English Quiz - Poetry - Sadie and Maud (Questions)

Gwendolyn Brooks was a twentieth-century African-American poet. Much of her poetry focuses on social, political, class and race issues; many of those poems written in the Sixties provide a commentary on the Civil Rights Movement. Brooks mastered the art of capturing the rhythms of spoken language in her poetry.

Practice your skills of poetry analysis by trying this quiz.

Sadie and Maud

Maud went to college.
Sadie stayed home.
Sadie scraped life
With a fine toothed comb.

She didn't leave a tangle in
Her comb found every strand.
Sadie was one of the livingest chicks
In all the land.

Sadie bore two babies
Under her maiden name.
Maud and Ma and Papa
Nearly died of shame.

When Sadie said her last so-long
Her girls struck out from home.
(Sadie left as heritage
Her fine-toothed comb.)

Maud, who went to college,
Is a thin brown mouse.
She is living all alone
In this old house.

Gwendolyn Brooks

Sadie and Maud are most likely to be...

[ ]	Best friends
[ ]	A mother and daughter
[ ]	Two sisters
[ ]	Unknown to each other

The first two lines of the poem mimic a ...

[ ]	Hymn
[ ]	Nursery rhyme
[ ]	Advertising jingle
[ ]	Ballad

Considering the answer to question two, what effect does this allusion have?

[ ]	It leads the reader to believe that the poem will be solemn
[ ]	It sets up an expectation that the poem will be heavily philosophical
[ ]	It is intended to make the reader think the poem is childish
[ ]	It leads the reader to expect a simple moral

Which word does NOT describe Maud at the beginning of the poem?

[ ]	Lonely
[ ]	Sensible
[ ]	Ambitious
[ ]	Clever

'Sadie scraped life / With a fine toothed comb. / She didn't leave a tangle in / Her comb found every strand.' - What do these lines mean?

[ ]	Sadie is jealous of Maud because Maud has gone to college
[ ]	Sadie is very proud of her heirloom comb
[ ]	Sadie enjoys life to the full
[ ]	Sadie takes pride in her appearance

The poet, Gwendolyn Brooks, uses the comb as ...

[ ]	A simile
[ ]	A metaphor
[ ]	An example of personification
[ ]	A method of foreshadowing

'Sadie bore two babies / Under her maiden name.' - Which of the following is true?

[ ]	Sadie became a single mother
[ ]	Sadie adopted two children
[ ]	Sadie married and left home
[ ]	Sadie married and had two children, but then divorced

The beginning of the poem appears to portray Maud as the one who made wise choices in life. This view is overturned in which stanza?

[ ]	Second stanza
[ ]	Third stanza
[ ]	Fourth stanza
[ ]	Fifth stanza

What has Sadie left as a heritage for her daughters?

[ ]	Her favourite comb
[ ]	Her house
[ ]	Her thirst for life
[ ]	Her regrets

10.

The rhythmic patterns in this poem are not entirely regular, but are predictable. These patterns are sharply disturbed in which stanza?

[ ]	First
[ ]	Third
[ ]	Fourth
[ ]	Fifth

English Quiz - Poetry - Sadie and Maud (Answers)

Sadie and Maud are most likely to be...

[ ]	Best friends
[ ]	A mother and daughter
[x]	Two sisters
[ ]	Unknown to each other

The first two lines of the poem mimic a ...

[ ]	Hymn
[x]	Nursery rhyme
[ ]	Advertising jingle
[ ]	Ballad

The pattern of syllables (5/4/4/5) in the first stanza has a distinctly nursery-rhyme feel, an effect reinforced by its words. Rhyming pairs such as 'mouse / house' create the same impression

Considering the answer to question two, what effect does this allusion have?

[ ]	It leads the reader to believe that the poem will be solemn
[ ]	It sets up an expectation that the poem will be heavily philosophical
[ ]	It is intended to make the reader think the poem is childish
[x]	It leads the reader to expect a simple moral

Which word does NOT describe Maud at the beginning of the poem?

[x]	Lonely
[ ]	Sensible
[ ]	Ambitious
[ ]	Clever

Maud goes to college, as her parents most likely expect of her. This action implies that she is clever and ambitious, while the contrast with Sadie implies that Maud is also more sensible

'Sadie scraped life / With a fine toothed comb. / She didn't leave a tangle in / Her comb found every strand.' - What do these lines mean?

[ ]	Sadie is jealous of Maud because Maud has gone to college
[ ]	Sadie is very proud of her heirloom comb
[x]	Sadie enjoys life to the full
[ ]	Sadie takes pride in her appearance

The words 'fine toothed', 'scraped', 'didn't leave a tangle' and 'found every strand' emphasise Sadie's thoroughness in enjoying everything life has to offer

The poet, Gwendolyn Brooks, uses the comb as ...

[ ]	A simile
[x]	A metaphor
[ ]	An example of personification
[ ]	A method of foreshadowing

'Sadie bore two babies / Under her maiden name.' - Which of the following is true?

[x]	Sadie became a single mother
[ ]	Sadie adopted two children
[ ]	Sadie married and left home
[ ]	Sadie married and had two children, but then divorced

Ma, Papa and Maud don't respond well to Sadie's single motherhood

The beginning of the poem appears to portray Maud as the one who made wise choices in life. This view is overturned in which stanza?

[ ]	Second stanza
[ ]	Third stanza
[ ]	Fourth stanza
[x]	Fifth stanza

Maud is left alone, 'a thin brown mouse'

What has Sadie left as a heritage for her daughters?

[ ]	Her favourite comb
[ ]	Her house
[x]	Her thirst for life
[ ]	Her regrets

10.

The rhythmic patterns in this poem are not entirely regular, but are predictable. These patterns are sharply disturbed in which stanza?

[ ]	First
[x]	Third
[ ]	Fourth
[ ]	Fifth

'Under her maiden name' fits especially awkwardly in the pattern, reminding the reader what a shock the situation was for Sadie's parents