Poetry Analysis — Answer Key
Part A: Fill in the Blank
Write the missing word or number on each line.
1. Lines ending in moon, June, star, far follow the AABB rhyme scheme.
Moon-June pair and star-far pair, creating two consecutive rhymed couplets.
2. Lines ending in night, day, light, gray follow the ABAB scheme.
Night-light rhyme alternates with day-gray, fitting ABAB's alternating pattern.
3. 'Her smile was like sunshine' is an example of a simile.
Similes use 'like' or 'as' to compare two unlike things directly to readers.
4. 'Her smile was sunshine' is an example of a metaphor.
Metaphors equate two things directly, claiming one thing simply is another.
5. 'The wind whispered secrets' gives human traits to wind, so it is personification.
Personification gives human qualities to non-human things, making nature feel alive.
6. Saying 'I have told you a million times' is an exaggeration called hyperbole.
Hyperbole exaggerates dramatically for emphasis, never meant to be taken literally.
7. An expression like 'break a leg' that means something different from its words is an idiom.
Idioms carry cultural figurative meanings that differ from the literal word definitions.
8. Empty space between stanzas is called white space, and it shapes a poem visually.
White space signals pauses, separates ideas, and helps poets shape visual rhythm.
9. A group of lines arranged together in a poem is called a stanza.
Stanzas group related lines, organizing a poem's ideas like paragraphs in prose.
Part B: Matching
Match each item on the left to the correct answer on the right.
1. Match each item to its correct answer.
The clock danced across the wall
→ Personification
Personification
Her hair was silk in the breeze
→ Metaphor
Metaphor
Cold as ice, his stare froze me
→ Simile
Simile
I have a thousand things to do
→ Hyperbole
Hyperbole
Each device leaves a fingerprint: personification gives human action, metaphor equates, simile compares with like/as, hyperbole exaggerates.