Mean Time Quizzes

Mean Time Quiz Mean Time

1 What is the poem's rhyme scheme?
ABB CBB DBB

It does not have a consistent rhyme scheme

ABAB CDCD

ABBA CDDC
2 When was this poem first published?
1993

1762

1975

2017
3 Where does the poem take place?
On an unnamed city's streets

In a supermarket

Inside the speaker's house

In a hotel
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?
"stole light from my life"

"unmendable rain"

"beyond all light"

"one hour from this day"
6 Which best describes the poem's conflict?
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

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

6

4

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

It is conversational and casual

It is flowery and ornate

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

Mean Time

Collected Works of Carol Ann Duffy

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

Couplets

Sestets

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

Mystery

Sadness

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

The speaker's mother

Time itself

The speaker's ex-partner
14 Which best describes the speaker's mood?
Despondent

Thoughtful

Panicked

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

The first snow

The new moon

The resetting of clocks in fall
16 Who is the poem's addressee?
The speaker's ex-partner

The speaker's client

The reader

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?
Simile

Spondee

Personification

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

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

A woman preparing for her wedding

An unnamed person reflecting after the end of a relationship
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

Heartbreak

Human/animal relationships

The challenges of writing
22 What is most closely meant by the word "gnaw" as used in this poem?
Grab

Eat

Bite

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

Poor

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?
Hyperbole

End rhyme

Understatement

Enjambment

Mean Time Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for Mean Time is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

Ask Your Own Question

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.

Read the Study Guide for Mean Time…