Without Title

How does the setting illustrate the conflict in the poem?

• The setting of the city illustrates how the father’s life is in conflict with his culture, which is rooted in the natural world.

• The setting alternates between the city and the hunting grounds, illustrating how the father never adapted to either environment.

• The setting of the hunting grounds illustrates how the father lost his spiritual connection to the buffalo after their extinction.

What idea is developed by the imagery in the lines “in the night I heard / his buffalo grunts like a snore”?

• The father cannot sleep peacefully in the city.

• The father’s true self is with his native culture.

• The man’s family is disturbed by his refusal to let go of the past.

The most likely reason the poet wrote this poem is to —

• describe her father and how he lives

• inform people about Native traditions

• honor her father and his traditions

• ensure Native traditions are preserved

Reread line 18.

"I remember the silence of his lost power,"

This line suggests that the speaker —

• thinks her father is weak

• understands the depth of her father’s loss

• lacks respect for her father

• remembers her father as not speaking much

Which item is a symbol of the father’s traditional culture?

• Stockyards

• Car aerial

• Bow string

• Packing house

How does the tone of the poem reflect a theme?

• The hopeful tone reflects how the speaker observes the ways in which her father has adjusted to his new life in the city.

• The sad tone reflects how the speaker observes the ways in which her father experiences the loss of his culture and authority.

• The angry tone reflects how the speaker observes the deteriorating relationship between her mother and father.

What does the poem reveal about the father? 

• His day-to-day life has been stripped of cultural significance.

• He enjoys city life but wishes he had made different choices.

• He worries that he is unable to provide for his family.

• He adopts a life that is simple but fulfilling.

    This poem refers to two settings, a modern American city and the father’s culture of origin. What is the poet’s purpose in contrasting these two settings? Cite evidence from the poem to support your answer.