Early Rising Poem Quiz

Based on the literary devices in stanza 3, what argument is the speaker making in his comparison between people and birds? Support your answer with evidence from the selection.

Which words describe the tone the speaker conveys in lines 37 through 42?

• Amusing

• Wicked

• Dreamy

• Worried

• Dark

Answer explanation

"Amusing" is correct because the speaker evokes a comfortable contrast between the world and heaven, then makes a joke about only dreaming of sin instead of dealing with it in the real world.

"Dreamy" is correct because the speaker uses phrases like "soft visions" and "sleep's sweet realm" to establish a dreamy or whimsical tone.

Tags

CCSS.RL.11-12.4

CCSS.RL.6.4

CCSS.RL.7.4

CCSS.RL.8.4

CCSS.RL.9-10.4

Which phrase from the third stanza best helps the reader understand the word Maxims in line 15?

• solemn, sentimental owl

• Rise with the lark

• inquire about his rise

• larks have any beds

Answer explanation

The correct answer is "Rise with the lark" because the theme of the poem is a humorous attack on the supposed benefit of getting up early.

Read this quotation from lines 31 through 36

'Tis, doubtless, well to be sometimes awake,

Awake to duty, and awake to truth,

But when, alas! a nice review we take

Of our best deeds and days, we find, in sooth,

35 The hours that leave the slightest cause to weep

Are those we passed in childhood or asleep!

The reader can conclude that the speaker feels that --

• he's happier in bed than anywhere else

• people should open their eyes to lies

• we should cry about all we have done wrong

• the innocence of youth is the same as sleep

Answer explanation

The correct answer is "he's happier in bed than anywhere else". The speaker feels that, while it's good to be awake to some things people try to avoid, the time spent asleep causes us the least amount of worries.

Tags

CCSS.RI.11-12.2

CCSS.RI.8.1

CCSS.RI.9-10.1

CCSS.RL.11-12.1

CCSS.RL.9-10.1

How does the poet use the structure of the poem to support theme?

• The rhyming couplets describe different benefits of getting up early.

• The stanzas give different examples of the benefits of sleeping past dawn.

• The rhythm of the poem creates a dark mood that highlights the benefits of waking up early.

• The rhyme scheme of the poem creates a conversational effect that supports the benefits of waking up early.

Answer explanation

The correct answer is "The stanzas give different examples of the benefits of sleeping past dawn." Each stanza describes an example of the problems of waking up early or gives an example of the benefits of sleeping late.

In lines 13 through 16, the poet uses a metaphor to make a sarcastic comparison between --

• the speaker and a fowl

• a lark and someone sleeping

• an owl and a person with empty advice

• the speaker's bed and a lark's bed

Answer explanation

The correct answer is "an owl and a person with empty advice". The poet uses a metaphor to compare an owl, a symbol of wisdom, to someone who offers cheap or empty advice.

Read lines 37 through 42

"'Tis beautiful to leave the world awhile

For the soft visions of the gentle night;

And free, at last, from mortal care or guile,

To live as only in the angel's sight,

In sleep's sweet realm so cosily shut in,

Where, at the worst, we only dream of sin!"

How does the mood shift in the last line of the stanza?

• From dreamy to lighthearted

• From nostalgic to brooding

• From mellow to irritated

• From idyllic to gloomy

Answer explanation

The correct answer is "From dreamy to lighthearted". The mood in lines 37-41 is dreamy. The mood shifts to lighthearted in line 42.

Read the question carefully. Then enter your answer in the box provided.

In the poem "Early Rising," how do stanzas 4 and 5 (lines 19 through 30) support the speaker's argument against rising early in the morning? Support your answer with evidence from the selection.

Sample Answer: The speaker establishes that the advice to rise early was given by someone whose "pearching wasn't sanctioned by his practice." In paragraph 5 the speaker reflects that the most comfortable times they remember "Are those we passed in childhood or asleep."