Context Clues, Mood, and Tone Practice

Read the following poem, "A Birthday" by Christina Rossetti and answer the question below. My heart is like a singing bird   Whose nest is a weathered shoot; My heart is like an apple-tree   Whose boughs are bent  with thick-set fruit; My heart is like a rainbow shell   That paddles in a halcyon [peaceful] sea; My heart is gladder than all these   Because my love is come to me. QUESTION: What mood do the details of the poem convey?

• Sorrow
• Happiness
• Excitement
• Nervousness

Read the following lines from "The Garden of Proserpine" by Algernon Swinburne. Then answer the question below. There go the loves that wither, The old loves with wearier wings; And all dead years draw thither [there]   And disastrous things; Dead dreams of days foresaken, Blind buds that snows have shaken, Wild leaves that winds have taken,   Red strays of ruined springs. ... And love, grown faint and fretful With lips but half regretful Sighs, and with eyes forgetful   Weeps that no loves endure [last]. QUESTION: In the first two lines, what images does the speaker use to describe love?

• Loves that go away and have exhausted wings
• Loves that grow both wobbly and worrisome
• Loves that die
• Loves whose is both young and old
  

There go the loves that wither,   The old loves with wearier wings; And all dead years draw thither [there]   And disastrous things; Dead dreams of days foresaken, Blind buds that snows have shaken, Wild leaves that winds have taken,   Red strays of ruined springs. ... And love, grown faint and fretful With lips but half regretful Sighs, and with eyes forgetful   Weeps that no loves endure [last]. QUESTION: What mood do the details in the poem convey?

• Wastefulness and excess
• Happiness
• Sadness and despair
• Mistrust

There go the loves that wither,   The old loves with wearier wings; And all dead years draw thither [there]   And disastrous things; Dead dreams of days foresaken, Blind buds that snows have shaken, Wild leaves that winds have taken,   Red strays of ruined springs. ... And love, grown faint and fretful With lips but half regretful Sighs, and with eyes forgetful   Weeps that no loves endure [last]. QUESTION: What mood do the details in the poem convey?

• Wastefulness and excess
• Happiness
• Sadness and despair
• Mistrust

There go the loves that wither,   The old loves with wearier wings; And all dead years draw thither [there]   And disastrous things; Dead dreams of days foresaken, Blind buds that snows have shaken, Wild leaves that winds have taken,   Red strays of ruined springs. ... And love, grown faint and fretful With lips but half regretful Sighs, and with eyes forgetful   Weeps that no loves endure [last]. QUESTION: What mood do the details in the poem convey?

• Wastefulness and excess
• Happiness
• Sadness and despair
• Mistrust

Which tone is represented in the following passage? Wow! With a top speed of one hundred fifty miles per hour, that car can almost fly!

• calm
• annoyed
• scary
• nostalgic

Which tone is represented in the following passage? She delicately placed the cooing baby on a soft, freshly cleaned blanket.

• soothing
• annoyed
• distrustful
• tired

Which tone is represented in the following passage? As that hurricane threatened, the wind's blast caused angry fifteen-foot waves to crash over the small houses near the shore.

• foreboding
• angry
• sarcastic
• dry

Which tone is represented in the following passage? Ugh! Do I really have to sit through another boring lecture on data entry again.

• enthusiastic
• nostalgic
• optimistic
• peeved

What is the tone of the following passage? The alarm buzzed. Jordan smashed her fist down on it--hard. It flew off the nightstand and bounced off her cat, Armstrong. The cat yowled indignantly and rocketed out the room.

• eerie
• sarcastic
• passionate
• humorous