Unit 2 Poetry Review

To worship or destroy beauty—
That double edge of impulse
I recognize, by which we live;
But also the bitter paradox
Of betraying love to harm,
Then lungeing, too late,
With fists, to its defence.

In this excerpt from "The Fight," the author describes himself as "betraying love to harm" because he

• 
  is confused about his own angry impulses.

• feels guilty for choosing to fight his classmate.

• realizes too late that he wants to protect the eggs.

• exposes the eggs to the violence of his classmate.

Answer explanation

1. This is the best answer. The speaker accidentally betrays the eggs by telling his classmate about them which exposes them to destruction.

Tags

CCSS.RL.8.10

CCSS.RL.8.4

CCSS.RL.8.5

CCSS.RL.9-10.10

CCSS.RL.9-10.9

When I found the swallow’s
Nest under the bridge—
Ankle-deep in the bog stream,
Traffic drumming overhead—
I was so pleased, I ran
To fetch a school companion

What is the impact of the author's use of dashes in the excerpt?

• 
  The dashes signal an afterthought, allowing the author to explain what led to the event.

• The dashes encourage the reader to review the previous line a second time before continuing. 

• The dashes create a break, allowing the author to include vivid details about the setting.

• 
  The dashes connect the ideas from the previous lines to the following lines.

Answer explanation

1. This is the best answer. The author's use of dashes interrupt, or break from, the event of finding the nest. In this way, the author is able to incorporate vivid details describing the setting. 

Tags

CCSS.RL.8.10

CCSS.RL.8.4

CCSS.RL.8.5

CCSS.RL.9-10.10

CCSS.RL.9-10.9

I still remember her 20^th birthday
readily recall my awestruck eleven-year old eyes
as I watched Deaf men and women of all ages
dance in unison to the vibrations
of speakers booming so loud
that I imagined angels chastising us
for disturbing their worship
with such beautiful blasphemy
until you have seen
a Deaf girl dance
you know nothing of passion.

In this excerpt from "Tamara's Opus," how does the narrator's perspective change?

• 
  He begins to understand that his sister is deaf.

• He realizes his sister's difference makes her remarkable.

• He comes to enjoy hearing music played loudly.

• 
  He discovers he's jealous of his sister's passion.

Answer explanation

1. This is the best answer. The speaker is "awestruck" and finds exceptional beauty in the way that his Deaf sister dances to loud music.

Tags

CCSS.RL.6.3

CCSS.RL.6.6

CCSS.RL.7.6

CCSS.RL.8.6

CCSS.RL.9-10.3

Two households, both alike in dignity
(In fair Verona, where we lay our scene),
From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,
Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.

In context, which choice best describes the connotative meaning of "unclean"?

• dishonest

• guilty

• dirty

• 
  forbidden

Answer explanation

1. This is the best answer. The feuding and bloodshed between families in Verona implies that the citizens are morally wrong or guilty of crimes.

Tags

CCSS.RL.8.10

CCSS.RL.8.4

CCSS.RL.8.5

CCSS.RL.9-10.10

CCSS.RL.9-10.9

Some -
thus not all. Not even the majority of all but the minority.
Not counting schools, where one has to,
and the poets themselves,
there might be two people per thousand.

Like -
but one also likes chicken soup with noodles,
one likes compliments and the color blue,
one likes an old scarf,
one likes having the upper hand,
one likes stroking a dog.

Poetry -
but what is poetry.
Many shaky answers
have been given to this question.
But I don’t know and don’t know and hold on to it
like to a sustaining railing.

Which choice best describes the effect of the shortened lines at the beginning of each stanza?

• They contain words with connotations that change the tone of the poem.

• They force the reader to think about the use of sound in the poem.

• They explicitly state the theme of the poem in only a few words.

• 
  They signal shifts in the speaker's focus in the lines that follow.

