Mean Time Quizzes

Mean Time Quiz Mean Time

By Eleanor Stern · Edited by James Cooper · Last reviewed February 06, 2023

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?

1975

1762

2017

1993
3 Where does the poem take place?

Inside the speaker's house

In a supermarket

In a hotel

On an unnamed city's streets
4 Why does the speaker believe that the rain is "unmendable"?

It is the beginning of hurricane season

She knows that the rain has already done irreparable damage

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
5 Which of these lines contains alliteration?

"beyond all light"

"stole light from my life"

"one hour from this day"

"unmendable rain"
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 town and the oppressive forces occupying it

It is between the speaker and her siblings

It is between the speaker on the one hand, and time on the other
7 How many stanzas does the poem contain?

6

3

5

4
8 Which best describes the poem's diction?

It is full of jargon and specialized language

It is conversational and casual

It is flowery and ornate

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

Greenwich Mean Time

Idle time occurring between two events

Ungenerous or unkind time

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

Mean Time

Collected Works of Carol Ann Duffy

Little Red Cap

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

Tercets

Couplets

Sestets

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

Privacy

Ignorance

Sadness

Mystery
13 Who is the poem's primary antagonist?

The speaker's mother

The speaker's ex-partner

Time itself

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

Despondent

Panicked

Thoughtful

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 townspeople

The reader

The speaker's client

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?

Simile

Onomatopoeia

Spondee

Personification
19 Who is the poem's speaker?

A priest preparing to hear confessions

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

A woman preparing for her wedding

An unnamed person reflecting after the end of a relationship
20 What recent event has occurred for the poem's speaker?

A crisis of faith

A diagnosis of illness

The birth of a child

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

The challenges of writing

Heartbreak

Solitude

Human/animal relationships
22 What is most closely meant by the word "gnaw" as used in this poem?

Torment

Bite

Grab

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

Uncomfortable

Small

Poor

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

mean/time

streets/mistakes

rain/gnaw

day/say
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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