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?
1993

1975

2017

1762
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 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?
"beyond all light"

"unmendable rain"

"one hour from this day"

"stole light from my life"
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 girlfriend as they endure a breakup

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

It is between the speaker and her siblings
7 How many stanzas does the poem contain?
3

6

5

4
8 Which best describes the poem's diction?
It is conversational and casual

It is slightly archaic

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

Idle time occurring between two events

Greenwich Mean Time

Average amount of time
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?
Couplets

Sestets

Quatrains

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

Sadness

Mystery

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?
Jubilant

Thoughtful

Despondent

Panicked
15 Which yearly event does the poem describe?
The new moon

The resetting of clocks in fall

The first snow

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?
Trochaic hexameter

Iambic pentameter

Free verse

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

Simile

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?
The birth of a child

A diagnosis of illness

A crisis of faith

A breakup
21 Which of the following is a major theme of this work?
Human/animal relationships

Heartbreak

The challenges of writing

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

Grab

Eat

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

Poor

Uncomfortable

Small
24 Which two words are an example of slant rhyme?
day/say

mean/time

streets/mistakes

rain/gnaw
25 The poem's description of "endless nights" is an instance of what?
Understatement

End rhyme

Hyperbole

Enjambment

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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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