Mr. Flood's Party

Which historical event and its horrors did modernism react to?

• World War I

• World War II

• Vietnam War

• Korean War

Modernist poetry broke traditions in works that did all of the following except:

• Experimented with language, symbolism, and imagery

• Challenged rules about point of view, rhyme scheme, meter, and capitalization

• Focused on the poem’s appearance on the page as a form of self-expression

• Addressed subjects and ideas that had been explored in poetry for centuries.

While Mr. Flood is not heroic in the typical sense and does nothing admirable during the poem’s action, Robinson’s description of Mr. Flood is nevertheless filled with pathos, which means_______________________________.

• the poem is filled with language and descriptions which arouse emotion, usually pity and sympathy, from the reader.

• the poem is filled with nonsensical events that make the reader laugh at Mr. Flood’s expense.

• the poem gives vivid sensory details that make the reader feel like they are a part of the story.

• the poem is tedious and drawn out with details that don’t influence the reader at all.

The feelings of loss that pervade "Mr. Flood's Party" are common in _______________ poetry, which is often tinged with diminished expectations.

• Romantic

• Modernist

• Gothic

• Colonial

What feelings in Mr. Flood does Robinson highlight through the allusion to "Auld Lang Syne"?

• Mr. Flood's pain and suffering.

• Mr. Flood's busy and fulfilling life.

• Mr. Flood's melancholy or sadness for the happiness he once shared with old friends, now gone.

• Mr. Flood is exhibiting characteristics of dementia

What does looking over Tilsbury town represent in "Mr. Flood's Party"?

• a great place to live for young families

• a bustling city that is loud and distant

• physical and emotional separation from the life below

• A sense of community in which all townsfolk belong

What is an allusion?

• A dream, something not real.

• A previous held belief.

• An indirect reference to some piece of knowledge not actually mentioned.

• Something in poetry, but nothing important.

What is one theme of the poem, "Mr. Flood's Party"?

• Happiness - He is happy to be near the end of his life.

• Extreme confidence - He is confident that he will finish the drink he has. Everyone should always drink everything they are given.

• Loneliness - Because he is an old man, he is lonely and has no more friends, but they are all dead and gone.

• Courage - He has courage as he faces his journey to the end of his life with no friends.

Read the lines from the poem "Mr. Flood's Party" below:

Alone, as if enduring to the end

A valiant armor of scarred hopes outworn,

He stood there in the middle of the road

Like Roland’s ghost winding a silent horn.

Below him, in the town among the trees,

Where friends of other days had honored him,

A phantom salutation of the dead

Rang thinly till old Eben’s eyes were dim.

Which words and language show Mr. Flood's old age and fragility--and help build the reader's sympathy?

• "Roland's ghost" and "winding"

• "below him" and "town among the trees"

• "valiant armor" and "phantom"

• "alone," "outworn," and "enduring to the end"

Modernist writing creates a new kind of hero very different from the central figures of Romantic literature.

• True

• False