Week 1 QUIZ 1: Figurative Language in Poetry, Short Stories

Read the excerpt from "I'm Nobody! Who Are You?" by Emily Dickinson.

I’m nobody! Who are you?

Are you nobody, too?

Then there’s a pair of us—don’t tell!

They’d banish us, you know.

Which statement best explains the central idea of this stanza?

• The poet has something to hide.

• The poet identifies with private people.

• The poet is afraid of authority figures.

• The poet seeks fame and recognition.

Read the excerpt from "I'm Nobody! Who Are You?" by Emily Dickinson.

How dreary to be somebody!

How public, like a frog

To tell your name the livelong day

To an admiring bog!

Which statement best explains the central idea of this stanza?

• Friendships should be kept secret.

• Announcing one’s name is rude.

• Public speaking is difficult.

• Fame is dull and unappealing.

Read the excerpt from "Introduction to Poetry" by Billy Collins.

I ask them to take a poem

and hold it up to the light

like a color slide

or press an ear against its hive.

Which statement best explains the central idea of these lines?

• Poems should be studied in many ways.

• Poetry readings should take place outside.

• Poems are colorful and noisy.

• Poetry should be shared with friends.

Which line from "I'm Nobody! Who Are You?" by Emily Dickinson contains a simile?

• "Then there’s a pair of us—don’t tell!"

• "They’d banish us, you know."

• "How public, like a frog"

• "To tell your name the livelong day"

Read the excerpt from "Introduction to Poetry" by Billy Collins.

I ask them to take a poem

and hold it up to the light

like a color slide

or press an ear against its hive.

Which line from the excerpt contains a metaphor?

• I ask them to take a poem

• and hold it up to the light

• like a color slide

• or press an ear against its hive.

Read the excerpt from "Introduction to Poetry" by Billy Collins.

or walk inside the poem's room

and feel the walls for a light switch.

How does this metaphor reveal Collins’s message?

• The metaphor suggests that poetic themes are serious and dark.

• The metaphor suggests that readers should explore poems in depth.

• The metaphor insists that readers should move about while reading.

• The metaphor insists that one must know the poet to understand the poem.

Read the excerpt from "Introduction to Poetry" by Billy Collins.

I want them to waterski

across the surface of a poem

waving at the author's name on the shore.

How does the figurative language in this excerpt reveal Collins’s message?

• It suggests that poems have fun, sporty themes.

• It suggests that readers take time to meet poets.

• It suggests that readers have fun exploring poetry.

• It suggests that poems are easy to understand.

Read the excerpt from "Introduction to Poetry" by Billy Collins.

They begin beating it with a hose

to find out what it really means.

How does the figurative language in this excerpt reveal

Collins’s message?

• It criticizes the way some readers try to understand a poem.

• It criticizes the violent themes found in modern poetry.

• It suggests that the study of poetry requires physical strength.

• It suggests that every poem has a simple meaning.

Read the poem "Autumn" by Emily Dickinson.

The morns are meeker than they were,

The nuts are getting brown;

The berry's cheek is plumper,

The rose is out of town.

The maple wears a gayer scarf,

The field a scarlet gown.

Lest I should be old-fashioned,

I'll put a trinket on.

Which statement best explains the central idea of the first stanza?

• Autumn is less enjoyable than summer.

• Autumn is the time to harvest fruit.

• Nature provides signs of autumn.

• Nature is inactive in autumn.

Read the poem "The Mountain" by Emily Dickinson.

The mountain sat upon the plain

In his eternal chair,

His observation omnifold,

His inquest everywhere.

The seasons prayed around his knees,

Like children round a sire:

Grandfather of the days is he,

Of dawn the ancestor.

Which statement best explains the central idea of this poem?

• Mountains observe everything and know everything.

• Mountains are tall and powerful objects in nature.

• Mountains can affect the changing of seasons.

• Mountains offer entertaining playgrounds for children.