Mean Time Quizzes

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?
1762

2017

1975

1993
3 Where does the poem take place?
In a hotel

Inside the speaker's house

On an unnamed city's streets

In a supermarket
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?
"stole light from my life"

"unmendable rain"

"beyond all light"

"one hour from this day"
6 Which best describes the poem's conflict?
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

It is between the speaker and her girlfriend as they endure a breakup
7 How many stanzas does the poem contain?
5

6

3

4
8 Which best describes the poem's diction?
It is full of jargon and specialized language

It is slightly archaic

It is flowery and ornate

It is conversational and casual
9 Which is NOT a likely meaning of the poem's title?
Ungenerous or unkind time

Greenwich Mean Time

Idle time occurring between two events

Average amount of time
10 In which collection was this work published?
The World's Wife

Mean Time

Little Red Cap

Collected Works of Carol Ann Duffy
11 Which type of stanzas make up this work?
Couplets

Quatrains

Tercets

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

Ignorance

Privacy

Mystery
13 Who is the poem's primary antagonist?
Time itself

The speaker

The speaker's ex-partner

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

Panicked

Thoughtful

Jubilant
15 Which yearly event does the poem describe?
The resetting of clocks in fall

The first snow

The winter solstice

The new moon
16 Who is the poem's addressee?
The speaker's ex-partner

The speaker's client

The reader

The townspeople
17 What is the poem's meter?
Iambic pentameter

Free verse

Dactylic pentameter

Trochaic hexameter
18 The phrase "bleak streets" is an instance of what?
Spondee

Simile

Personification

Onomatopoeia
19 Who is the poem's speaker?
A young woman who has just heard about her father's death

A priest preparing to hear confessions

A woman preparing for her wedding

An unnamed person reflecting after the end of a relationship
20 What recent event has occurred for the poem's speaker?
A crisis of faith

The birth of a child

A diagnosis of illness

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

The challenges of writing

Solitude

Human/animal relationships
22 What is most closely meant by the word "gnaw" as used in this poem?
Torment

Grab

Eat

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

Small

Poor

Sad
24 Which two words are an example of slant rhyme?
rain/gnaw

day/say

streets/mistakes

mean/time
25 The poem's description of "endless nights" is an instance of what?
End rhyme

Understatement

Hyperbole

Enjambment

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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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