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English 20-1

English 20-1 · 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 20-1 · maddyhelps.com

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

  1. A line of iambic pentameter contains

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

  2. A rhyme scheme is recorded by

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

  3. A stanza in a poem is

    1. a) the poem's main idea
    2. b) a single line
    3. c) a grouped set of lines, separated by a space
    4. d) a rhyming pair

  4. Free verse is poetry that

    1. a) must be written in one stanza
    2. b) has no regular metre or rhyme scheme
    3. c) never uses imagery
    4. d) has no line breaks

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

    1. a) deciding on a theme immediately
    2. b) identifying the rhyme scheme
    3. c) listing every device you can name
    4. d) reading it through for literal sense before looking for devices

  6. A poet who breaks an established metrical pattern 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. In writing about a poem, the strongest paragraphs usually

    1. a) list all the techniques in order of appearance
    2. b) paraphrase the poem stanza by stanza
    3. c) connect a specific technique to a specific effect on meaning
    4. d) compare the poem to the writer's own experience

  9. The speaker of a poem

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

  10. A sonnet is a poem of

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

Answer key · Poetry

English 20-1 · maddyhelps.com

  1. a) five iambs, each an unstressed then a stressed syllable — That is ten syllables in an unstressed-stressed pattern, and it is close to the natural rhythm of spoken English, which is why so much English poetry uses it.
  2. b) 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.
  3. c) a grouped set of lines, separated by a space — Stanzas do for a poem roughly what paragraphs do for prose — they group and separate. 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 it through 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 poem's 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 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.
  10. c) fourteen lines — Shakespearean sonnets run three quatrains and a couplet; Petrarchan ones run an octave and a sestet. Both turn at some point, and finding the turn is usually the way in.