Let's Practice

Multiple Choice
Identify the choice that best completes the statement or answers the question.

	1.	“Mother Night” -James Weldon Johnson
Eternities before the first-born day,
or ere the first sun fledged his wings of flame, 
Calm Night, the everlasting and the same, 
A brooding mother over chaos lay.
And whirling suns shall blaze and then decay,
Shall run their fiery courses and then claim
The haven of the darkness whence they came;
Back to Nirvanic peace shall grope their way.

So when my feeble sun of life burns out, 
And sounded is the hour for my long sleep,
I shall, full weary of the feverish light,
Welcome the darkness without fear or doubt,
And heavy-lidded, I shall softly creep
Into the quiet bosom of the Night.

What is personified in this poem?
a. | wings
b. | night
c. | light
d. | darkness

	2.	The form of this poem is (refer to your Poetry Terms and Concepts)
a. | free verse
b. | Petrarchan Sonnet
c. | Shakespearean Sonnet
d. | blank verse

	3.	Line 9 may e described as a shift from
a. | the universal to the individual
b. | figurative to literal language
c. | pessimism to optimism
d. | formal to informal diction

	4.	The speaker’s attitude toward death is
a. | ecstatic
b. | dead
c. | apprehensive
d. | welcoming

	5.	With which statement would the speaker in “Mother Night” most likely agree?
a. | Death is unnatural.
b. | The death of a sun is more important than the death of an individual person.
c. | Death is similar to a peaceful sleep.
d. | Night is the calmest time of day.

	6.	“Words” -Hettie Jones

Words
are keys
or stanchions
or stones

I give you my word
You pocket it
and keep the change

Here is a word on
the tip of my tongue: love

I hold it close 
though it dreams of leaving

Which of the following poetic techniques is NOT used in the poem?
a. | personification
b. | alliteration
c. | metaphor
d. | onomatopoeia

	7.	The scarcity of punctuation in this poem
a. | implies that words flow without meaning
b. | implies that all statements about “words” in the poem are related
c. | implies that the speaker is uninhibited
d. | removes all barriers for the reader

	8.	To “keep the change” in line six
a. | refers only to coins
b. | means that the speaker is reluctant to make a promise
c. | states that the speaker owes money to “you” (line 5)
d. | reveals that the listener will be affected when given “my word” (line 4)

	9.	In line 9, the pronoun “it” most likely refers to
a. | love
b. | one of the keys (line 1)
c. | the “tongue” (line 8)
d. | one of the “stones” (line 3)

	10.	With which statement would the speaker probably agree?
I. Words
II. Words may confine as well as liberate.
III. Words may be a burden.
a. | I only
b. | II only
c. | I and III
d. | I, II, and III

	11.	The phrase “dreams of leaving” in line 10 may be interpreted as
a. | a yearning for escape
b. | the realization that love is impossible to define
c. | the speaker’s desire to have a reason to say the word “love”
d. | the inability of the poet to communicate

	12.	The phrase “dreams of leaving” in line 10 may be interpreted as
a. | a yearning for escape
b. | the realization that love is impossible
c. | the speaker’s desire to say that he or she is in love
d. | the inability of the poet to communicate

	13.	Lines 3 and 4 may be characterized as a shift from
a. | definition to situation
b. | analysis to argument
c. | literal to interpretive
d. | metaphor to simile

Let's Practice
Answer Section

MULTIPLE CHOICE

	1.	ANS:	B	PTS:	1

	2.	ANS:	B	PTS:	1

	3.	ANS:	A	PTS:	1

	4.	ANS:	D	PTS:	1

	5.	ANS:	C	PTS:	1

	6.	ANS:	D	PTS:	1

	7.	ANS:	B	PTS:	1

	8.	ANS:	D	PTS:	1

	9.	ANS:	A	PTS:	1

	10.	ANS:	D	PTS:	1

	11.	ANS:	C	PTS:	1

	12.	ANS:	C	PTS:	1

	13.	ANS:	A	PTS:	1