Poetry Final Test

Names: ______and ______Date______Period______

Poetry Final Test

Part I: Vocabulary Directions: Write the letter of the word that best fits the definition in the blank.

A. theme B. figurative language C. simile D. metaphor E. personification F. symbolism G. tone H. imagery I. rhyme scheme J. stanza K. rhyme

1. _____ a comparison using like or as

2. _____ a group of lines in a poem

3. _____the emotional attitude toward the reader or toward the subject implied by a literary work

4. _____the vivid mental picture created in the reader’s mind by the language used in a poem

5. _____a figure of speech in which an idea, an animal, or thing is described as if it were a person

6. _____a pattern of end rhyme

7. _____the central idea of a literary work

8. _____a figure of speech in which one thing is written about as if it was another

9. _____ writing or speech meant to be understood imaginatively instead of literally

10._____ using an object to represent an idea

Part II: Skills Application Commentary Concrete Detail Sympathy Subject by Paul Laurence Dunbar

I know what the caged bird feels, alas! When the sun is bright on the upland slopes Paraphrase CD Only: When the wind stirs, soft through the springing grass, And the river flows like a stream of glass; When the first bird sings and the first bud opes, 5 And the faint perfume from its chalice steals — Language I know what the caged bird feels!

I know why the caged bird beats his wing Till its blood is red on the cruel bars; For he must fly back to his perch and cling 10 When he fain1 would be on the bough a- swing; Imagery And a pain still throbs in the old, old scars And they pulse again with a keener sting— I know why he beats his wing!

I know why the caged bird sings, ah me, Tone 15 When his wing is bruised and his bosom sore, -- When he beats his bars and he would be free; Speaker It is not a carol of joy or glee, But a prayer the he sends from his heart’s deep core. But a plea, that upward to heaven flings-- 20 I know why the caged bird sings! Theme Statement: (Title, Author, Life Lesson) 1fain – gladly; eagerly

© CVSD 2008 Names: ______and ______Date______Period______“Sympathy” 1. This poem is mostly about a. men imprisoned behind bars b. people who live without freedom c. a speaker who feels trapped an confined d. a bird kept in a cage

2. Based on the last stanza of the poem, which sentence tells why the caged bird sings? a. It sings a carol of joy. b. It sings a song of anger. c. It sings a prayer pleading for freedom. d. It sings a song about its past.

3. Based on the first stanza, describe the world outside of the bird’s cage? Include two concrete details in your answer. ______

Caged Bird by Maya Angelou Commentary Concrete Detail Subject A free bird leaps on the back of the wind and floats downstream till the current ends Paraphrase CD Only: and dips his wing 5 in the orange sun rays and dares to claim the skies.

But a bird that stalks down his narrow cage can seldom see through 10 Language his bars of rage his wings are clipped and his feet are tied so he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings 15 with a fearful trill of the things unknown Imagery but longed for still and his tune is heard on the distant hill 20 for the caged bird sings of freedom. Tone

The free bird thinks of another breeze and the trade winds soft through the sighing trees and the fat worms waiting on a dawn-bright Speaker lawn 25 and he names the sky his own.

Theme Statement: (Title, Author, Life Lesson)

© CVSD 2008 Names: ______and ______Date______Period______“Caged Bird” 1. According to the speaker in “Caged Bird,” who or what “dares to claim the sky”? a. the free bird b. a king c. the caged bird d. the fat worms

2. What does the “dawn-bright lawn” in “Caged Bird” symbolize? a. Happiness b. A new beginning c. Familiarity d. Nature

3. In the second stanza, explain the meaning of the speaker’s words, “But a bird that stalks/down his narrow cage/can seldom see through/his bars of rage.” Include at least one concrete detail in your response. ______

4. In “Sympathy” and “Caged Bird,” what do the bars of the birdcage symbolize? a. Despair and surrender b. Illness and injury c. Slavery and imprisonment d. Care and protection

Provide at least one concrete detail from each poem to support your answer.

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5. Find examples of imagery describing the caged bird in each poem. Based on your comparison of the images, contrast the differences in emotions conveyed in the two poems. Use at least two concrete details from each poem in your response.

Imagery of caged bird in “Sympathy” Imagery of caged bird in “Caged Bird”

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