Poetry Quiz

Which of the following lines from the poem best explains the first hardship that Prince Ráma faces?

• “How Ráma wept and raved in vain, / And how the Vulture-king was slain. / How Ráma fierce Kabandha slew;”

• “The choice of Ráma for the throne; / The malice by Kaikeyí shown, / Whose evil counsel marred the plan / And drove him forth a banished man.”

• “The ring by Ráma’s hand bestowed; / The cave wherein the bear abode. / The fast proposed, their lives to end; / Sampati gained to be their friend.”

• “His love for all, his patient youth, / His gentleness and constant truth, / And many a tale and legend old / By holy Vis'vámitra told.”

The following passage (lines 9-14) mainly adds to the development of the poem by_______ .

And thus in meditation he

Entered the path of poesy.

Then clearly, through his virtue’s might,

All lay discovered to his sight,

Whate’er befell, through all their life,

Ráma, his brother, and his wife:

• arguing that meditation is a necessary practice for heroic figures

• hinting that Ráma’s brother betrays him by stealing his wife

• showing that Ráma is the virtuous hero of the poem

• suggesting that the poet has special insight into Ráma’s life

Which of the following most closely describes how Ráma came to marry Sítá?

• He strung a bow that no other man could and won Sítá’s hand.

• He gave her a large ring with a gem on it and she accepted his offer.

• He rescued her from kidnappers who were trying to use her for ransom.

• He ruined her reputation by kissing her and so he was forced to marry her.

Which lines from the poem most strongly support the answer to Question 3?

• “And there found Ráma’s captive dame. / His colloquy with her he sought, / And giving of the ring he brought. / How Sítá gave a gem o’erjoyed;”

• “How Janak’s child he wooed and won, / And broke the bow that bent to none.”

• “How Brahmá and the Gods appeared, / And Sítá’s doubted honour cleared.”

• “Ráma, his brother, and his wife: / And Das’aratha and each queen”

Match the vocabulary word to its corresponding definition.

• strife

• an adventurous or daring undertaking

• ire

• the quality or state of being holy or very valuable

• reverent

• angry or violent disagreement between two or more people or groups

• emprise

• Showing deep respect for someone or something

• sanctity

• intense anger, usually openly displayed

Read the poem “Famous” by Naomi Shihab Nye. Then, for each of the selected quotations, choose the answer that best explains how the poetic structure contributes to the meaning of the poem.

How does the highlighted structure contribute to the meaning of the poem? Answer the following,

The river is famous to the fish.

The loud voice is famous to silence,
which knew it would inherit the earth
before anybody said so.

The cat sleeping on the fence is famous to the birds
watching him from the birdhouse.

The tear is famous, briefly, to the cheek.

The idea you carry close to your bosom
is famous to your bosom.

The boot is famous to the earth,
more famous than the dress shoe,
which is famous only to floors.

The bent photograph is famous to the one who carries it
and not at all famous to the one who is pictured.

I want to be famous to shuffling men
who smile while crossing streets,
sticky children in grocery lines,
famous as the one who smiled back.

I want to be famous in the way a pulley is famous,
or a buttonhole, not because it did anything spectacular,
but because it never forgot what it could do.

• There are only two short sentences, so that must mean the poet wants to use them for emphasis.

• I noticed that the poet uses periods at the end of each meaningful idea. Each stanza is only one sentence.

Read the poem “Famous” by Naomi Shihab Nye. Then, for each of the selected quotations, choose the answer that best explains how the poetic structure contributes to the meaning of the poem.

How does the highlighted structure contribute to the meaning of the poem? Answer the following,

The river is famous to the fish.

The loud voice is famous to silence,
which knew it would inherit the earth
before anybody said so.

The cat sleeping on the fence is famous to the birds
watching him from the birdhouse.

The tear is famous, briefly, to the cheek.

The idea you carry close to your bosom
is famous to your bosom.

The boot is famous to the earth,
more famous than the dress shoe,
which is famous only to floors.

The bent photograph is famous to the one who carries it
and not at all famous to the one who is pictured.

I want to be famous to shuffling men
who smile while crossing streets,
sticky children in grocery lines,
famous as the one who smiled back.

I want to be famous in the way a pulley is famous,
or a buttonhole, not because it did anything spectacular,
but because it never forgot what it could do.

• The poet creates structure by repeating the word famous and describing a relationship between two things.

• The structure of these lines make me wonder why the poet bothers with periods, and doesn’t just keep going.

Read the poem “Famous” by Naomi Shihab Nye. Then, for each of the selected quotations, choose the answer that best explains how the poetic structure contributes to the meaning of the poem.

How does the highlighted structure add to the overall meaning of the poem? Answer the following:

The river is famous to the fish.

The loud voice is famous to silence,
which knew it would inherit the earth
before anybody said so.

The cat sleeping on the fence is famous to the birds
watching him from the birdhouse.

The tear is famous, briefly, to the cheek.

The idea you carry close to your bosom
is famous to your bosom.

The boot is famous to the earth,
more famous than the dress shoe,
which is famous only to floors.

The bent photograph is famous to the one who carries it
and not at all famous to the one who is pictured.

I want to be famous to shuffling men
who smile while crossing streets,
sticky children in grocery lines,
famous as the one who smiled back.

I want to be famous in the way a pulley is famous,
or a buttonhole, not because it did anything spectacular,
but because it never forgot what it could do.

• The poet’s choice to describe one thing as being famous to another forces the reader to see things in new ways and creates both tension and surprise.

• The punctuation helps the reader understand how the boot is famous.

Read the poem “Famous” by Naomi Shihab Nye. Then, for each of the selected quotations, choose the answer that best explains how the poetic structure contributes to the meaning of the poem.

How does the highlighted structure contribute to the overall meaning of the poem? Answer the following:

The river is famous to the fish.

The loud voice is famous to silence,
which knew it would inherit the earth
before anybody said so.

The cat sleeping on the fence is famous to the birds
watching him from the birdhouse.

The tear is famous, briefly, to the cheek.

The idea you carry close to your bosom
is famous to your bosom.

The boot is famous to the earth,
more famous than the dress shoe,
which is famous only to floors.

The bent photograph is famous to the one who carries it
and not at all famous to the one who is pictured.

I want to be famous to shuffling men
who smile while crossing streets,
sticky children in grocery lines,
famous as the one who smiled back.

I want to be famous in the way a pulley is famous,
or a buttonhole, not because it did anything spectacular,
but because it never forgot what it could do.

• The poem’s structure reveals repetition. It tells a story about being famous.

• The poet also wants to be famous, but in a surprisingly simple way.

Read this excerpt from "The Gathering Place" by Amanda Gorman to answer the question.

What is most closely the central idea of lines 36-49?

Today
in the spine of this meeting ground,
new city, new village, we’ve reached a summit,
and are ready to loudly name another.
This be hope, this be home,
we are hope, we are home,
we be vigilant,
we be united, we be good,
we do good, we are good,
as we should
in the place where a millennium stood
for what we understood
was
right.

• The group has already achieved all of its goals.

• The group has been waiting for change for over a millennium.

• The group feels unsure about change.

• Those at the “meeting ground” have good intentions for their community.