Mean Time Quizzes

Mean Time Quiz Mean Time

1 What is the poem's rhyme scheme?

ABAB CDCD

It does not have a consistent rhyme scheme

ABBA CDDC

ABB CBB DBB
2 When was this poem first published?

2017

1975

1993

1762
3 Where does the poem take place?

In a hotel

In a supermarket

On an unnamed city's streets

Inside the speaker's house
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

She knows that the rain has already done irreparable damage

It is the beginning of hurricane season

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

"stole light from my life"

"one hour from this day"

"unmendable rain"

"beyond all light"
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?

4

3

5

6
8 Which best describes the poem's diction?

It is conversational and casual

It is flowery and ornate

It is full of jargon and specialized language

It is slightly archaic
9 Which is NOT a likely meaning of the poem's title?

Ungenerous or unkind time

Greenwich Mean Time

Average amount of time

Idle time occurring between two events
10 In which collection was this work published?

Collected Works of Carol Ann Duffy

Little Red Cap

The World's Wife

Mean Time
11 Which type of stanzas make up this work?

Couplets

Quatrains

Sestets

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

Sadness

Privacy

Ignorance

Mystery
13 Who is the poem's primary antagonist?

The speaker's ex-partner

The speaker

Time itself

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

Jubilant

Thoughtful

Despondent

Panicked
15 Which yearly event does the poem describe?

The resetting of clocks in fall

The winter solstice

The new moon

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

The speaker's client

The speaker's ex-partner

The townspeople

The reader
17 What is the poem's meter?

Dactylic pentameter

Iambic pentameter

Free verse

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

Onomatopoeia

Spondee

Simile

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 woman preparing for her wedding

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

Heartbreak

The challenges of writing

Human/animal relationships

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

Eat

Grab

Bite

Torment
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

mean/time

day/say

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

Hyperbole

Understatement

Enjambment

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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