EOC Passage: Public Private Tree

What can the reader infer from the second line of the poem? "At least two hundred times he had orbited the sun."

• The tree's branches stretch as high as the sun. 
• The tree is very old.
• The tree is too dangerous for anyone to climb on anymore. 
• The tree is no longer in the park. 

Read this line from stanza 2 of the poem. ---  " His mighty roots entangled in the soil with serpentine and steadfast grip." ---- What type of literary device does the author use in the line above? 

•   irony, emphasizing the opposite of the speaker’s feelings
• tone, expressing the speaker’s attitude toward the subject
• alliteration, repeating an initial consonant sound for emphasis

Read this sentence from stanza 2 of the poem. ---- " His sturdy barrel-chested trunk was Herculean-strong."  ---- What type of literary device does the author use in the sentence above?

•  allusion, evoking a comparison with a mythological figure
• onomatopoeia, using a word that sounds like its meaning
• irony, expressing a contrast to the speaker’s real friends
• satire, emphasizing the speaker’s attitude toward the park workers

Which statement best conveys the resolution in the poem “The Public Private Tree”?

• The speaker forgives the workers who will cut down the tree.
• The speaker realizes that the tree will live on in its offspring.
• The speaker knows that the tree will live forever in her memory.
• The speaker hopes that the next generation of trees will bring a new friend.

According to the poem, what is the main reason the tree soon will be removed from the park?

• The tree is covered in graffiti.
•   The tree’s appearance is unsightly.
• The tree is too weak to support itself.
•   The tree’s area is needed for a playground.

Click on the words from “The Public Private Tree” that show the author’s use of alliteration ----  I’d left my mark on him the way he’d left his mark on me.

• mark on me 
• I'd left my 
• the way he'd 
• on him the way

Read these lines from stanza 5 of the poem. ---- And so I went to pay respects and say goodbye to him Who grew along with me throughout my sixteen years.  ---- What literary device does the author use in the lines above?

• pun, playing on the meaning of the word “grew”
• personification, portraying the tree as a friend who died
• hyperbole, exaggerating the importance of saying goodbye
• symbolism, representing the life of the tree as the end of an era

Which lines from the poem emphasize how the tree has changed?

• “When I was very young, he was already very old-/ At least two hundred times he’d orbited the sun.”
• “A shocking cleave of fire exposed uncounted rings of time/ Within the circles of his unseen wooden soul.”
• “I searched until I found the secret place along his patient and forbearing bark/ Where foolishly I’d carved the small initials of a smaller me.”
• “The oak that had withstood unflinchingly two centuries of storms/ Now swayed and teetered feebly at the impulse of the wind.”

Which line from the poem best summarizes the speaker’s relationship with the tree?

• “His mighty branches often held me safe above a dollhouse world below.”
• “He grew along with me throughout my sixteen years.”
• “I’d left my mark on him the way he’d left his mark on me.”
• “I feared a moment standing there beneath, an errant limb would fall.”

1.   Read this line from the poem. "I hardly could believe the news that lightning had eviscerated him."         What does the word EVISCERATED mean as used in the line above?

•   cut the branches off
• darkened the wood
• removed the interior from
• burned from top to bottom