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

ABBA CDDC

ABAB CDCD
2 When was this poem first published?

1975

1993

1762

2017
3 Where does the poem take place?

In a supermarket

On an unnamed city's streets

In a hotel

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

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

It is the beginning of hurricane season
5 Which of these lines contains alliteration?

"unmendable rain"

"one hour from this day"

"stole light from my life"

"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 speaker and her siblings

It is between the speaker and her girlfriend as they endure a breakup

It is between the town and the oppressive forces occupying it
7 How many stanzas does the poem contain?

4

3

6

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?

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?

Mean Time

Little Red Cap

The World's Wife

Collected Works of Carol Ann Duffy
11 Which type of stanzas make up this work?

Quatrains

Couplets

Tercets

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

Mystery

Ignorance

Privacy

Sadness
13 Who is the poem's primary antagonist?

The speaker's ex-partner

The speaker's mother

The speaker

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

Jubilant

Despondent

Thoughtful

Panicked
15 Which yearly event does the poem describe?

The resetting of clocks in fall

The first snow

The new moon

The winter solstice
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?

Dactylic pentameter

Free verse

Trochaic hexameter

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

Personification

Onomatopoeia

Spondee

Simile
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 breakup

A crisis of faith

The birth of a child

A diagnosis of illness
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?

Grab

Torment

Bite

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

Small

Sad

Uncomfortable

Poor
24 Which two words are an example of slant rhyme?

mean/time

rain/gnaw

streets/mistakes

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

Hyperbole

End rhyme

Enjambment

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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