Because I Could Not Stop For Death

Which option identifies the correct rhyme scheme in the first stanza of this poem?

• ABCB: second and third lines rhyme

• ABAB: first and third, and second and fourth lines rhyme

• AABB: rhymed couplets

• AABC: first and second lines rhyme

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CCSS.RL.9-10.1

The pronouns he, ourselves, his, and we create a repeated pattern, or motif, that suggests the theme of the poem. To what or whom do the pronouns refer?

• The Horses' Heads and the speaker of the poem

• The children and Death passing by

• The speaker of the poem and Death

• The speaker of the poem and immortality

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CCSS.RL.9-10.1

CCSS.RL.9-10.2

CCSS.RL.9-10.4

Which choice BEST expresses the theme of the poem?

• Death comes according to its own timetable and cannot be rushed.

• No matter how busy people might be, death has a way of finding them.

• Everyone will die someday, so you should try to enjoy your life.

• Death is merely a gentle transition from life to an afterlife.

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CCSS.RL.9-10.2

The first line of "Because I could not stop for Death" is in iambic pentameter and with syllables stressed like this:

Be-cause | I could | not stop | for Death

The effect of iambic pentameter on the line as a whole is that it creates

• a rhythm that is pleasing to the ear

• a foot that is irregular

• a melody with identical vowel sounds

• a beat that sounds like a gallop

Tags

CCSS.RL.9-10.1

Although the meter of "Because I Could Not Stop For Death" is roughly ABCB, this rhythmic pattern is not strictly observed. What is the most likely reason that Dickinson did not adhere 100% to a single meter in this poem?

• Her tendency was to avoid common meters that could lull a reader.

• She was a rebel whose poetry never delivered expected meters.

• She was more interested in experimenting with different meters within a single poem.

• Her primary goal was to make her poem as powerful as possible.

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CCSS.RL.9-10.1

CCSS.RL.9-10.4

CCSS.RL.9-10.5

The denotative, or literal, definition of death is "the end of life." Generally, its connotation - what feeling it suggests - is something negative and even terrifying. What is the connotation of death in this poem?

• friendly and welcoming

• natural, to be respected

• unimaginable, to be evaded

• tolerable under certain circumstances

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CCSS.L.9-10.5

CCSS.RL.9-10.4

Reread the last stanza in the poem. Which word most helps you determine the meaning of Eternity, or unending time?

• surmised

• Day

• Centuries

• shorter

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CCSS.L.9-10.4

CCSS.L.9-10.5

CCSS.RL.9-10.1

CCSS.RL.9-10.4