New Orleans

"Nearby is a shop with ivory and knives.

There are red rocks. The man behind the

counter has no idea that he is inside

magic stones. He should find out before

they destroy him. These things

have memory,

you know."

In lines 14–20, the speaker most likely suggests that —

• the shop is filled with materials her ancestors and their conquerors left behind

• buildings and land can retain remembrance of powerful and painful occurrences

• people living in the modern city have no memory of the buildings first built on the land

• the building is constructed of red bricks that were made from the blessed land

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"There are voices buried in the Mississippi mud.

There are ancestors and future children

buried beneath the currents stirred up by

pleasure boats going up and down.

There are stories here made of memory."

Which statement best describes the effect of the figurative language in lines 32–36 of the
poem?

 

 

• it emphasizes the rich history of New Orleans

• it underscores the natural beauty of New Orleans

• it stresses the popularity of New Orleans

• it highlights the rapid growth of New Orleans

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From the poem, the reader can most reasonably infer that the Creek people —

• welcomed DeSoto when he arrived at the city

• inhabit the city in a spiritual way for the speaker

• built many of the buildings the speaker visits

• prevented DeSoto from entering the city

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Which statement best describes what New Orleans means to the speaker?

• New Orleans represents all cities in America founded at the expense of the Creeks and other Native peoples.

•   New Orleans is an example of how a place can overcome a tragic past and become a center
  of wealth.

• New Orleans is the most important city in the history of the European exploration of
  North America.

• New Orleans is a reminder of how greed drove colonial expansion and resulted in tragedy for the Creeks.

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Read lines 66–67 of the poem.

"shops that sell black mammy dolls
holding white babies."

What purpose does this allusion to slavery most likely serve in the poem?

• It reminds readers that the history of New Orleans is too complex to capture
  in one poem.

• It shifts the main focus of the poem from the suffering of the Creeks to the suffering
  of black slaves.

• It criticizes the shop owners in New Orleans who sell the dolls.

• It emphasizes for readers that New Orleans has a negative past for other groups
  as well as for the Creeks.

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"My spirit comes here to drink.

My spirit comes here to drink."

The speaker’s use of repetition in lines 29–30 emphasizes —

• the notion that the river will continue to flow from New Orleans long after she and
  others are gone

• the illusion the speaker hangs on to about her own history and that of DeSoto

• the idea that the river and New Orleans are a mystical starting point to understanding
  her history

• the understanding that the Creek people still have a legal claim to the city and river

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Which statement best explains why the speaker names famous New Orleans streets and landmarks in the poem?

• She wants to show she is reliable by demonstrating a thorough knowledge of the city.

• She wants to show how important these places are to readers who may never get to visit New Orleans.

• She wants to tell the reader the exact locations in the city where the historical events described took place.

• She wants to help the reader contrast images of modern New Orleans with the violent history she is describing.

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The speaker’s use of words such as destroy and buried contributes to an overall mood that is best described as —

• oppressive

• uplifting

• haunting

• wondrous     

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Which statement best describes a central theme of the poem?

• Individuals who devote a lot of time to understanding a culture’s past become
  paralyzed by it.

• Learning about a culture’s past can shape the individual’s experience of the present.

• Cities provide insight into the shared history of the location where they were built.

• Historical figures are rarely as important as people make them out to be.

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Which quote from the poem most contributes to the theme that individuals connect to
the tragedies of the past by feeling a sense of loss in the present?

• There are ancestors and future children / buried beneath the currents stirred up by / pleasure boats going up and down. (lines 33–35)

• Nearby is a shop with ivory and knives. / There are red rocks. The man behind the / counter has no idea that he is inside / magic stones. . . . (lines 14–17)

• And knew he was one of the ones who yearned / for something his heart wasn’t big enough / to handle. (lines 47–49)

• The Creeks knew it, and drowned him in / the Mississippi River / so he wouldn’t have to
  drown himself. (lines 55–57)

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