A Description of a City Shower
Authored by Brittany Fenley
English
11th Grade
CCSS covered
Used 157+ times
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About
This quiz focuses on literary analysis of Jonathan Swift's satirical poem "A Description of a City Shower," targeting 11th-grade English literature students. The questions assess students' ability to identify and analyze themes, evaluate textual evidence that supports those themes, interpret literary devices such as allusion and comparison, and examine how an author's structural choices contribute to overall meaning. Students must demonstrate close reading skills by analyzing specific quotations, understanding Swift's satirical technique of using mock-heroic comparisons, and recognizing how the poem's conclusion reinforces its critical perspective on urban life. The quiz requires higher-order thinking skills including inference, textual analysis, and the ability to connect literary elements to broader thematic meanings. Created by Brittany Fenley, an English teacher in the US who teaches grade 11. This quiz serves as an effective tool for assessing students' comprehension of satirical poetry and their ability to analyze complex literary works from the 18th century. Teachers can use this assessment as a formative evaluation following instruction on Swift's work, as a summative assessment after a unit on satire or British literature, or as practice for standardized testing that requires literary analysis skills. The quiz supports classroom instruction by requiring students to move beyond surface-level comprehension to demonstrate critical thinking about authorial intent, thematic development, and literary techniques. This assessment aligns with Common Core standards CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.1, CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.2, and CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.11-12.4, which emphasize citing textual evidence, determining themes, and analyzing the impact of specific word choices and literary techniques.
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5 questions
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1.
MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTION
30 sec • 1 pt
Which of the following statements best identifies a theme of the poem?
When exposed, life in the city is actually quite dirty and miserable.
Human civilization is no match for the sheer strength of nature.
Serious problems like poverty plague cities and cannot be washed away easily.
Civilizations experience a kind of rebirth and renewal whenever it rains.
Tags
CCSS.RL.11-12.2
CCSS.RL.8.2
CCSS.RL.9-10.2
CCSS.RI. 9-10.9
CCSS.RI.11-12.9
2.
MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTION
30 sec • 1 pt
Which of the following quotes best supports the theme of the poem?
“A coming shower your shooting corns presage, / Old achès throb, your hollow tooth will rage. / Sauntering in coffeehouse is Dulman seen; / He damns the climate and complains of spleen.” (Lines 9-12)
“Now in contiguous drops the flood comes down, / Threatening with deluge this devoted town. / To shops in crowds the daggled females fly, / Pretend to cheapen goods, but nothing buy.” (Lines 31-34)
“Boxed in a chair the beau impatient sits, / While spouts run clattering o’er the roof by fits, / And ever and anon with frightful din / The leather sounds; he trembles from within.” (Lines 43-46)
“Sweepings from butchers’ stalls, dung, guts, and blood, / Drowned puppies, stinking sprats, all drenched in mud, / Dead cats, and turnip tops, come tumbling down the flood.” (Lines 61-63)
Tags
CCSS.RL.11-12.8
CCSS.RL.8.5
CCSS.RL.9-10.10
CCSS.RL.9-10.9
CCSS.RL.8.10
3.
MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTION
30 sec • 1 pt
What effect did the author most likely intend with the comparison drawn in lines 43-52 between the beau and the Greeks?
The author mocks the Greeks by comparing them to a man sitting in his carriage, implying that the warriors’ trick with the wooden horse was cowardly.
The author seems to suggest that the rain is just as fearful as when one’s enemies stabbing a spear into one’s hideout.
The author mocks the beau sitting in his carriage trembling because of the rain by comparing him to the Greeks fearfully waiting to attack their enemies.
The author seems to suggest that the beau is clever for sitting in his carriage because, like the Greeks, it allows him to proceed through the city without trouble.
Tags
CCSS.RL.11-12.2
CCSS.RL.8.2
CCSS.RL.9-10.2
CCSS.RI. 9-10.2
CCSS.RI.11-12.2
4.
MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTION
30 sec • 1 pt
What impact does the author’s choice of resolution have on the overall meaning of the text?
The conclusion of the poem describes the filth of the city being washed away, a shocking ending that nevertheless implies that only a little hard work is needed to improve the city.
The conclusion of the poem focuses on the great force of the flood and therefore suggests that nature will soon destroy all that humans have created.
The conclusion of the poem describes dead animals being washed away, meant to shock and sadden the reader, thereby emphasizing the need for compassion in the city.
The conclusion of the poem focuses on the sheer filth found in the city, meant to shock and disgust the reader, thereby emphasizing the poem’s criticism of city life.
Tags
CCSS.RL.11-12.8
CCSS.RL.8.5
CCSS.RL.9-10.10
CCSS.RL.9-10.9
CCSS.RL.8.4
5.
MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTION
30 sec • 1 pt
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