Answer explanation

1. This is the best answer. These words serve to shift each new stanza into a different focus. 

Tags

CCSS.RL.8.10

CCSS.RL.8.4

CCSS.RL.8.5

CCSS.RL.9-10.10

CCSS.RL.9-10.9

I know that I shall meet my fate
Somewhere among the clouds above;
Those that I fight I do not hate,
Those that I guard I do not love;
My country is Kiltartan Cross,
My countrymen Kiltartan’s poor,
No likely end could bring them loss
Or leave them happier than before.
Nor law, nor duty bade me fight,
Nor public man, nor cheering crowds,
A lonely impulse of delight
Drove to this tumult in the clouds;
I balanced all, brought all to mind,
The years to come seemed waste of breath,
A waste of breath the years behind
In balance with this life, this death.

With which statement would the author most likely agree?

• Adventure can be found in unlikely places.

• Dreams are worth pursuing at any cost.

• 
  A war's outcome makes no difference.

• Life is precious and should not be wasted.

Answer explanation

1. This is the best answer. Yeats says about the war, "No likely end could bring them loss / Or leave them happier than before." This illustrates the idea that any outcome of war will make no difference in the end.

Tags

CCSS.RL.8.10

CCSS.RL.8.4

CCSS.RL.8.5

CCSS.RL.9-10.10

CCSS.RL.9-10.9

Those that I fight I do not hate,
Those that I guard I do not love;

In this excerpt from "An Irishman Foresees His Death,"

the speaker expresses conflicting feelings that evoke a sense of

• indifference.

• aggression. 

• • 
    

    fear.

• • 
    

    uncertainty.

Answer explanation

1. This is the best answer. The speaker does not feel strong emotion toward those he guards or those he fights. 

Tags

CCSS.RL.8.10

CCSS.RL.8.4

CCSS.RL.8.5

CCSS.RL.9-10.10

CCSS.RL.9-10.9

I traveled to the ocean
                              distant
                                           from my southwest land of sandrock
                                           to the moving blue water
                              Big as the myth of origin.

Pale
pale water in the yellow-white light of
                                                        sun floating west
                                                                                  to China
                              where ocean herself was born.
Clouds that blow across the sand are wet.

Which choice best describes how the prosody of the excerpt from "Prayer to the Pacific" helps the poet achieve her purpose? 

• The repetition of key sounds and words, such as "pale," emphasizes the poet's feelings of emptiness.

• The irregular pattern of the excerpt reflects the dynamic, flowing nature of the ocean.

• The regular pattern in the excerpt suggests the constant nature of the land and ocean.

• 
  The stress on key words, such as "distant," emphasizes the poet's want to feel connected to her origins.

Answer explanation

his is the best answer. This correctly describes the prosody of the excerpt and what the author achieves by using an irregular pattern.

Tags

CCSS.RL.8.10

CCSS.RL.8.4

CCSS.RL.8.5

CCSS.RL.9-10.10

CCSS.RL.9-10.9

Which two lines most contribute to the somber tone of the poem "Sestina" by Elizabeth Bishop?

• In the failing light, the old grandmother . . . 

• . . . laughing and talking to hide her tears.

• With crayons the child draws a rigid house . . . 

• . . . and shows it proudly to the grandmother.

• The grandmother sings to the marvelous stove . . . 

Answer explanation

1. The words "failing light" suggest a darkness or sadness that contributes to the tone of the poem.

2. The words "hide her tears" reveal the grandmother's sadness, contributing to the somber tone of the poem.

Tags

CCSS.RL.8.10

CCSS.RL.8.4

CCSS.RL.8.5

CCSS.RL.9-10.10

CCSS.RL.9-10.9

In the poem “Bilingual/Bilingüe,” the poet uses rhyming couplets to show that her father's fear that bilingualism would divide them was unfounded.

Which text evidence best supports this thesis statement? 

• 
  My father liked them separate, one there,
  one here (allá y aquí), as if aware

• that words might cut in two his daughter’s heart
  (el corazón) and lock the alien part

• 
  and stubborn (testaruda); late, in bed,
  I hoarded secret syllables I read

• 
  until my tongue (mi lengua) learned to run
  where his stumbled. And still the heart was one.

Answer explanation

The couplet demonstrates the coupling of English and Spanish and expresses the poet's realization that her bilingualism did not divide her heart.

Tags

CCSS.RL.8.10

CCSS.RL.8.4

CCSS.RL.8.5

CCSS.RL.9-10.10

CCSS.RL.9-10.9