Billy Collins

The imagery in lines 24-25 of "Days" reinforces the idea that people should-

• think about the day with hope and gratitude

• be quiet and reflective throughout the day

• think about all that was good about the past

• be careful when handling fragile objects

What advice does Billy Collins give to writers?

• Ignore reading, write only occasionally, and never seek inspiration

• Limit reading and writing, and wait for inspiration to strike

• Never read, never write, and avoid inspiration

• Read as much as you can, write as much as you can, and put yourself in the path of inspiration.

Read the following lines (10-15) from the poem: that you felt like taking a hammer to the glass paperweight on the living room end table, releasing the inhabitants from their snow-covered cottage so they could walk out, The reader can infer that the poet is describing --

• a lamp

• a picture

• a snowglobe

• a cottage

Which lines indicate that the speaker is inspired to spring into action?

• that it made you want to throw

  open all the windows in the house (lines 3-4)

• a day when the cool brick paths

  and the garden bursting with peonies (lines 7-8)

• a hammer to the glass paperweight

  on the living room end table, (lines 11-12)

• into this larger dome of blue and white,

  well, today is just that kind of day. (lines 17-18)

Which of the following is not true about Billy Collins?

• He served as U.S. Poet Laureate.

• He uses sophisticated languages in his poems to make them hard to understand for the reader.

• In his writing process he would imagine having one reader in the room listening to him.

• He has been called the most popular poet in America.

In stanza 4, Collins describes a poem as having a dark room that he wants his students to walk into, then feel the walls to try and find the light switch. Which of these statements is the best interpretation of that metaphor?

• Poems are so confusing, they're like walking into a dark room you have to find your way out of.

• A poem can be confusing, but it's best to just start reading it and see what you can find and understand as you read.

• You can't read a poem in the dark.

What is the tone of stanza 5? (the one about waterskiing across the surface and waving to the author's name)

• playful

• serious

• ominous

• sarcastic

• W

In the last two stanzas, Collins describes what students usually want to do to a poem. He says they want to "tie the poem to a chair and torture a confession out of it," and that they "begin beating it with a hose," when they want to figure out "what it means." How are those metaphors different from the metaphors and imagery in the other stanzas?

• The metaphors in the last two stanzas are more playful and fun, but the stanzas before are really serious.

• The metaphors in the last two stanzas are what he wants students to do, and in the beginning it's what he doesn't want them to do.

• The metaphors in the last two stanzas are violent and more serious, but the metaphors in the beginning are more playful and silly.

Billy Collins

• A) He was born in 1941.

• B) He was born in 1950.

• C) He was born in 1960.

• D) He was born in 1970.

Billy Collins

• A) The Art of Drowning

• B) Sailing Alone Around the Room

• C) The Road Not Taken

• D) Aimless Love