Mean Time Quizzes

Mean Time Quiz Mean Time

1 What is the poem's rhyme scheme?
ABBA CDDC

ABAB CDCD

It does not have a consistent rhyme scheme

ABB CBB DBB
2 When was this poem first published?
2017

1993

1762

1975
3 Where does the poem take place?
On an unnamed city's streets

Inside the speaker's house

In a hotel

In a supermarket
4 Why does the speaker believe that the rain is "unmendable"?
She knows that the rain has already done irreparable damage

It is the beginning of hurricane season

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

She is so sad that the world as a whole feels unfixable to her
5 Which of these lines contains alliteration?
"unmendable rain"

"stole light from my life"

"beyond all light"

"one hour from this day"
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 town and the oppressive forces occupying it

It is between the speaker and her siblings

It is between the speaker on the one hand, and time on the other
7 How many stanzas does the poem contain?
3

5

4

6
8 Which best describes the poem's diction?
It is conversational and casual

It is slightly archaic

It is full of jargon and specialized language

It is flowery and ornate
9 Which is NOT a likely meaning of the poem's title?
Idle time occurring between two events

Greenwich Mean Time

Average amount of time

Ungenerous or unkind time
10 In which collection was this work published?
Little Red Cap

The World's Wife

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

Mystery

Sadness
13 Who is the poem's primary antagonist?
The speaker

The speaker's ex-partner

The speaker's mother

Time itself
14 Which best describes the speaker's mood?
Panicked

Thoughtful

Despondent

Jubilant
15 Which yearly event does the poem describe?
The first snow

The winter solstice

The resetting of clocks in fall

The new moon
16 Who is the poem's addressee?
The townspeople

The speaker's ex-partner

The reader

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

Free verse

Iambic pentameter

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

Simile

Spondee

Personification
19 Who is the poem's speaker?
A priest preparing to hear confessions

An unnamed person reflecting after the end of a relationship

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

A woman preparing for her wedding
20 What recent event has occurred for the poem's speaker?
The birth of a child

A diagnosis of illness

A breakup

A crisis of faith
21 Which of the following is a major theme of this work?
The challenges of writing

Solitude

Heartbreak

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

Bite

Grab

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

Poor

Sad

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

streets/mistakes

rain/gnaw

day/say
25 The poem's description of "endless nights" is an instance of what?
Hyperbole

Enjambment

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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