Mending Wall

The speaker most likely views "a wall" as

• something that is necessary to preserve boundaries between people who might not agree on issues
• an often unnecessary separation of people based primarily on archaic beliefs
• a man-made evil that destroys the symmetry and beauty of the natural landscape
• preservation of all that is good in life and a deterrent to those who would invade or destroy that goodness

Select the correct description of the characters in the poem:

• The neighbor has an apple orchard on his property, and the speaker has pine trees on his property

• The neighbor questions the necessity of the fence, but the speaker believes that fences are important

• The speaker wants the other to be more open-minded, but the neighbor adheres to his father’s beliefs

• The speaker is a conservative, and the neighbor is a conservative

What is the effect of the speaker comparing the wall-mending to an "out-door game" (line 21)?

• It shows how much he enjoys it
• It shows that the two neighbors are in opposition
• It shows how complicated the practice of wall-mending is
• HE NEVER SAID THAT! YOU'RE LYING!

Which of the following reasons does the narrator provide for why walls are practical?

• When you don't like your neighbor
• When you don't have neighbors
• When you have cows
• They're always practical

What is ironic about the wall-mending tradition?

• The same thing that brings the neighbors together also separates them
• The wall is made of ancient rocks but it's essentially renewed each year
• They know the wall will be broken again next year but they fix it anyway
• Neither of them actually like doing it

The speaker primarily wants his neighbor to

• think for himself and dare to question received and inherited attitudes
• realize that it is senseless to work on repairing a wall between orchards
• admit that good fences do not make good neighbors
• be a better neighbor and act more kindly in the future

What is most likely the author’s intent in using the underlined words to describe boulders?

"And some are loaves and some so nearly balls

We have to use a spell to make them balance"

• A. To imply that the boulders are eaten by some animals

• B. To indicate that the boulders are different shapes and sizes

• C. To explain that some boulders are hard and some are soft

• D. To show that the neighbors use other objects when they run out of rocks

With which of the following statements would the speaker most likely agree?

• A. Good fences make good neighbors

• B. Some people don’t consider the implications of what they’ve been taught

• C. Walls must be well-constructed in order to work.

• D. It’s important to live next door to people from a similar background.