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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. On page 23 of "Run'n'Gun," the speaker says, "we became coyotes and rivers." What technique is being used in this line?

2. What does the opening of "Postcolonial Love Poem" claim that moonstones can do?

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

4. In "Run'n'Gun," what is the rhetorical purpose of the description of the Indian children's shoes and socks?

5. In "Blood-Light," what is described in the page 5 image "yellow metallic scissors"?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the speaker's argument for her hands as "gods" in "These Hands, If Not Gods"?

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

3. To whom is the speaker alluding in the third strophe of "These Hands, If Not Gods," when she mentions "a sin worth hurting for" (7), and how does the reader know this?

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

5. In "Run'n'Gun," what life lessons does the speaker learn from playing basketball?

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

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

8. In "Like Church," what is the literal claim about the speaker's window and what is its figurative significance?

9. In "Run'n'Gun," what impresses the speaker about Clyde's basketball playing?

10. In "Ink-Light," how are colors used to shift the poem's tone?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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.

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay that analyzes Diaz's use of both high- and low-cultural references in Postcolonial Love Song. Use textual evidence from at least five separate poems as support for your claims.

Essay Topic 3

Write an analysis of the function of scientific terms in the diction of Diaz's poetry. You may choose to focus your analysis on one poem or on several; be sure to use quoted evidence in support of your claims.

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