Mean Time Quizzes

Mean Time Quiz Mean Time

1 What is the poem's rhyme scheme?

ABBA CDDC

It does not have a consistent rhyme scheme

ABB CBB DBB

ABAB CDCD
2 When was this poem first published?

1993

1762

1975

2017
3 Where does the poem take place?

Inside the speaker's house

In a supermarket

In a hotel

On an unnamed city's streets
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 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
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 speaker and her siblings

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 girlfriend as they endure a breakup
7 How many stanzas does the poem contain?

6

3

5

4
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?

Average amount of time

Greenwich Mean Time

Idle time occurring between two events

Ungenerous or unkind time
10 In which collection was this work published?

Mean Time

The World's Wife

Collected Works of Carol Ann Duffy

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

Quatrains

Sestets

Couplets

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

Ignorance

Mystery

Privacy

Sadness
13 Who is the poem's primary antagonist?

The speaker

The speaker's mother

The speaker's ex-partner

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

Panicked

Despondent

Jubilant

Thoughtful
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 townspeople

The speaker's client

The reader
17 What is the poem's meter?

Dactylic pentameter

Trochaic hexameter

Free verse

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

Spondee

Personification

Onomatopoeia

Simile
19 Who is the poem's speaker?

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

A woman preparing for her wedding

A priest preparing to hear confessions

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

The birth of a child

A breakup

A diagnosis of illness
21 Which of the following is a major theme of this work?

Heartbreak

Solitude

The challenges of writing

Human/animal relationships
22 What is most closely meant by the word "gnaw" as used in this poem?

Torment

Eat

Bite

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

Small

Poor

Uncomfortable

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

mean/time

streets/mistakes

day/say

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

Enjambment

Understatement

Hyperbole

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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