Uncle Tom's Cabin

The poem suggests that to "master" the art of losing can include all of the following EXCEPT

• to forget about losses

• to lose everything

• to bear up bravely in the face of loss

• to accept loss as inevitable

• to leave important things behind

The parenthetical instruction in the final line, "(Write it!)" can be inferred to address

• the "you" of line 8

• the speaker

• the poet

• the reader

• the "mother" of line 10

Lines 4–9 ("Lose something . . . disaster") suggest that

• practice helps people get better at losing

• traveling is a remedy for loss

• words are easier to lose than things

• losing things is difficult to accept

• losing things is a waste of time

In line 13, "lost" most likely means

• failed to control

• eradicated

• wasted

• misplaced

• left behind

In the final stanza, the speaker is best described as

• brutally honest

• seemingly unemotional

• deeply insensitive

• superficially bothered

• coolly determined

Near the end of the second paragraph, "illustrated" most nearly means

• pictured

• reproduced

• decorated

• exemplified

• explicated

The phrase “with the stars to hold their candles” (second sentence) is used to suggest that the “men” (earlier in the same sentence)

• were too proud to acknowledge a higher power

• lived without the benefit of artificial illumination

• were independent minded and did not ask others for help

• cursed those who suffered under the shackles of civilization

• exploited nature without worrying about the consequences

In the series of comparisons in the first paragraph, “trees and logs" are similar to which of these contained in the same paragraph?

• "heels" (sentence 2)

• "chairs or mantel-pieces" (sentence 2)

• "windows and doors" (sentence 2)

• "winter and summer" (sentence 2)

• "great lungs" (sentence 2)

The narrator accounts for the behavior of present-day Kentuckians by

• explaining that it is a response to a changing environment

• evoking philosophical doctrines of free will

• referencing fate and the power of the stars

• claiming that it has been inherited

• acknowledging the complex influences that caused it

The behavior of the traveller with regard to his “valise and umbrella” (third sentence of paragraph 2) is used as

• an example of the traveller’s fastidious character

• a sign of the traveller’s desire to remain inconspicuous

• an explanation of the traveller’s role in the story

• a warning about the lure of material possessions

• a reminder of the hostile atmosphere in the room