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?
1762

1975

1993

2017
3 Where does the poem take place?
In a supermarket

On an unnamed city's streets

In a hotel

Inside the speaker's house
4 Why does the speaker believe that the rain is "unmendable"?
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

She is practical and crafty, and sees the world through the lens of mending and fixing
5 Which of these lines contains alliteration?
"beyond all light"

"stole light from my life"

"unmendable rain"

"one hour from this day"
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?
6

3

4

5
8 Which best describes the poem's diction?
It is flowery and ornate

It is full of jargon and specialized language

It is conversational and casual

It is slightly archaic
9 Which is NOT a likely meaning of the poem's title?
Ungenerous or unkind time

Average amount of time

Idle time occurring between two events

Greenwich Mean Time
10 In which collection was this work published?
Mean Time

Little Red Cap

Collected Works of Carol Ann Duffy

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

Quatrains

Sestets

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

Privacy

Mystery

Ignorance
13 Who is the poem's primary antagonist?
The speaker

Time itself

The speaker's mother

The speaker's ex-partner
14 Which best describes the speaker's mood?
Despondent

Thoughtful

Panicked

Jubilant
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 client

The townspeople

The speaker's ex-partner

The reader
17 What is the poem's meter?
Free verse

Trochaic hexameter

Iambic pentameter

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

Onomatopoeia

Spondee

Simile
19 Who is the poem's speaker?
A priest preparing to hear confessions

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
20 What recent event has occurred for the poem's speaker?
The birth of a child

A crisis of faith

A diagnosis of illness

A breakup
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?
Grab

Torment

Eat

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

Sad

Poor

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?
Enjambment

Hyperbole

Understatement

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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