Mean Time Quizzes

Mean Time Quiz Mean Time

1 What is the poem's rhyme scheme?
ABBA CDDC

ABB CBB DBB

ABAB CDCD

It does not have a consistent rhyme scheme
2 When was this poem first published?
1762

2017

1975

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

In a hotel

Inside the speaker's house

In a supermarket
4 Why does the speaker believe that the rain is "unmendable"?
It is the beginning of hurricane season

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
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 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 siblings

It is between the speaker and her girlfriend as they endure a breakup
7 How many stanzas does the poem contain?
4

6

3

5
8 Which best describes the poem's diction?
It is conversational and casual

It is slightly archaic

It is full of jargon and specialized language

It is flowery and ornate
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?
The World's Wife

Mean Time

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?
Sadness

Mystery

Privacy

Ignorance
13 Who is the poem's primary antagonist?
Time itself

The speaker's ex-partner

The speaker

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

Thoughtful

Panicked

Despondent
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 townspeople

The speaker's ex-partner

The speaker's client

The reader
17 What is the poem's meter?
Iambic pentameter

Dactylic pentameter

Free verse

Trochaic hexameter
18 The phrase "bleak streets" is an instance of what?
Spondee

Onomatopoeia

Simile

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

A priest preparing to hear confessions

A woman preparing for her wedding

A young woman who has just heard about her father's death
20 What recent event has occurred for the poem's speaker?
A diagnosis of illness

The birth of a child

A crisis of faith

A breakup
21 Which of the following is a major theme of this work?
Heartbreak

Solitude

Human/animal relationships

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

Bite

Torment

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

Sad

Uncomfortable

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

mean/time

day/say

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

Hyperbole

Understatement

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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