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

1975

1993

1762
3 Where does the poem take place?
Inside the speaker's house

On an unnamed city's streets

In a hotel

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

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

It is the beginning of hurricane season

She knows that the rain has already done irreparable damage
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 town and the oppressive forces occupying it

It is between the speaker on the one hand, and time on the other

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

5

3
8 Which best describes the poem's diction?
It is full of jargon and specialized language

It is flowery and ornate

It is slightly archaic

It is conversational and casual
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?
Mean Time

The World's Wife

Little Red Cap

Collected Works of Carol Ann Duffy
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

Mystery

Sadness

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

Time itself

The speaker's ex-partner

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

Despondent

Panicked

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

The new moon

The resetting of clocks in fall

The winter solstice
16 Who is the poem's addressee?
The reader

The speaker's client

The townspeople

The speaker's ex-partner
17 What is the poem's meter?
Dactylic pentameter

Iambic pentameter

Trochaic hexameter

Free verse
18 The phrase "bleak streets" is an instance of what?
Personification

Simile

Spondee

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

An unnamed person reflecting after the end of a relationship

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

The birth of a child

A crisis of faith

A diagnosis of illness
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?
Eat

Torment

Bite

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

Sad

Poor

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

streets/mistakes

day/say

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

Hyperbole

End rhyme

Understatement

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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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