This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Section 4: "Ode to the Beloved's Hips" through "The First Water Is the Body".

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In "Ode to the Beloved's Hips," why are pears, apples, and figs specifically mentioned?
(a) These are the fruits grown in the Garden of Eden.
(b) These are fruits commonly used as symbols of the female form.
(c) This refers back to the earlier allusion to Alcinous.
(d) This is an allusion to a 20th century American pop song.

2. On page 9 of "Catching Copper," how do the brothers walk their bullet?
(a) "Like a bee."
(b) "Like a date."
(c) "With a moan."
(d) "With a limp."

3. In "Like Church," what does the speaker compare her relationship with the church to?
(a) Her intimate relationship with a White lover.
(b) Her relationship with her family.
(c) The work required to tend a garden successfully.
(d) America's history of oppression.

4. What does the title "Catching Copper" literally refer to?
(a) Getting shot.
(b) Capturing an escaped dog.
(c) Working in a mine.
(d) Playing a game with pennies.

5. In "These Hands, If Not Gods," what is being referred to by the phrase "these two potters" (7)?
(a) Prometheus and Hecatonchire.
(b) The speaker's hands.
(c) The Mojave gods who created humans.
(d) The speaker and the beloved.

Short Answer Questions

1. What technique is used in the "American Arithmetic" lines, "I do not remember the days before America--/ I do not remember the days when we were all here" (17)?

2. In "Wolf OR-7," what is the "trembling blue line" (32)?

3. In "That Which Cannot Be Stilled," what American poet's death is mentioned?

4. In "These Hands, If Not Gods," which religion's god is alluded to in the line "didn't you sing out their ninety-nine names?" (8)?

5. In "Run'n'Gun," what is a logical interpretation of the symbolic value of the fence outside the schoolyard?

(see the answer key)

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