View a FREE sample

This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In "Reasons for Staying," mercy is small, but what is smaller?
(a) The earth.
(b) The moon.
(c) The sun.
(d) The stars.

2. In "Not Even," what does the speaker say a morgue can also be?
(a) A church.
(b) A community center.
(c) An omen.
(d) A library.

3. In "Tell Me Something Good," what does the speaker want his younger self to know?
(a) You are charming.
(b) You are worthless.
(c) You can be nothing and still breathing.
(d) You have a future abroad.

4. In "Amazon History of a Former Nail Salon Worker," what is the first indication that the worker is undergoing cancer treatment?
(a) A book about chemo.
(b) Chemo injection syringes.
(c) Chemo anti-nausea medication.
(d) "Chemo-glam cotton headscarf."

5. Where does the speaker say he will not dance alone in "Not Even"?
(a) The club.
(b) The homestead.
(c) The rally.
(d) The municipal graveyard at midnight.

6. In "No One Knows the Way to Heaven," where does the speaker see his own reflection?
(a) A cup of coffee.
(b) The sky.
(c) The lake.
(d) The window.

7. In "Nothing," what do the speaker and his partner do together?
(a) Shovel snow.
(b) Go to church.
(c) Dance.
(d) Sing.

8. In "Not Even," what does the speaker "throw himself" into?
(a) Gravity.
(b) Pain.
(c) His job.
(d) Helplessness.

9. In "Ars Poetica as the Maker," what book of the Bible does Vuong quote from?
(a) Genesis.
(b) Aftermath.
(c) Corinthians.
(d) Revelations.

10. In "Not Even," what does the speaker want to say to his mother as her body bag is zipped?
(a) Get out of there.
(b) Finally.
(c) Godspeed.
(d) You won.

11. In "Künstlerroman," what is the street the speaker's car crashed on?
(a) Risley Road.
(b) Firefly Road.
(c) Helsom Road.
(d) Main Road.

12. In "Ars Poetica as the Maker," what does the speaker gather fistfuls of?
(a) Leaves.
(b) Paints.
(c) Heather.
(d) Ash.

13. In "Künstlerroman," what are the lover's clothes returned to them like?
(a) Crumpled laws.
(b) Shame.
(c) Rags.
(d) Glory.

14. In "Not Even," what does the speaker remember seeing from an Amtrak train in Iowa?
(a) A man standing still in a field.
(b) An explosion.
(c) A cow.
(d) A rainbow.

15. In "Künstlerroman," what does the speaker do with the movie once it ends?
(a) Asks his mother to watch it with him.
(b) Throws it away.
(c) Reviews it.
(d) Watches it backwards.

Short Answer Questions

1. In "Nothing," what do ghosts who are family say?

2. In "Reasons for Staying," where do the speaker's best words come from?

3. In "Künstlerroman," what does the speaker compare cigarettes in the dark to?

4. In "Reasons for Staying," what sounds "like footsteps" when you play it?

5. Who is "Toy Boat" written for?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 447 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample