NAME _______________________________________________________PERIOD_________
Poetic Terminology Quiz
Matching
Directions: Write the letter of the poetic term described by each statement in the
blank provided. You may have remaining terms that are not used.
_____ 1. Does not use consistent meter patterns or
rhyme.
a. Couplet
b. Free Verse
_____ 2. A single unit of written or spoken word, an
c. Iamb
unbroken sound used to make up words.
_____ 3. A verse or phrase that is repeated at
intervals throughout a poem.
_____ 4. Two lines of poetry, one after the other,
d. Meter
e. Quatrain
f. Refrain
that are of the same length and rhythm
g. Stanza
_____ 5. Consists of four lines.
_____ 6. A fixed pattern of stressed and unstressed
h. Syllable
syllables in lines, used to create rhythm.
Multiple Choice
Directions: Read the following questions carefully before answering. Circle the correct
response for each question. Make sure your answer is clearly marked.
1. In a song by Relient K, the line “It’s chapstick, chapped lips, and things like chemistry”
is an example of:
a. Personification
b. Onomatopoeia
c. Rhyme
d. Alliteration
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2. In a song by Ke$ha, the line “TiK ToK, on the clock” is an example of:
a. Alliteration
b. Personification
c. Onomatopoeia
d. Hyperbole
Directions: Read the following excerpt from a poem by Shakespeare before answering
questions 3-5. Circle the correct answer for each question. Make sure that your answer is clearly
marked.
“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:”
3. In the above excerpt, what is the rhyme scheme?
a. ABAB
b. AABB
c. ABAC
d. ABBA
4.
How many syllables are in the first line “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?”
a. 5
b. 8
c. 10
d. 11
5. In lines 3-4, the speaker of the poem describes summer as “darling” and capable of taking
out a lease, or renting something. This is an example of:
a. Simile
b. Alliteration
c. Onomatopoeia
d. Personification
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Directions: Read the following poem carefully before answering questions 6-8. Circle the correct
response for each question. Make sure that your answer is clearly marked.
Democracy
Democracy will not come
Today, this year
Nor ever
Through compromise and fear.
I have as much right
As the other fellow has
To stand
On my two feet
And own the land.
I tire so of hearing people say,
Let things take their course.
Tomorrow is another day.
I do not need my freedom when I'm dead.
I cannot live on tomorrow's bread.
Freedom
Is a strong seed
Planted
In a great need.
I live here, too.
I want freedom
Just as you.
- Langston Hughes
6. What does the narrator mean in the first stanza “Democracy will not come / Today, this
year / Nor ever / Through compromise and fear?”
a. We must kill to have democracy.
b. We must fight to have democracy.
c. We must forgive to have democracy.
d. We must settle to have democracy.
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7. In the fourth stanza, the lines “Freedom / Is a strong seed” are an example of:
a. Metaphor
b. Simile
c. Onomatopoeia
d. Personification
8. By using the poem “Democracy” on the previous page, which of the following statements
do you think the speaker of the poem would most likely agree with?
a. Freedom is easily obtainable.
b. With time, freedom can flourish.
c. We are all free because the Constitution says so.
d. Freedom is not given, but fought for.
Directions: Read the following poem carefully before answering questions 9-11 on the next page.
Circle the correct response for each question. Make sure that your answer is clearly marked.
A Poison Tree
I was angry with my friend;
I told my wrath, my wrath did end.
I was angry with my foe:
I told it not, my wrath did grow.
And I waterd it in fears,
Night & morning with my tears:
And I sunned it with smiles,
And with soft deceitful wiles.
And it grew both day and night.
Till it bore an apple bright.
And my foe beheld it shine,
And he knew that it was mine.
And into my garden stole,
When the night had veild the pole;
In the morning glad I see;
My foe outstretched beneath the tree.
- William Blake
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9. Many readers of the poem “A Poison Tree” describe the rhyme scheme as similar to a
nursery rhyme. Why might Blake use this rhyme scheme in a poem with such dark
themes?
a. The rhyme scheme evokes the sense that children are creepy.
b. The rhyme scheme makes the poem feel like a lesson on anger.
c. The rhyme scheme forces us to sympathize with the speaker.
d. The rhyme scheme asks us to feel as angry as the speaker.
10. By using the poem “A Poison Tree” on the previous page, which of the following
statements do you think the speaker of the poem would most likely agree with?
a. We must let go of our anger before it grows.
b. When we are hurt, we should use our anger.
c. We must talk to our anger.
d. Our anger should be used as a weapon.
11. Do you think the poem “A Poison Tree” condemns the “foe” for trespassing and stealing
or the speaker for murdering? Write your answer in the blank provided. Be sure to refer
the poem as evidence.
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Short Answer
Directions: Read the following poem carefully before answering the short response questions. Be
sure to refer to the poem as evidence in your response.
Hoods
In black leather jackets,
watching Spider work
the wire coat hanger
into Mrs. Koops car,
they remind me of crows
huddled around a road kill.
Startled,
They looked up,
then back
as Spider,
who nodded once, setting them free
toward me.
I bounded away,
used a parking meter
to whip me around the corner
past Janelli's meter
the darkened Pine Street Grille,
and the steamed windows
of Sudsy's Modern Laundromat.
I climbed-two at a timethe granite steps
of the Free Public Library
and pushed back thick wooden doors
as the pursuing pack stoppedsinners at the door of a church.
From the corner table of the reference room
I watched them
pacing,
head turning every time the door opened,
pacing,
until Spider arrived
to draw them away.
I waited, fingering hearts,
initials carved into the table,
grinning as I heard myself telling Raymond
of my death-defying escape.
- Paul B. Janeczko
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12. In the poem “Hoods,” the author uses powerful metaphors and similes to evoke a vivid
image. Write below one metaphor or simile in the poem and explain what images or
emotions are evoked through its use.
13. From the description of the “death-defying escape” in the poem “Hoods,” what can we
infer about the speaker? Describe the speaker in as much detail as possible. Be sure to
refer to the poem as evidence in your response.
14. Who or what is the Spider? Describe, in as much detail as possible, who or what the
Spider is. Be sure to refer to the poem as evidence in your response.
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ESSAY
Directions: Read the following poem and essay prompt and then write a three to four
paragraph essay on the next page. Be sure to refer to the poem above as evidence in your
response.
The Tyger
Tyger Tyger, burning bright,
In the forests of the night;
What immortal hand or eye,
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
In what distant deeps or skies.
Burnt the fire of thine eyes?
On what wings dare he aspire?
What the hand, dare seize the fire?
And what shoulder, & what art,
Could twist the sinews of thy heart?
And when thy heart began to beat,
What dread hand? & what dread feet?
What the hammer? what the chain,
In what furnace was thy brain?
What the anvil? what dread grasp,
Dare its deadly terrors clasp!
When the stars threw down their spears
And water'd heaven with their tears:
Did he smile his work to see?
Did he who made the Lamb make thee?
Tyger Tyger burning bright,
In the forests of the night:
What immortal hand or eye,
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?
- William Blake
Essay Question:
One of the many themes in the poem “The Tyger,” by William Blake, is the complexity
of creation. As we discussed in class, the poem considers many types of creation. Write an essay
in which you analyze how William Blake uses poetic structure and figurative language to show
the many variations of creation. You may choose to discuss one or multiple forms of creation
expressed in the poem. Provide evidence from the poem to defend your analysis.
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