37 pages • 1 hour read
An Obstacle
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Literary Device Questions
1. What abstract noun does the speaker personify?
A) Business
B) Prejudice
C) Passion
D) Inspiration
2. What does the allusion to Bunker Hill suggest?
A) The mountain is the site of a revolutionary war battle.
B) The obstacle is the ghost of a fallen soldier.
C) The speaker is in a battle her opponent won’t abandon.
D) The petty quarrel distracts the speaker from important tasks.
3. What does the allusion to Solomon suggest?
A) The speaker tries to use wisdom against the foolish obstacle.
B) The speaker tells the obstacle that she is a prophet.
C) The speaker threatens military strength against the obstacle.
D) The speaker plans to colonize the obstacle’s mountain.
4. Why does the speaker see the obstacle if it isn’t really there?
A) She feels the effects of prejudice in her life.
B) The obstacle appears and then vanishes.
C) She is being tested by God.
D) The obstacle exists only in her imagination.
5.What is the effect of the poem’s ABCBDB rhyme scheme?
A) It lets readers know the poem is didactic rather than lyrical.
B) It works against the beauty of the poem.
C) It propels the poem toward its end.
D) It breaks traditional expectations, as does the speaker.
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By Charlotte Perkins Gilman
