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

ABB CBB DBB

ABAB CDCD
2 When was this poem first published?
1993

2017

1975

1762
3 Where does the poem take place?
In a supermarket

In a hotel

Inside the speaker's house

On an unnamed city's streets
4 Why does the speaker believe that the rain is "unmendable"?
She is so sad that the world as a whole feels unfixable to her

She knows that the rain has already done irreparable damage

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

It is the beginning of hurricane season
5 Which of these lines contains alliteration?
"one hour from this day"

"beyond all light"

"stole light from my life"

"unmendable rain"
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 girlfriend as they endure a breakup

It is between the speaker and her siblings
7 How many stanzas does the poem contain?
6

4

3

5
8 Which best describes the poem's diction?
It is slightly archaic

It is flowery and ornate

It is conversational and casual

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

Average amount of time

Idle time occurring between two events

Greenwich Mean Time
10 In which collection was this work published?
The World's Wife

Little Red Cap

Mean Time

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

Sestets

Couplets

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

Ignorance

Sadness

Mystery
13 Who is the poem's primary antagonist?
The speaker's ex-partner

Time itself

The speaker

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

Jubilant

Thoughtful

Despondent
15 Which yearly event does the poem describe?
The winter solstice

The resetting of clocks in fall

The new moon

The first snow
16 Who is the poem's addressee?
The reader

The speaker's client

The speaker's ex-partner

The townspeople
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?
Spondee

Simile

Personification

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

An unnamed person reflecting after the end of a relationship

A priest preparing to hear confessions

A woman preparing for her wedding
20 What recent event has occurred for the poem's speaker?
A crisis of faith

A diagnosis of illness

The birth of a child

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

The challenges of writing

Human/animal relationships

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

Torment

Grab

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

Sad

Uncomfortable

Poor
24 Which two words are an example of slant rhyme?
streets/mistakes

day/say

rain/gnaw

mean/time
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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