Mean Time Quizzes

Mean Time Quiz Mean Time

1 What is the poem's rhyme scheme?
ABAB CDCD

ABBA CDDC

It does not have a consistent rhyme scheme

ABB CBB DBB
2 When was this poem first published?
2017

1975

1762

1993
3 Where does the poem take place?
Inside the speaker's house

In a hotel

In a supermarket

On an unnamed city's streets
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 is so sad that the world as a whole feels unfixable to her

It is the beginning of hurricane season

She knows that the rain has already done irreparable damage
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 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?
4

5

3

6
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?
Ungenerous or unkind time

Average amount of time

Greenwich Mean Time

Idle time occurring between two events
10 In which collection was this work published?
Little Red Cap

Mean Time

Collected Works of Carol Ann Duffy

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?
Privacy

Ignorance

Mystery

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

The speaker's mother

The speaker's ex-partner

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

Panicked

Jubilant

Despondent
15 Which yearly event does the poem describe?
The resetting of clocks in fall

The new moon

The winter solstice

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

The speaker's client

The reader

The speaker's ex-partner
17 What is the poem's meter?
Iambic pentameter

Free verse

Dactylic pentameter

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

Simile

Onomatopoeia

Personification
19 Who is the poem's speaker?
A woman preparing for her wedding

An unnamed person reflecting after the end of a relationship

A priest preparing to hear confessions

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

A diagnosis of illness

A breakup

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

The challenges of writing

Human/animal relationships

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

Bite

Torment

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

Small

Sad

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

rain/gnaw

streets/mistakes

mean/time
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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