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English 20-1

English 20-1 · Worksheets

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Ten questions of mixed difficulty, covering Close reading, Devices and language, Personal response, Poetry. Print it, or work through it on screen — the answer key starts on its own page.

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English 20-1 · maddyhelps.com

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

  1. Enjambment is when

    1. a) a sentence continues past the end of a line without a pause
    2. b) a stanza is repeated
    3. c) two lines rhyme
    4. d) a line ends with a full stop

  2. A poet who breaks an established metrical pattern in one line is most likely

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

  3. Situational irony occurs when

    1. a) the outcome is the opposite of what was expected or intended
    2. b) the reader knows more than the character
    3. c) a speaker means the opposite of the words used
    4. d) a symbol appears twice

  4. An extended metaphor is most effective when

    1. a) it is explained by the narrator
    2. b) several unrelated comparisons are combined
    3. c) it is stated once and dropped
    4. d) the comparison is developed consistently so each detail corresponds to something

  5. A passage describing a house as cramped, dim and airless rather than small, shaded and still mainly establishes

    1. a) a formal register
    2. b) the setting's exact dimensions
    3. c) the narrator's reliability
    4. d) a negative tone through connotation

  6. When a prompt supplies a short text, that text is best used as

    1. a) something to summarise in the introduction
    2. b) a starting point for the idea, not a subject to be analysed
    3. c) the main subject of your analysis
    4. d) evidence you must quote repeatedly

  7. The speaker of a poem

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

  8. A rhyme scheme is recorded by

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

  9. Diction means

    1. a) the story's main idea
    2. b) the rhythm of a line
    3. c) a writer's choice of words
    4. d) the way a text is arranged on the page

  10. An inference is

    1. a) a conclusion drawn from evidence in the text plus reasoning
    2. b) the writer's stated opinion
    3. c) a direct quotation from the text
    4. d) a guess that cannot be supported

Answer key · Cumulative review

English 20-1 · maddyhelps.com

  1. a) a sentence continues past the end of a line without a pause — The reader is pulled across the break, which can create speed, surprise or a double meaning as the phrase completes. An end-stopped line does the opposite.
  2. 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.
  3. a) the outcome is the opposite of what was expected or intended — A fire station burning down is situational irony. Mere coincidence or bad luck is not — the reversal has to run against a clear expectation the text set up.
  4. d) the comparison is developed consistently so each detail corresponds to something — Sustaining a comparison lets a writer think through it rather than merely decorate with it. A mixed metaphor breaks the correspondence and usually the reader's attention with it.
  5. d) a negative tone through connotation — Both sets of words describe the same house. The first set carries discomfort in its associations, and that judgement is the writer's attitude showing through the description.
  6. b) a starting point for the idea, not a subject to be analysed — The personal response is not a close reading of the provided text. Analysing it in detail is the classic way to turn a personal response into the wrong assignment.
  7. b) is the voice presenting the poem, 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.
  8. c) assigning a letter to each new end sound — ABAB, AABB and ABBA are the common patterns. It is about the sounds at the ends of lines; internal rhyme is a separate effect.
  9. c) a writer's choice of words — Diction is word choice, and it is the most reliable evidence for tone. Naming a word as formal, colloquial, archaic or clinical is more useful than calling the whole passage descriptive.
  10. a) a conclusion drawn from evidence in the text plus reasoning — An inference has two parts: something the text actually gives you, and the reasoning that gets you from it to your conclusion. If you cannot point at the evidence, it is a guess, and a marker cannot give credit for it.