GCSE 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

1. Sadie and Maud are most likely to be... 2. The first two lines of the poem mimic a ...
[ ] Best friends [ ] Hymn
[ ] A mother and daughter [ ] Nursery rhyme
[ ] Two sisters [ ] Advertising jingle
[ ] Unknown to each other [ ] Ballad

3. Considering the answer to question two, what effect 4. Which word does NOT describe Maud at the
does this allusion have? beginning of the poem?
[ ] It leads the reader to believe that the [ ] Lonely
poem will be solemn [ ] Sensible
[ ] It sets up an expectation that the poem [ ] Ambitious
will be heavily philosophical [ ] Clever
[ ] It is intended to make the reader think
the poem is childish
[ ] It leads the reader to expect a simple
moral

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5. 'Sadie scraped life / With a fine toothed comb. / She 6. The poet, Gwendolyn Brooks, uses the comb as ...
didn't leave a tangle in / Her comb found every [ ] A simile
strand.' - What do these lines mean? [ ] A metaphor
[ ] Sadie is jealous of Maud because Maud [ ] An example of personification
has gone to college [ ] A method of foreshadowing
[ ] Sadie is very proud of her heirloom
comb
[ ] Sadie enjoys life to the full
[ ] Sadie takes pride in her appearance

7. 'Sadie bore two babies / Under her maiden name.' - 8. The beginning of the poem appears to portray Maud
Which of the following is true? as the one who made wise choices in life. This view
[ ] Sadie became a single mother is overturned in which stanza?
[ ] Sadie adopted two children [ ] Second stanza
[ ] Sadie married and left home [ ] Third stanza
[ ] Sadie married and had two children, but [ ] Fourth stanza
then divorced [ ] Fifth stanza

9. What has Sadie left as a heritage for her daughters? 10. The rhythmic patterns in this poem are not entirely
[ ] Her favourite comb regular, but are predictable. These patterns are
[ ] Her house sharply disturbed in which stanza?
[ ] Her thirst for life [ ] First
[ ] Her regrets [ ] Third
[ ] Fourth
[ ] Fifth

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GCSE English Quiz - Poetry - Sadie and Maud (Answers)
1. Sadie and Maud are most likely to be... 2. The first two lines of the poem mimic a ...
[ ] Best friends [ ] Hymn
[ ] A mother and daughter [ x ] Nursery rhyme
[ x ] Two sisters [ ] Advertising jingle
[ ] Unknown to each other [ ] 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

3. Considering the answer to question two, what effect 4. Which word does NOT describe Maud at the
does this allusion have? beginning of the poem?
[ ] It leads the reader to believe that the [ x ] Lonely
poem will be solemn [ ] Sensible
[ ] It sets up an expectation that the poem [ ] Ambitious
will be heavily philosophical [ ] Clever
[ ] It is intended to make the reader think Maud goes to college, as her parents most likely expect of
the poem is childish her. This action implies that she is clever and ambitious,
[ x ] It leads the reader to expect a simple while the contrast with Sadie implies that Maud is also more
moral sensible

5. 'Sadie scraped life / With a fine toothed comb. / She 6. The poet, Gwendolyn Brooks, uses the comb as ...
didn't leave a tangle in / Her comb found every [ ] A simile
strand.' - What do these lines mean? [ x ] A metaphor
[ ] Sadie is jealous of Maud because Maud [ ] An example of personification
has gone to college [ ] A method of foreshadowing
[ ] 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

7. 'Sadie bore two babies / Under her maiden name.' - 8. The beginning of the poem appears to portray Maud
Which of the following is true? as the one who made wise choices in life. This view
[ x ] Sadie became a single mother is overturned in which stanza?
[ ] Sadie adopted two children [ ] Second stanza
[ ] Sadie married and left home [ ] Third stanza
[ ] Sadie married and had two children, but [ ] Fourth stanza
then divorced [ x ] Fifth stanza
Ma, Papa and Maud don't respond well to Sadie's single Maud is left alone, 'a thin brown mouse'
motherhood

9. What has Sadie left as a heritage for her daughters? 10. The rhythmic patterns in this poem are not entirely
[ ] Her favourite comb regular, but are predictable. These patterns are
[ ] Her house sharply disturbed in which stanza?
[ x ] Her thirst for life [ ] First
[ ] Her regrets [ 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

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