Mean Time Quizzes

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Mean Time Quiz Mean Time

1 What is the poem's rhyme scheme?

ABBA CDDC

It does not have a consistent rhyme scheme

ABAB CDCD

ABB CBB DBB
2 When was this poem first published?

1975

1762

2017

1993
3 Where does the poem take place?

Inside the speaker's house

On an unnamed city's streets

In a supermarket

In a hotel
4 Why does the speaker believe that the rain is "unmendable"?

She is practical and crafty, and sees the world through the lens of mending and fixing

It is the beginning of hurricane season

She is so sad that the world as a whole feels unfixable to her

She knows that the rain has already done irreparable damage
5 Which of these lines contains alliteration?

"unmendable rain"

"one hour from this day"

"beyond all light"

"stole light from my life"
6 Which best describes the poem's conflict?

It is between the speaker and her girlfriend as they endure a breakup

It is between the speaker on the one hand, and time on the other

It is between the town and the oppressive forces occupying it

It is between the speaker and her siblings
7 How many stanzas does the poem contain?

5

4

3

6
8 Which best describes the poem's diction?

It is conversational and casual

It is slightly archaic

It is flowery and ornate

It is full of jargon and specialized language
9 Which is NOT a likely meaning of the poem's title?

Ungenerous or unkind time

Idle time occurring between two events

Average amount of time

Greenwich Mean Time
10 In which collection was this work published?

Collected Works of Carol Ann Duffy

Mean Time

Little Red Cap

The World's Wife
11 Which type of stanzas make up this work?

Tercets

Quatrains

Sestets

Couplets
12 In this poem, darkness is metaphorically used to represent what?

Ignorance

Mystery

Sadness

Privacy
13 Who is the poem's primary antagonist?

The speaker's ex-partner

The speaker's mother

Time itself

The speaker
14 Which best describes the speaker's mood?

Panicked

Thoughtful

Despondent

Jubilant
15 Which yearly event does the poem describe?

The resetting of clocks in fall

The first snow

The new moon

The winter solstice
16 Who is the poem's addressee?

The speaker's ex-partner

The reader

The townspeople

The speaker's client
17 What is the poem's meter?

Free verse

Iambic pentameter

Trochaic hexameter

Dactylic pentameter
18 The phrase "bleak streets" is an instance of what?

Onomatopoeia

Simile

Personification

Spondee
19 Who is the poem's speaker?

A woman preparing for her wedding

An unnamed person reflecting after the end of a relationship

A young woman who has just heard about her father's death

A priest preparing to hear confessions
20 What recent event has occurred for the poem's speaker?

A diagnosis of illness

The birth of a child

A crisis of faith

A breakup
21 Which of the following is a major theme of this work?

Human/animal relationships

Solitude

The challenges of writing

Heartbreak
22 What is most closely meant by the word "gnaw" as used in this poem?

Grab

Torment

Bite

Eat
23 What is most closely meant by the word "bleak?"

Sad

Small

Poor

Uncomfortable
24 Which two words are an example of slant rhyme?

day/say

streets/mistakes

mean/time

rain/gnaw
25 The poem's description of "endless nights" is an instance of what?

Enjambment

Understatement

End rhyme

Hyperbole

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Study Guide for Mean Time

Mean Time study guide contains a biography of Carol Ann Duffy, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

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