Blessing (Imtiaz Dharker poem) Quizzes

1 From whose perspective is the poem told?

First-person perspective from the perspective of someone living in poverty

Someone recounting the scene of a burst water pipe in an impoverished community afflicted with drought.

First-person perspective of an adult recounting the instance of a burst municipal pipe when they were a child

First-person perspective of a woman gathering water from a burst municipal pipe
2 Describe the poem's stanzas.

Three quatrains

Five stanzas of varying length

Four stanzas of varying length

Four quatrains
3 Which of the following is NOT a metaphor or simile?

"the voice of a kindly god"

"silver crashes to the ground"

"the small splash"

"The skin cracks like a pod"
4 What is a metaphor?

A person, object, place, event, or action that suggests more than its literal meaning

Metaphor is a comparison between two things that are otherwise unrelated using the words "like" or "as"

Metaphor is a description of one thing as a different, unrelated thing

The repetition of the same sound at the start of a series of words in succession
5 Finish this quote: "The skin cracks like _"

a seed

a pod

a pipe

the ground
6 Define "pod" as used in the poem.

the part of a plant that attaches it to the ground or to a support, typically underground, conveying water and nourishment to the rest of the plant via numerous branches and fibers.

a detachable or self-contained unit on an aircraft, spacecraft, vehicle, or vessel, having a particular function

an elongated seed vessel of a leguminous plant such as the pea, splitting open on both sides when ripe

a flowering plant's unit of reproduction, capable of developing into another such plant
7 Which is the shortest stanza?

The second

The third

The first

The fourth
8 What is the effect of the shortest stanza?

To demonstrate a bursting pipe

To show an outpouring of water

To convey the severity of drought

There is no effect
9 What is the poem's meter?

Iambic pentameter

Iambic trimeter

Free verse

Iambic tetrameter
10 Which is an example of onomatopoeia?

mug

echo

fortune

drip
11 What is onomatopoeia?

The formation of a word from a sound associated with what is named

The repetition of vowel sounds without repeating consonants

The occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words

A comparison between two things that are otherwise unrelated using the words "like" or "as"
12 Where has Dharker specified as the setting of "Blessing"?

Rajendra Nagar in Bangalore

Daravi in Bombay

Dharavi in Mumbai

Bhalsw in Delhi
13 Is the exact setting (name of the community) specified in the poem?

Yes—Dharavi in Mumbai

No

Yes—Rajendra Nagar in Bangalore

Yes—Daravi in Bombay
14 Which of the following is not a symbol in the poem?

Light

The municipal Pipe

Pots

Water
15 What is the poem's tone?

Pensive, Happy

Bitter, Bleak

Joyful, Celebratory

Critical, Hopeful
16 What word is NOT used to describe water?

Silver

Flow

Blessing

Gold
17 What does the blessing do at the end of the poem?

Sing over the small bones of the children

Roar out from the pipe

Sing to the people gathering

Flow towards the river
18 Which of the following best alludes to how densely populated the neighborhood is?

with pots, brass, copper, aluminium, plastic buckets

every man woman child for streets around butts in

There never is enough water.

and naked children screaming in the liquid sun
19 Which sense does Dharker particularly engage with in this poem?

Gustatory

Tactile

Auditory

Olfactory
20 Which is a synecdoche?

frantic hands

The skin cracks like a pod.

and naked children screaming in the liquid sun,

the sudden rush
21 What is synecdoche?

A person, object, place, event, or action that suggests more than its literal meaning.

A figure of speech in which a part is made to represent the whole or vice versa

A comparison between two things that are otherwise unrelated.

A word, name, or expression used as a substitute for something else with which it is closely associated
22 In the poem, water is personified as a:

A child

A lover

Deity

A fellow community member
23 Which of the following is NOT an explicit theme in the poem?

The active struggle between the community and the government

Drought

The importance of water

The presence of children
24 What does water transform into when the pipe bursts?

An angry god

A form of currency and a blessing

A form of currency that causes strife

A killing force
25 What do the children reveal as being necessary to life?

Prayer, presence, and obedience

Resilience, street smarts, and enjoyment

Gratitude, solemnity, and prayer

Enjoyment, gratitude, and play

Blessing (Imtiaz Dharker poem)

by Imtiaz Dharker

Blessing (Imtiaz Dharker poem) Quiz

Blessing (Imtiaz Dharker poem) Questions and Answers

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