
Their thighs showed through rags they ran in the street
And climbed cliffs and stripped by country streams.
5
10
I feared more than tigers their muscles like iron
Their jerking hands and their knees tight on my arms
I feared the salt coarse pointing of those boys
Who copied my lisp behind me on the road.
They were lithe they sprang out behind hedges
Like dogs to bark at my world. They threw mud
While I looked the other way, pretending to smile.
I longed to forgive them but they never smiled.
I got mad at my mother
so I flew to the moon.
I could still see our house
so little in the distance
with its pointed roof.
My mother stood in the front yard
like a pin dot
searching for me.
She looked left and right for me.
She looked deep and far.
Then I whistled and she tipped her head.
It gets cold at night on the moon.
My mother sent up a silver thread
For me to slide down on.
She knows me so well.
She knows I like silver.
Same Song
Pat Mora
5
10
15
20
While my sixteen-year-old son sleeps,
my twelve-year-old daughter
stumbles into the bathroom at six a.m.
plugs in the curling iron
squeezes into faded jeans
curls her hair carefully
strokes Aztec Blue shadow on her eyelids
smooths Frosted Mauve blusher on her cheeks
outlines her mouth in Neon Pink
peers into the mirror, mirror on the wall
frowns at her face, her eyes, her skin,
not fair.
At night this daughter
stumbles off to bed at nine
eyes half-shut while my son
jogs a mile in the cold dark
then lifts weights in the garage
curls and bench presses
expanding biceps, triceps, pectorals,
one-handed push-ups, one hundred sit-ups
peers into that mirror, mirror and frowns too.
I Dream a World
Langston Hughes
5
10
15
I dream a world where man
No other man will scorn,
Where love will bless the earth
And peace its paths adorn.
I dream a world where all
Will know sweet freedom’s way,
Where greed no longer saps the soul
Nor avarice blights our day.
A world I dream where black or white,
Whatever race you be,
Will share the bounties of the earth
And every man is free,
Where wretchedness will hang its head
And joy, like a pearl,
Attends the needs of all mankind –
Of such I dream, my world!
Maestro
Pat Mora
5
10
15
20
He hears her
when he bows.
Rows of hands clap
again and again he bows
to stage lights and upturned faces
but he hears only his mother’s voice
years ago in their small home
singing Mexican songs
one phrase at a time
while his father strummed the guitar
or picked the melody with quick fingertips.
Both cast their music in the air
for him to snare with his strings,
songs of lunas and amor
learned bit by bit.
She’d nod, smile, as his bow slid
note to note, then the trio
voz, guitarra, violin
would blend again and again
to the last pure note
sweet on the tongue.
Life Doesn’t Frighten Me
Maya Angelou
5
Shadows on the wall
Noises down the hall
Life doesn’t frighten me at all
Bad dogs barking loud
Big ghosts in a cloud
Life doesn’t frighten me at all.
25
30
10
15
20
Mean old Mother Goose
Lions on the loose
They don’t frighten me at all
Dragons breathing flame
On my counterpane
That doesn’t frighten me at all.
I go boo
Make them shoo
I make fun
Way they run
I won’t cry
So they fly
I just smile
They go wild
Life doesn’t frighten me at all.
Tough guys in a fight
All alone at night
Life doesn’t frighten me at all.
35
40
Panthers in the park
Strangers in the dark
No, they don’t frighten me at all.
That new classroom where
Boys all pull my hair
(Kissy little girls
With their hair in curls)
They don’t frighten me at all.
Don’t show me frogs and snakes
And listen for my scream,
If I’m afraid at all
It’s only in my dreams.
I’ve got a magic charm
That I keep up my sleeve,
I can walk the ocean floor
And never have to breathe.
Life doesn’t frighten me at all
Not at all
Not at all.
Life doesn’t frighten me at all.