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

2017

1762
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"?

She is practical and crafty, and sees the world through the lens of mending and fixing

It is the beginning of hurricane season

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

She knows that the rain has already done irreparable damage
5 Which of these lines contains alliteration?

"unmendable rain"

"one hour from this day"

"beyond all light"

"stole light from my life"
6 Which best describes the poem's conflict?

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

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
7 How many stanzas does the poem contain?

3

4

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?

Greenwich Mean Time

Ungenerous or unkind time

Idle time occurring between two events

Average amount of time
10 In which collection was this work published?

Collected Works of Carol Ann Duffy

Mean Time

Little Red Cap

The World's Wife
11 Which type of stanzas make up this work?

Tercets

Quatrains

Couplets

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

Ignorance

Sadness

Privacy

Mystery
13 Who is the poem's primary antagonist?

The speaker's mother

Time itself

The speaker's ex-partner

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

Thoughtful

Jubilant

Despondent

Panicked
15 Which yearly event does the poem describe?

The resetting of clocks in fall

The winter solstice

The first snow

The new moon
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?

Iambic pentameter

Dactylic pentameter

Trochaic hexameter

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

Personification

Simile

Spondee

Onomatopoeia
19 Who is the poem's speaker?

An unnamed person reflecting after the end of a relationship

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

A woman preparing for her wedding

A priest preparing to hear confessions
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?

Human/animal relationships

Heartbreak

The challenges of writing

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

Torment

Eat

Grab

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

Poor

Uncomfortable

Small

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

streets/mistakes

mean/time

rain/gnaw

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

End rhyme

Enjambment

Hyperbole

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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