Poetry Quiz using Claude McKay's, "If We Must Die"

If we must die—let it not be like hogs

Hunted and penned in an inglorious spot,

While round us bark the mad and hungry dogs,

Making their mock at our accursed lot.

The first line has an example of which device?

• simile

• metaphor

• onomatopoeia

• meter

Tags

CCSS.RL.11-12.8

CCSS.RL.8.4

CCSS.RL.8.5

CCSS.RL.9-10.10

CCSS.RL.9-10.9

If we must die—let it not be like hogs

Hunted and penned in an inglorious spot,

While round us bark the mad and hungry dogs,

Making their mock at our accursed lot.

What is the message of the first two lines?

• The speaker doesn't want us to be hunted as food

• The speaker does not like pigs.

• The speaker doesn't want to be hunted and die without purpose

Tags

CCSS.RL.11-12.8

CCSS.RL.8.4

CCSS.RL.8.5

CCSS.RL.9-10.10

CCSS.RL.9-10.9

If we must die—let it not be like hogs

Hunted and penned in an inglorious spot,

While round us bark the mad and hungry dogs,

Making their mock at our accursed lot.

"Round us bark the mad and hungry dogs" is an example of...

• personification

• tone

• imagery

• simile

Tags

CCSS.RL.11-12.8

CCSS.RL.8.10

CCSS.RL.8.5

CCSS.RL.9-10.10

CCSS.RL.9-10.9

"If we must die—let it not be like hogs

Hunted and penned in an inglorious spot,

While round us bark the mad and hungry dogs,

Making their mock at our accursed lot."

The simile is in which line?

• line 1

• line 2

• line 3

• line 4

Tags

CCSS.RL.11-12.8

CCSS.RL.8.4

CCSS.RL.8.5

CCSS.RL.9-10.10

CCSS.RL.9-10.9

If we must die—let it not be like hogs

Hunted and penned in an inglorious spot,

While round us bark the mad and hungry dogs,

Making their mock at our accursed lot.

How would you best summarize these four lines?

• The speaker believes all men must die, and death laughs at us.

• The speaker and his friends are under attack by enemies that are hunting them to the death.

• The speaker thinks he will be slaughtered like a pig.

• The speaker feels cornered.

Tags

CCSS.RL.11-12.8

CCSS.RL.8.10

CCSS.RL.8.4

CCSS.RL.9-10.10

CCSS.RL.9-10.9

If we must die—let it not be like hogs

Hunted and penned in an inglorious spot,

While round us bark the mad and hungry dogs,

Making their mock at our accursed lot.

If we must die—oh, let us nobly die,

So that our precious blood may not be shed

In vain; then even the monsters we defy

Shall be constrained to honor us though dead!

Oh, Kinsmen! We must meet the common foe;

Though far outnumbered, let us show us brave,

And for their thousand blows deal one deathblow!

What though before us lies the open grave?

Like men we’ll face the murderous, cowardly pack,

Pressed to the wall, dying, but fighting back!

Does the speaker think "we" (the soldiers he is speaking to) have a choice in dying?

• Yes

• No

Tags

CCSS.RL.11-12.8

CCSS.RL.8.10

CCSS.RL.8.4

CCSS.RL.9-10.10

CCSS.RL.9-10.9

While round us bark the mad and hungry dogs,

Making their mock at our accursed lot.

The dogs are the attackers. He doesn't mean they are literally dogs. What kind of figurative language is this?

• metaphor

• simile

• allusion

• personification

Tags

CCSS.RL.11-12.8

CCSS.RL.8.10

CCSS.RL.8.4

CCSS.RL.9-10.10

CCSS.RL.9-10.9

While round us bark the mad and hungry dogs,

Making their mock at our accursed lot.

What is the best explanation of the connotation of the use of the word "mock?"

• The trapped men are laughing at their misfortune.

• The trapped men think their attackers are imitating them.

• The attackers are harassing them, making fun of them because they are more dominant.

• The attackers are yelling supportive statements at the trapped men.

Tags

CCSS.RL.11-12.8

CCSS.RL.8.4

CCSS.RL.8.5

CCSS.RL.9-10.10

CCSS.RL.9-10.9

While round us bark the mad and hungry dogs,

Making their mock at our accursed lot.

What does the speaker mean by "accursed lot"?

• He feels the attackers are cursing them too much.

• He thinks the trapped men have been cursed with bad fortune.

Tags

CCSS.RL.11-12.8

CCSS.RL.8.10

CCSS.RL.8.4

CCSS.RL.9-10.10

CCSS.RL.9-10.9

If we must die—let it not be like hogs

Hunted and penned in an inglorious spot,

While round us bark the mad and hungry dogs,

Making their mock at our accursed lot.

If we must die—oh, let us nobly die,

So that our precious blood may not be shed

In vain; then even the monsters we defy

Shall be constrained to honor us though dead!

Oh, Kinsmen! We must meet the common foe;

Though far outnumbered, let us show us brave,

And for their thousand blows deal one deathblow!

What though before us lies the open grave?

Like men we’ll face the murderous, cowardly pack,

Pressed to the wall, dying, but fighting back!

Line 5 is an example of:

• metaphor

• symbolism

• repetition

• simile

Tags

CCSS.RL.11-12.8

CCSS.RL.8.10

CCSS.RL.8.5

CCSS.RL.9-10.10

CCSS.RL.9-10.9