Mean Time Quizzes

Mean Time Quiz Mean Time

1 What is the poem's rhyme scheme?

ABAB CDCD

ABB CBB DBB

It does not have a consistent rhyme scheme

ABBA CDDC
2 When was this poem first published?

2017

1975

1993

1762
3 Where does the poem take place?

In a supermarket

In a hotel

On an unnamed city's streets

Inside the speaker's house
4 Why does the speaker believe that the rain is "unmendable"?

It is the beginning of hurricane season

She knows that the rain has already done irreparable damage

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

She is practical and crafty, and sees the world through the lens of mending and fixing
5 Which of these lines contains alliteration?

"unmendable rain"

"stole light from my life"

"one hour from this day"

"beyond all light"
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?

6

3

4

5
8 Which best describes the poem's diction?

It is flowery and ornate

It is slightly archaic

It is full of jargon and specialized language

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

Greenwich Mean Time

Idle time occurring between two events

Ungenerous or unkind time

Average amount of time
10 In which collection was this work published?

Mean Time

Collected Works of Carol Ann Duffy

The World's Wife

Little Red Cap
11 Which type of stanzas make up this work?

Quatrains

Couplets

Sestets

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

Ignorance

Privacy

Sadness

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?

Thoughtful

Jubilant

Panicked

Despondent
15 Which yearly event does the poem describe?

The winter solstice

The first snow

The resetting of clocks in fall

The new moon
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?

Trochaic hexameter

Dactylic pentameter

Free verse

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

Spondee

Onomatopoeia

Simile

Personification
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 breakup

A diagnosis of illness

The birth of a child
21 Which of the following is a major theme of this work?

The challenges of writing

Heartbreak

Human/animal relationships

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

Bite

Grab

Torment

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

Poor

Uncomfortable

Small

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?

Enjambment

Hyperbole

Understatement

End rhyme

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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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