1. How is love described as pain, when singing "Wade in the Water"?
(a) Allowing one to feel what it was to run away, being chased by dogs and guns, and so many not surviving the escape.
(b) Feeling the pain of those who were forced to wade in the water.
(c) Having to take a bath when you would rather still be out playing.
(d) Loving one's first swim lessons.

2. The speaker of "The Greatest Personal Privation" says they do not want those who are descendants of the people sold as property to know their history. Why?
(a) They are not smart enough to understand.
(b) It is for their own good.
(c) They do not want anyone else to know their sins.
(d) Slavery is a lie and never happened.

3. The speaker of "Deadly" says that those who are holy imagine a strong beast that attacks and kills what?
(a) A human.
(b) A tiger.
(c) A gazelle.
(d) A giraffe.

4. What does the character in "Hill Country" stave off in regard to the injured animal?
(a) Further injury.
(b) Death.
(c) Fear.
(d) Attack by vultures.

5. In “I Will Tell You the Truth About This, I Will Tell You All About It,” why does a brother write a sister in a letter asking her to care for his child?
(a) His wife is abusive and unfit to be a mother.
(b) His wife is ill and unable to care for their child.
(c) His wife is living with another man while he is away.
(d) His wife is dying.

Short Answer Questions

1. In "Garden of Eden," the speaker reflects on the fact that everyone she knew at the time was living a similar life that included hating what two things?

2. In "Garden of Eden," why does the narrator's arm get sore?

3. After the Civil War, for what did many Black soldiers struggle to receive from the U.S. government?

4. In "Deadly," what two creatures are discussed?

5. How does the poem "Unwritten" begin?

(see the answer key)

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