English 11 Review: Poetry Section – Please do not write on this! Part 1: The Last Picture in the World A hunched grey shape framed by leaves with lake water behind standing on our little point of land like a small monk in a green monastery meditating

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almost sculpture except that it's alive (10) brooding immobile permanent for half an hour a blue heron and it occurs to me that if I were to die at this moment that picture would accompany me wherever I am going for part of the way

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By: Al Purdy From: Beyond Remembering - The collected poems of Al Purdy. 2000. 1. In the context of this poem “wherever I am going” implies that: a. The speaker has planned a journey b. The speaker may believe in some sort of afterlife c. The speaker knows he is going to heaven d. The speaker is going to be buried but does not know where 2. The line which best refers to the heron’s stillness is: a. Like a small monk in a green monastery b. Except that it’s alive c. Brooding, immobile, permanent d. A hunched grey shape 3. In lines 15-18 the tone may be described as: a. Contemplative b. Optimistic c. Mournful d. Satirical 4. The setting of this poem is: a. On a tropical island b. On a small peninsula c. At the beach d. In a cottage 5. The best definition for the word “brooding” is: a. Unmoving b. Meditating c. Dying d. Despairing 6. What words and images does the poet use to capture the stillness of the heron? (4) 7. Describe the initial mood of this poem. How do the last 4 lines change it? (3)

Looking at Pictures of My Daughters for Jessica and Katharine I've taken so many pictures of you from behind, mesmerized first by the way your hair spiralled around your perfect baby skulls mirroring snailshell and galaxy, this new universe I'd fallen into. Year after year I looked at you looking away. But here's a picture I'd forgotten: foggy weather and you stand, backs to me and larger than I knew, on an apron of rock at the sea's edge. I can't see your expressions, I don't know how you feel, there, where the waves are dark and larger than life. There's nothing between ocean and sky and my fear falling into the picture Standing behind you I hold my heart tight, not letting out the fear: that you will be swept away, that you will turn and see me, hand across my mouth, eyes round and terrified and I want you to be happy. Standing behind you I don't have to see myself reflected in your eyes, the three of us so muddled in my heart I can't skim us apart. I want to be perfect, better than my mother. My gaze is the weight on your shoulders. It stiffens your necks.

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Maureen Scott Harris From: Vintage 95: League of Canadian Poets National Poetry Contest. Quarry Press, 1996. 8. How is the poet conflicted in this poem? What two emotions or desires is she struggling with? Provide a quotation from the poem which demonstrates each of these emotions.(4) 9. What might the poet mean by “My gaze is/ the weight on your shoulders./ It stiffens your necks.” (l.26-27)? How does this represent the experience of a child growing up? (3) 10. Which literary device is used in “My gaze is the weight on your shoulders” (25-26) a. Personification b. Alliteration c. Assonance d. Simile 11. Which literary device is used in lines 2-5? a. Metaphor b. Understatement c. Apostrophe d. Irony 12. The poem is written in which of the forms? a. Blank verse b. Epic poetry c. Structured poetry d. Free verse 13. The line which refers to the mother’s fear for her children is: a. Line 6 b. Line 16 c. Line 21 d. Line 24

14. The last stanza shows that: a. The mother is eager to see her children go and become independent b. The mother does not want her children to leave home so early c. The mother does not want her children to see how much she worries about them d. The mother feels she is doing a poor job of parenting 15. The poem is about: a. A new baby being born b. A mother looking at old photographs of her children c. A trip to the ocean d. A mother’s unhappiness 16. What is the overall tone of this poem: a. Nostalgic b. Ecstatic c. Defeatist d. Ambiguous 17. In the third stanza, “I hold my heart tight” refers to: a. The mother’s fear for her daughters’ safety b. The mother’s fear that her daughters will see her anxiety c. The mother’s fear that she will be like her own mother d. All of the above e. Both A and B 18. “Year after year I looked at you looking away” describes how: a. The children ignored their mother as they grew up b. The children became more independent as they got older c. The mother was not part of raising her children d. The mother liked to take photos of her children from behind Essay Question: In each poem the poet/speak is focussed on something standing by water. Compare and contrast how water is portrayed and what emotions it suggests in each poem. Part 2 The Unending Sky I could not sleep for thinking of the sky The unending sky with all its million suns Which turn their planets everlastingly In nothing, where the fire-haired comet runs If I could sail that nothing, I should cross Silence and emptiness with dark stars passing; Then, in the darkness, see a point of gloss Burn to a glow, and glare, and keep massing And rage into a sun with wandering planets, And drop behind; and then, as I proceed, See his last light upon the last moon’s granites Die to a dark that would be night indeed: Night where my soul might sail a million years In nothing, not even Death, not even tears. By John Masefield 19. The form of this poem is: a. Free verse b. Blank Verse c. Sonnet d. Quatrain 20. Lines 13 and 14 are an example of: a. Alliteration b. Rhyming couplet c. Apostrophe d. Lyric poetry

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21. Line 4 contains an example of: a. Allegory b. Apostrophe c. Simile d. Personification 22. In the context of this poem, “where my soul might sail a million years” implies that: a. The speaker is going to die b. The universe is immense c. Death is inevitable d. Nothing can last forever 23. Lines 1 and 2 indicate that the speaker: a. Cannot stop contemplating the universe b. Is an insomniac c. Feels insignificant d. Cannot sleep when it is bright out 24. The imagery in this poem contrasts: a. Sleep and death b. Light and darkness c. Hope and despair d. The sea and outer space Willow and Ginkgo The willow is like an etching, Fine-lined against the sky. The ginkgo is like a crude sketch, Hardly worthy to be signed. The willow’s music is like a soprano, Delicate and thin. The ginkgo’s tune is like a chorous With everyone joining in. The willow is sleek as a velvet-nosed calf; The ginkgo is leathery as an old bull. The willow’s branches are like silken thread; The ginkgo’s like stubby rough wool. The willow is like a nymph with streaming hair; Wherever it grows, there is green and gold and fair. The willow dips to the water, Protected and precious, like the king’s favourite daughter. The ginkgo forces its way through gray concrete; Like a city child, it grows up in the street. Thrust against the metal sky, Somehow it survives and even thrives. My eyes feast upon the willow, But my heart goes to the ginkgo. By Eve Merriam

25. The literary device most commonly used in this poem is: a. Onomatopoeia b. Metaphor c. Simile d. Allusion 26. The willow can best be described as: a. Robust b. Tenacious c. Innocent d. Delicate

27. This poem is an example of: a. Free verse b. Lyric poetry c. Epic poetry d. Blank verse 28. The second and third stanzas are examples of: a. Personification b. Allegory c. Quatrains d. Rhyming couplets 29. The line which contains personification is: a. Line 3 b. Line 7 c. Line 9 d. Line 13 30. According to the speaker, the ginkgo is: a. More worthy of admiration b. Looked down upon c. Better than the willow d. Crude and unruly 31. The poem contains: a. Both structured rhyme and structured meter b. Structured rhyme and irregular meter c. Structured meter and irregular rhyme d. Neither structured rhyme nor structured meter 32. Lines 2, 12 and 15 all contain examples of: a. Metaphor b. Assonance c. Alliteration d. Paralellism 33. Lines a. b. c. d.

14, 16, 18 and 20 all contain examples of: Metaphor Assonance Alliteration Parallelism

34. What technique is used in the 2nd stanza? a. Hyperbole b. Parallelism c. Repetition d. Symbolism 35. In the last stanza, the comparisons used make the ginkgo seem: a. Pathetic b. Callous c. Beautiful d. Resilient