8th Grade ELA Bootcamp - Poetry (Spring 2025)

Multiple Choice

Read the lines from the poem. 

Then the whining schoolboy, with his satchel

And shining morning face, creeping like snail (lines 7–8)

Which analysis explains the meaning of the simile “creeping like snail” in line 8?

• A. The simile helps the reader imagine how life changes can quickly sneak up on people.

• B. The simile shows the schoolboy walking slowly because he does not want to go to school.

• C. The simile focuses on how long childhood seems to be while we are living it.

• D. The simile shows how youthful the boy is, still moving slowly as a snail.

Multiple Choice

Read the lines from the poem. 

Last scene of all,

That ends this strange eventful history,

Is second childishness and mere oblivion,

Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.

(lines 25-28)

In the last line, the speaker repeats the word sans, which is French for “without.”

Why does the author use this repetition?

• A. to emphasize the difference between expectation and reality at the end of life

• B. to emphasize how much is lost at the end of life

• C. to emphasize how sorrowful the idea of death makes the speaker

• D. to emphasize the contrast between childhood and old age

Multiple Choice

Read the lines from the poem. 

The sixth age shifts

Into the lean and slippered pantaloon,

With spectacles on nose and pouch on side;

His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide

For his shrunk shank, and his big manly voice,

Turning again toward childish treble, pipes

And whistles in his sound.

(lines 19-25)

How does the imagery of the man’s voice as “childish treble, pipes / And whistles in his sound”

contribute to the reader’s understanding of this character?

• A. The imagery suggests that the man’s voice grows more musical as he ages.

• B. The imagery suggests that the man grows nostalgic for his childhood.

• C. The imagery suggests that the man is not as strong as he once was.

• D. The imagery suggests that the man grows more distinguished in old age.

Multiple Choice

This question has two parts. First, answer Part A. Then, answer Part B.

Part A: Which statement expresses two themes of this speech in the play?

• Most people are happiest when they perform for others; people should enjoy life without thinking too much.

• All people are fundamentally different; however, our lives follow predictable patterns.

• Our lives follow predictable patterns; only those who are able to break out of these patterns find happiness.

• Everyone’s life can be reduced to the simplest terms; the events of life are basically meaningless.

Multiple Choice

This question has two parts. First, answer Part A. Then, answer Part B.

Part B: Which lines from the speech support both themes in Part A?

• And all the men and women merely players;

  They have their exits and their entrances,” (lines 2–3)

• “. . . Last scene of all,

  That ends this strange eventful history,” (lines 25–26)

• “. . . Then a soldier,

  Full of strange oaths and bearded like the pard,” (lines 11–12)

• “. . . The sixth age shifts

  Into the lean and slippered pantaloon,” (lines 19–20)