25 pages 50 minutes read

William Shakespeare

Sonnet 18

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1609

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Reading Comprehension Questions

1. Which of these is NOT a reason the speaker cites to explain why their beloved is preferable to summer?

A) The summer sun can be too hot.

B) Summer eventually ends.

C)  Summer can be dull.

D) Summer is sometimes unpleasantly windy.

2. Which statement most accurately paraphrases Line 7, “And every fair from fair sometime declines”?

A) Even joyous celebrations conclude.

B) All beauty fades.

C) Nothing is eternal.

D) Every friendship eventually ends.

3. What are the two factors that cause something to lose its beauty?

A) death and random fortune

B) death and the natural course of time

C) random fortune and the end of summer

D) random fortune and the natural course of time

4. According to the speaker, what will death be unable to do?

A) be more beautiful than a summer’s day

B) boast about the presence of the speaker’s beloved in the underworld

C) cause men to go blind or be short of breath in old age

D) dim the brightness of the beloved’s beauty with clouds and shadows

5. What action by the speaker renders their beloved’s beauty immortal? (short answer)

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