Bottoms/White

What does the word several refer to in these first two lines of David Bottoms’ poem?

Kicking through woods and fields, I’d spooked several

and once stepped on a coachwhip among gravestones,

• animals

• snakes

• people

• ghosts

How does the speaker present his attitude toward the garter and cottonmouth

in the first stanza of “Snake on the Etowah”?

• He uses comparisons that make the snakes seem harmless.

• He talks about the snakes as if they are friends.

• He shows his fear of the snakes by his word choice.

• He uses meter and rhythm to bring the snakes to life.

How does the author bring the concept of beauty to life in these lines from the

poem?

I thought I knew how beauty could poison

a moment with fear,

• He exalts beauty and its power.

• He assigns a human quality to beauty.

• He connects beauty to fear.

• He describes something beautiful.

What is the tone, or attitude, the author of “Vanishing Species” takes toward

the subject?

• serious

• respectful

• humorous

• satirical

How does the author of “Vanishing Species” express her feelings toward

Mr. Linley?

• She chooses words that make him appear somewhat fascinating yet

  ridiculous.

• She describes his every move and his stupidity in going so close to the

  alligator.

• She records the conversations between Mr. Linley, her aunt, and herself.

• She uses literary techniques, such as alliteration, personification, and

  rhyme.

What is the point of Mr. Linley’s work?

• He hopes to document wildlife for his book.

• He is a technical whiz and wants to show off his skills.

• He likes to travel and has found a way to finance it.

• He is fascinated with wildlife and wants to have recordings of it.

What kind of mood or feeling does White hope to achieve with this sentence?

He [the alligator] ate everything that came out of the back of that truck.

• fear

• anger

• humor

• happiness

What does White mean when she writes, “laws protecting alligators have

resulted in a resurgence in their population”?

• The number of alligators has increased because laws protect them.

• No one is allowed to hunt alligators because it is against the law.

• Alligators have come back in fashion in connection with new laws.

• When people make new laws, animal populations grow quickly.

Which of the following do “Snake on the Etowah” and “Vanishing Species” have

in common?

• observation of nature

• humorous interaction

• mocking attitude

• extinct species

What feeling do the authors of “Snake on the Etowah” and “Vanishing Species”

seem to have in common?

• a disregard for people

• a respect for nature

• a need to record information

• a humorous perspective