"Pumpkin Farm, Half Moon Bay"

The description of the children’s activity in lines 11-23 most clearly functions as a

Responses

• contrast of unruliness with the precision of the speaker’s companion

• digression from dull idleness to colorful activity

• transition to the speaker’s own unique perspective

• juxtaposition of innocent childhood and adult maturity

• sign of separation between the speaker and the companion

Answer explanation

Answer A:

Correct. Lines 11-23 present a scene of chaos, which contrasts with the speaker’s description of the companion’s keen ability to “minimize destruction” (line 8) and “cut into” (line 34) chaos in the same successfully meticulous manner that Virgil’s Aeneas cut through the fire.

Tags

CCSS.RI. 9-10.1

CCSS.RI.11-12.1

CCSS.RL.11-12.2

CCSS.RL.8.1

CCSS.RL.9-10.2

In lines 34-35, the speaker’s use of the words “cut” and “cutting” most clearly suggests a similarity between the

• clearing of land and the healing of a disease

• action of a scalpel and the movement of a ship

• end of a human life and the end of a fictional story

• fate of the pumpkins and the challenges faced by a hero

• difficulty of surgery and the progress of the wheelbarrow

Answer explanation

Answer B:

Correct. In line 34, the word “cut” refers to the literal cutting of the scalpel through flesh—what the surgeon addressed in the passage has “learned to cut into.” In line 35, “cutting” also has a literal meaning, that of a boat’s swift movement through water. By using the two meanings of the word in the same sentence, the speaker strengthens the association between surgeon and sailor and emphasizes the similarity of the movement of scalpel and ship.

Tags

CCSS.RL.11-12.8

CCSS.RL.8.4

CCSS.RL.9-10.10

CCSS.RL.9-10.9

CCSS.RL.8.10

The speaker’s use of imagery when describing the corn vines in lines 4 and 5 appeals to both

• touch and smell

• smell and hearing

• hearing and sight

• sight and touch

• taste and hearing

Answer explanation

Answer C:

Correct. The vines are described as “brown curls,” appealing to sight, and “rasping like metal files against the cotton weave,” appealing to hearing.

Tags

CCSS.RL.11-12.8

CCSS.RL.8.4

CCSS.RL.9-10.10

CCSS.RL.9-10.9

CCSS.RL.8.5

The allusion to Virgil’s Aeneas in lines 35-39 links the speaker’s companion to the mythical hero through their shared

• nautical adventures

• destructive tendencies

• fixed dedication

• courageous spirit

• hardy romanticism

Answer explanation

Answer C:

Correct. The speaker describes the companion as being able to cut through the “unruly mess of tissues, organs, shapes” (lines 32-33) with the same dedication and precision that Virgil’s Aeneas has as he moves “through waves blown red and black by a cold wind” (lines 35-36).

Tags

CCSS.RL.11-12.8

CCSS.RL.8.4

CCSS.RL.9-10.10

CCSS.RL.9-10.9

CCSS.RL.8.5

The description in lines 40-41 (“In your . . . hands”) is one of a series of comparisons throughout the poem between

• the land and the sea

• meditation and action

• seafaring and surgery

• fiction and reality

• planning and execution

Answer explanation

Answer C:

Correct. The “sutures” (line 41) indicate a surgical “procedure” (line 40), while the “yards” (line 41) and “rigging” (line 41) suggest a seafaring adventure. This combination of seafaring and surgery imagery surfaces throughout the poem, beginning in the first line when the companion is compared with a sailor.

Tags

CCSS.RI. 9-10.7

CCSS.RI.11-12.7

CCSS.RL.11-12.7

CCSS.RL.8.7

CCSS.RL.9-10.7

In the poem, the speaker’s approach to her world is best described as

• analytical

• abashed

• aggressive

• aloof

• apprehensive

Answer explanation

Answer A:

Correct. Throughout the poem, the speaker analyzes how she and her companion approach and respond to a chaotic environment.

Tags

CCSS.RL.11-12.8

CCSS.RL.8.4

CCSS.RL.9-10.10

CCSS.RL.9-10.9

CCSS.RL.8.10

Which of the following statements might be considered a valid interpretation of the speaker’s perspective throughout the poem?

• She understands that relationships must navigate pitfalls along the route.

• She continues to imagine her companion’s innate thoughts even though she may be wrong.

• She experiences how adults lose touch with the merriment of childhood.

• She identifies her companion’s distraction as the cause of her loneliness and despair.

• She accepts that seasonal changes mirror shifting human emotions.

Answer explanation

Answer B:

Correct. The poem begins with the speaker imagining her companion’s innate qualities, but in lines 25-28, the speaker also admits that imagining others’ passions is her weakness and she knows that she gets them wrong, and yet by the end of the poem, she is right back where she started, imagining what her companion is thinking.

Tags

CCSS.RL.11-12.8

CCSS.RL.8.4

CCSS.RL.9-10.10

CCSS.RL.9-10.9

CCSS.RL.8.10