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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. In "The Mustangs," what is the mother talking about when she mentions "slingshots" (35)?

2. What is significant about the star Antares in "Blood-Light"?

3. In "From the Desire Field," what does the line "verde, te quiero verde" literally translate to (12)?

4. In "Like Church," the speaker uses the Spanish term of endearment "Mi caracol" (29). What is the literal translation of this expression?

5. In "Ink-Light," the speaker mentions "the ramus" of which of the beloved's body parts?

Short Essay Questions

1. In "Wolf OR-7," what is significant about the wolf in the poem's title?

2. In "Skin-Light," what is the "work of all good yokes" (22)?

3. In "Blood-Light," what do the scorpions represent, and how does the reader know this?

4. In "They Don't Love You Like I Love You," why does the speaker mention Beyoncé and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs?

5. What relationship exists between the title "Postcolonial Love Poem" and the line, "I learned Drink in a country of drought" (1)?

6. Explain the conceit introduced by the line, "I know another name for holy is water" in "Asterion's Lament" (27).

7. In "From the Desire Field," what seems to make the speaker feel better, and to what does she point as a possible, eventual cure for her sleeplessness?

8. Explain the central conceit in the poem "Catching Copper."

9. In "Manhattan Is a Lenape Word," what dark joke does the speaker make about reparations?

10. What is a literal summary of the action of "Blood-Light"?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay in which you make and defend a claim about contradictions in Postcolonial Love Poem. What paradoxical or contradictory situations does Diaz's work comment on? Does Diaz seem comfortable or uncomfortable with these contradictions? What literary devices does she use to communicate them? Use textual evidence from at least five poems in defense of your ideas.

Essay Topic 2

Choose a poem we did not specifically discuss in class. Write an explication of this poem, explaining how its techniques create its meaning. At least some of your evidence should be quoted, and if you require outside sources to understand allusions, etc., be sure to cite your sources in MLA format.

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay that takes and defends a position about the use of religious language, iconography, and concepts in Postcolonial Love Poem. Use textual evidence from at least five separate poems to support your claims.

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