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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 “Eternity, Songzhuang Art Village," seeing a photograph of her mother, the speaker reminds herself she once wrote what?

2. How does "An Old Story" end?

3. In “Watershed,” soon after the sale of land, what happened?

4. In “Theatrical Improvisation,” a woman stands in fear as she remembers what?

5. "Urban Youth" begins as the speaker remembers being woken up by an older sibling on Saturday mornings to do what?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does the audience begin to sense in "Theatrical Improvisation"?

2. What is said about the house in “Ash”?

3. What are two of the questions asked in "The United States Welcomes You"?

4. In "Theatrical Improvisation," what do two of the people remember?

5. What does the speaker find in "Eternity: Songzhuang Art Village"?

6. What are two things to which history is compared in "New Road Station"?

7. To what is the like girl compared in “4 1/2”?

8. What does "New Road Station" say about the speed of history?

9. An actor in "Theatrical Improvisation" says that they were given a piece of paper to draw what they experienced. What are a few of their experiences?

10. How does the speaker describe a woman in “Charity”?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In Part II, Smith uses letters from the 1860s. What is the purpose of these letters? What is the significance of this time period? How are you, as the reader affected by these letters? Are you surprised by these letters? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 2

Several of Smith's poems talk about the work of humans. Choose one of these poems. How does she describe the work of mankind or a certain society in this poem? What might Smith think about work, based on her poems? Do you agree with her? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 3

Several of Smith's poems describe a specific event in history that shows the flaws of humankind. Give one example from this book, including the title of the poem and a description. What does the reader learn about this event? How are people and/or the world affected by this event? What does this poem say about humanity or certain members of society? How is this a theme throughout many of Smith's poems? Do you agree? Why or why not?

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