Quiz

Hope is the Thing with Feathers

Emily Dickinson

1. 1. What central metaphor structures the entire poem?

   Hope is compared to a feather drifting in the windHope is compared to a small bird that lives in the soulHope is compared to a flame that warms the coldHope is compared to a song performed on a stage

2. 2. In the second stanza, what does the phrase 'sweetest in the gale' suggest about hope?

   Hope is most powerful when life is calm and peacefulHope grows louder and more precious during hardshipHope fades gradually as storms become more intenseHope is only audible to those who seek it out

3. 3. What is the rhyme scheme of each four-line stanza in this poem?

   AABBABBAABCBABAB

4. 4. The line 'It asked a crumb of me' employs which literary device?

   Personification, giving hope a human appetite or demandSimile, comparing hope's hunger to a bird's hungerHyperbole, exaggerating how much hope consumesAlliteration, linking words beginning with the same sound

5. 5. What does the speaker ultimately emphasize about hope in the final stanza?

   Hope disappears when circumstances become too extremeHope demands gratitude and sacrifice from those it sustainsHope accompanies people everywhere yet never requires anything in returnHope is loudest in familiar, comfortable surroundings

6. 6. The word 'abash' in the second stanza most nearly means:

   Destroy completely and leave no traceDiscourage, embarrass, or cause to lose confidenceSilence permanently through overwhelming forceRedirect toward a calmer, gentler course

7. 7. Which of the following best describes the poem's tone?

   Melancholic and resignedCelebratory and reverentUrgent and desperateIronic and detached

8. 8. The bird 'sings the tune without the words' most likely means:

   Hope communicates in a language only birds understandHope conveys feeling and meaning beyond what language can expressHope is silent in the most difficult moments of lifeHope repeats the same message until it becomes meaningless

9. 9. Who is the speaker of this poem?

   A grieving person who has lost all hopeAn omniscient narrator describing hope from the outsideA first-person voice sharing personal experience of hopeA bird singing to those who need comfort

10. 10. The phrase 'chillest land / And on the strangest sea' is best understood as representing:

    Specific Arctic regions Dickinson had visited in her travelsThe literal coldest and most remote geographic locations on EarthThe most isolating, unfamiliar, and difficult circumstances in lifeA dream landscape the speaker visits during sleep
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