Famous Poets & Poems (Middle School Quiz Bowl)

Front

"I’m Nobody! Who are you?"

"I heard a Fly buzz - when I died -"

“Hope” is the thing with feathers -

"Because I could not stop for Death"

Back

Emily Dickinson

Answer explanation

The poet who wrote "Hope is a Thing with Feathers" is Emily Dickinson. She is known for her unique style and themes of hope and nature, distinguishing her from the other choices listed.

Front

Sonnet: "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate."

Back

William Shakespeare

Answer explanation

The line "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate." is from William Shakespeare's Sonnet 18, making him the correct answer among the choices provided.

Front

The creator of limerick poetry

"The owl and the pussycat..."

Back

Edward Lear

Answer explanation

Edward Lear is known as the creator of limerick poetry, characterized by its humorous and often inappropriate five-line structure. The other options do not have a direct connection to limericks.

Front

Harlem Renaissance poet. Jazz inspired poetry

Poem:
"What happens to a dream deferred?

      Does it dry up

      like a raisin in the sun?"

Poem: "Dreams"

• Hold fast to dreams 
  For if dreams die
  Life is a broken-winged bird
  That cannot fly.

Back

Langston Hughes

Answer explanation

Langston Hughes was a key figure in the Harlem Renaissance and is known for his jazz poetry, which blends the rhythms of jazz music with poetic expression, making him the correct answer.

Front

The Raven

Annabel Lee

Lenore

Back

Edgar Allan Poe

Answer explanation

Edgar Allan Poe is known for his contributions to science fiction and the detective story. His poem "To Helen" is celebrated as one of the most beautiful love poems, confirming his poetic talent.

Front

African American Poet

"Still I rise..."

Novelist
"I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings"

Back

Maya Angelou

Answer explanation

Maya Angelou is the correct answer as she was a multifaceted artist and civil rights activist, best known for her literary work, including "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings." The other options do not match her achievements.

Front

"Fog" (which includes cat)

"Chicago"

Free verse style

Back

Carl Sandburg

Answer explanation

Carl Sandburg is known for his use of free verse and wrote the famous poem "Fog", making him the correct choice. John Keats, George Orwell, and Ralph Waldo Emerson are not primarily associated with free verse poetry.

Front

"The Highwayman"

Back

Alfred Noyes

Answer explanation

Alfred Noyes is the poet who wrote "The Highwayman" and published his first book at 21. He later became a teacher at Princeton University, distinguishing him from the other poets listed.

Front

"Paradise Lost"

English epic poet

17th century

Back

John Milton

Front

"Leaves of Grass"

"O Captain! My Captain!" (about LIncoln)

"When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd"

"Song of Myself"

"I sing the body electric"

Back

Walt Whitman