Speech to the Young: Speech to the Progress-Toward
Authored by Attallah Howard
English
6th Grade
CCSS covered
Used 206+ times
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About
This quiz focuses on poetry analysis, specifically examining Gwendolyn Brooks' poem "Speech to the Young: Speech to the Progress-Toward." The content is appropriate for 6th grade students who are developing their skills in literary interpretation and figurative language recognition. Students need to demonstrate comprehension of poetic themes, particularly the poem's central message about maintaining optimism and avoiding negative influences. The quiz requires students to analyze figurative language devices including metaphor, diction, alliteration, and onomatopoeia, while also making inferences about the speaker's tone and attitude. Students must interpret symbolic language like "down-keepers," "sun-slappers," and "harmony-hushers" to understand how Brooks characterizes negative people, and they need to grasp the extended baseball metaphor of the "hard home-run" as it relates to life advice and success. Created by Attallah Howard, an English teacher in the US who teaches grade 6. This quiz serves as an excellent tool for assessing students' understanding of poetry analysis after reading Brooks' inspirational poem. Teachers can use this assessment for formative evaluation to gauge how well students comprehend thematic elements, figurative language, and author's craft before moving to more complex poetic works. The quiz works effectively as a post-reading assessment, homework assignment, or review activity to reinforce key concepts about tone, theme, and literary devices. It supports classroom instruction by allowing teachers to identify which students need additional support with inference skills and figurative language interpretation. This assessment aligns with Common Core standards RL.6.1 (citing textual evidence), RL.6.2 (determining theme), RL.6.4 (analyzing word choice and figurative language), and L.6.5 (demonstrating understanding of figurative language).
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17 questions
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1.
MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTION
30 sec • 1 pt
From the title of s poem, the reader can infer that the —e of this poem, the reader can infer that the —
speaker is an older person
speech was given at a school
speech was written long ago
speaker has made many mistakes
Tags
CCSS.RL.6.4
CCSS.RL.5.5
CCSS.RL.7.10
CCSS.RL.7.4
CCSS.RL.5.4
2.
MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTION
30 sec • 1 pt
What is the main theme of the poem?
It is important to be cautious at all times.
Life is too short to worry about the future.
Life means different things to different people.
Stay positive and don’t dwell on the past.
Tags
CCSS.RL.5.2
CCSS.RL.5.9
CCSS.RL.6.2
CCSS.RL.7.2
CCSS.RL.4.9
3.
MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTION
30 sec • 1 pt
Read line 2 of the poem.
say to the down-keepers,
The poet is most likely referring to people who —
do not think of the future
are discouraging to others
struggle to succeed in life
believe life should be easy
Tags
CCSS.RL.6.4
CCSS.RL.5.5
CCSS.RL.7.10
CCSS.RL.7.4
CCSS.RL.7.5
4.
MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTION
30 sec • 1 pt
Read lines 2–5 of the poem.
say to the down-keepers,
the sun-slappers,
the self-soilers,
the harmony-hushers,
The figurative language in these lines affects the message of the poem by —
drawing attention to those with negative outlooks
drawing attention to examples of worrying behavior
painting a vivid image of people that should be avoided
painting a vivid image of how to address negative people
Tags
CCSS.RL.6.4
CCSS.RL.5.5
CCSS.RL.7.10
CCSS.RL.7.4
CCSS.RL.7.5
5.
MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTION
30 sec • 1 pt
What is the central message presented in lines 10–11?
Look to the past to learn how to live in the future.
Be proud of your accomplishments, but do not dwell on them.
Do not focus too intensely on the past or the future.
Remember your mistakes, but do not allow them to hinder you.
Tags
CCSS.RL.5.2
CCSS.RL.5.9
CCSS.RL.6.2
CCSS.RL.7.2
CCSS.RL.8.2
6.
MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTION
30 sec • 1 pt
Who is the author of the p
Who is the author of the poem "Speech to the Young"??oem "Speech to the Young"??
Gwendolyn Brooks
Edgar Allan Poe
CharThaCM
Dr. Seuss
Tags
CCSS.RL.6.4
CCSS.RL.5.5
CCSS.RL.7.10
CCSS.RL.7.5
CCSS.RL.5.4
7.
MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTION
30 sec • 1 pt
What does "Harmony-hushers" mean??
Negative People
Positive People
Tags
CCSS.RL.6.4
CCSS.RL.7.4
CCSS.RL.5.1
CCSS.RI.5.4
CCSS.RI.6.4
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