Mean Time Quizzes

Mean Time Quiz Mean Time

1 What is the poem's rhyme scheme?
It does not have a consistent rhyme scheme

ABBA CDDC

ABAB CDCD

ABB CBB DBB
2 When was this poem first published?
1975

2017

1762

1993
3 Where does the poem take place?
On an unnamed city's streets

In a hotel

In a supermarket

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

It is the beginning of hurricane season

She is so sad that the world as a whole feels unfixable to her
5 Which of these lines contains alliteration?
"unmendable rain"

"stole light from my life"

"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 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
7 How many stanzas does the poem contain?
5

4

3

6
8 Which best describes the poem's diction?
It is flowery and ornate

It is conversational and casual

It is full of jargon and specialized language

It is slightly archaic
9 Which is NOT a likely meaning of the poem's title?
Greenwich Mean Time

Average amount of time

Idle time occurring between two events

Ungenerous or unkind time
10 In which collection was this work published?
Collected Works of Carol Ann Duffy

Mean Time

The World's Wife

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

Quatrains

Tercets

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

Privacy

Sadness

Mystery
13 Who is the poem's primary antagonist?
The speaker's ex-partner

The speaker's mother

Time itself

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

Despondent

Panicked

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

The new moon

The resetting of clocks in fall

The first snow
16 Who is the poem's addressee?
The townspeople

The speaker's ex-partner

The reader

The speaker's client
17 What is the poem's meter?
Trochaic hexameter

Iambic pentameter

Dactylic pentameter

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

Simile

Onomatopoeia

Spondee
19 Who is the poem's speaker?
An unnamed person reflecting after the end of a relationship

A woman preparing for her wedding

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

A priest preparing to hear confessions
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?
The challenges of writing

Solitude

Heartbreak

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?"
Sad

Poor

Uncomfortable

Small
24 Which two words are an example of slant rhyme?
streets/mistakes

rain/gnaw

mean/time

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

Understatement

Enjambment

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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