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English 10-1

English 10-1 · Worksheets

Poetry

Ten questions of mixed difficulty, covering Poetry. Print it, or work through it on screen — the answer key starts on its own page.

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Poetry

English 10-1 · maddyhelps.com

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Circle the best answer for each question. Show your work in the space provided.

  1. A sonnet has

    1. a) fourteen lines
    2. b) twelve lines
    3. c) any number, if it rhymes
    4. d) sixteen lines

  2. A rhyme scheme is recorded by

    1. a) counting syllables
    2. b) assigning a letter to each new end sound
    3. c) marking stresses
    4. d) numbering stanzas

  3. A stanza in a poem is

    1. a) the theme
    2. b) a single line
    3. c) a grouped set of lines, separated by space
    4. d) a rhyming pair

  4. Free verse is poetry that

    1. a) is one stanza
    2. b) has no regular metre or rhyme scheme
    3. c) uses no imagery
    4. d) has no line breaks

  5. Approaching an unseen poem, the most productive first step is

    1. a) deciding the theme at once
    2. b) identifying the rhyme scheme
    3. c) listing every device
    4. d) reading for literal sense before looking for devices

  6. A poet who breaks an established metre in one line is most likely

    1. a) drawing attention to that line
    2. b) ending the poem
    3. c) making a mistake
    4. d) changing the rhyme scheme

  7. The volta, or turn, of a poem is

    1. a) the final line
    2. b) the point where the thought or feeling shifts direction
    3. c) the first rhyme
    4. d) the title

  8. The strongest paragraphs about a poem usually

    1. a) list techniques in order
    2. b) paraphrase stanza by stanza
    3. c) connect a specific technique to a specific effect on meaning
    4. d) compare the poem to personal experience

  9. The speaker of a poem

    1. a) is always fictional
    2. b) is the person addressed
    3. c) is always the poet
    4. d) is the voice presenting it, and need not be the poet

  10. A line of iambic pentameter contains

    1. a) ten stressed syllables
    2. b) five syllables
    3. c) five iambs — ten syllables, unstressed then stressed
    4. d) five rhyming words

Answer key · Poetry

English 10-1 · maddyhelps.com

  1. a) fourteen lines — Shakespearean sonnets run three quatrains and a couplet; Petrarchan ones an octave and a sestet. Both turn at some point, and finding the turn is usually the way in.
  2. b) assigning a letter to each new end sound — ABAB, AABB and ABBA are the common patterns. It describes the sounds at the ends of lines; internal rhyme is a separate effect.
  3. c) a grouped set of lines, separated by space — Stanzas do for a poem roughly what paragraphs do for prose. Where the breaks fall is a choice, so a change in stanza length is worth noticing.
  4. b) has no regular metre or rhyme scheme — Free does not mean unshaped. Line breaks, rhythm, repetition and white space are all still in play, and they are what an analysis should work with.
  5. d) reading for literal sense before looking for devices — Devices explain how a poem does what it does, which means you first need to know what it does. An analysis built on a misread literal sense collapses however many terms it contains.
  6. a) drawing attention to that line — Departure only registers against a pattern. Once a rhythm is established, disrupting it is one of the loudest things a poet can do quietly.
  7. b) the point where the thought or feeling shifts direction — In a Petrarchan sonnet it usually arrives at line nine and in a Shakespearean one at the couplet, but any poem can have one. Locating it gives you the structure almost for free.
  8. c) connect a specific technique to a specific effect on meaning — A device catalogue shows recognition; a paraphrase shows comprehension. The marks are in the link — this technique, in this place, does this to the meaning.
  9. d) is the voice presenting it, and need not be the poet — Treating the speaker as the poet is a common slip and sometimes an unfair one. Write about the speaker unless the poem gives you reason to identify the two.
  10. c) five iambs — ten syllables, unstressed then stressed — It is close to the natural rhythm of spoken English, which is why so much English poetry uses it and why it can carry a conversation without sounding sung.