Fog   by Carl Sandburg

 

The fog comes

On little cat feet.

 

It sits looking

Over the city

On silent haunches

And then moves on.

 

  1. Fog is compared to a cat because
    1. both move quietly
    2. both can be driven away
    3. both go out at night only
    4. cats like foggy nights

 

  1. What sits looking over the harbor and city?
    1. a cat
    2. haunches
    3. feet
    4. the fog

 

  1. Why did the author say it “Sits on silent haunches”?
    1. because it sits low to the ground
    2. because “haunches” is a spooky word
    3. silent haunches is another name for boat docks
    4. he wanted to combine “haunted” and “hunches.”

 

  1. When fog “sits looking over the city…” the author is using
    1. metaphor
    2. simile
    3. personification
    4. hyperbole

 

 

 

The Falling Star   by Sara Teasdale

 

I saw a star slide down the sky.

Blinding the north as it went by,

Too burning hot and too quick to hold,

Too lovely to be bought or sold,

Good only to make wishes on

And then forever to be gone.

 

  1. The falling star is about
    1. a rock star that is not popular anymore
    2. a sun setting quickly
    3. a shooting star
    4. the Northern Lights

 

  1. Falling stars are only good for
    1. blinding people in the north
    2. holding on to
    3. buying and selling
    4. to make wishes on

 

  1. Falling stars are forever gone because
    1. comets seldom come our way
    2. no one can find them
    3. they burn up in our atmosphere
    4. they get sold for souvenirs

 

Dream Deferred   by Langston Hughes

 

What happens to a dream deferred?

 

Does it dry up

Like a raisin in the sun?

Or fester like a sore-

And then run?                                                      5

Does it stink like rotten meat?

Or crust and sugar over-

Like a syrupy sweet?

 

Maybe it just sags

Like a heavy load.                                              10

 

Or does it explode?

 

  1. Deferred means to
    1. accomplish
    2. nightmare
    3. day dream
    4. put off until later

 

  1. A dream deferred is like a
    1. goal in life that one puts off
    2. goal in life that one accomplishes
    3. nightmare that haunts us repeatedly
    4. nap in the afternoon on a warm summer day

 

  1. A dream deferred is compared to
    1. a raisin
    2. a sore
    3. rotten meat
    4. all of the above

 

  1. One would assume that the author would urge us all to
    1. put off what you can until tomorrow
    2. not put off any dreams in your life
    3. buy his book
    4. not buy rotten meat

 

  1. Since the poem starts with a question, and ends with a question, we may assume that
    1. The author really doesn’t know what happens to a dream deferred
    2. The author likes riddles
    3. The author is stupid
    4. He wants you stay tuned for part II, coming next season on HBO

 

  1. Every sentence in the poem is a question except line(s)
    1. 4,5
    2. 6
    3. 7,8
    4. 9,10

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sea-Fever   by John Masefield

 

I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and sky,

And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by,

And the wheel’s kick and wind’s song and the white sails shaking,

And a gray mist on the sea’s face and a gray dawn breaking.

 

I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide                                              5

Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;

And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,

And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.

 

I must go down to the seas again to the vagrant gypsy life,

To the gull’s way and the whale’s way where the wind’s like a whetted knife;                       10

And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover,

And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick’s over.

 

  1. In line 3 “the wheel’s kick” and “wind’s song” and “sail’s shaking” makes one think that these things are
    1. alive
    2. singing and dancing to the disco beat
    3. trying to beat up sailors
    4. sailor’s drunken hallucinations

 

  1. In line 4 the “sea’s face” is
    1. the reflection of the sailor’s face in the water
    2. a fish looking out of the water
    3. the surface of the water
    4. another drunken hallucination

 

  1. The “call” that the sailor beckons to in lines 5 and 6 is
    1. the call of the sea-gulls
    2. a fog-horn
    3. a phone call, but a wrong number
    4. something within a person that makes him or her want to do a certain thing in life. (A calling in life.)

 

  1. In line 9 a sailor is compared to a gypsy because
    1. both travel a lot
    2. both wear neat clothes
    3. both tell fortunes, and are superstitious
    4. neither like to “rock the boat”

 

 

  1. “all I ask is a merry yarn…” means
    1. a cheery sweater to wear
    2. good conversation and funny stories
    3. yarn for Christmas wool socks
    4. all of the above

 

  1. Since the title is “Sea-Fever” one may assume that
    1. the author gets sea-sick frequently
    2. the author runs a high temperature while in a boat
    3. this is a sickness one gets from drinking salt water
    4. the author gets a real craving to go sailing every once in a while

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Preface To a Twenty Volume Suicide Note   by Leroi Jones

 

Lately, I’ve become accustomed to the way

The ground opens up and envelops me

Each time I go out to walk the dog.

Or the broad edged silly music the wind

Makes when I run for a bus –                                                           5

 

Things have come to that.

 

And now, each night I count the stars,

And each night I get the same number.

And when they will not come to be counted

I count the holes they leave.                                                             10

 

Nobody sings anymore.

 

And then last night, I tiptoed up

To my daughter’s room and heard her

Talking to someone, and when I opened

The door, there was no one there…                                                 15

 

Only she on her knees,

Peeking into her cupped hands.

 

  1. In line 2 the author means
    1. the ground actually opens up and swallows him
    2. he feels isolated and lonely
    3. the dog drags him down canyons
    4. he’d like to mail himself in an envelope

 

  1. In line 4 the author means
    1. the whistling sound the wind makes whipping past your ear
    2. the wind is playing silly music
    3. there is loud music coming from some person’s radio
    4. someone is running for a bus

 

  1. When the stars don’t come out to be counted, they leave
    1. counts
    2. songs
    3. music
    4. holes

 

  1. Since this is a preface to a twenty volume suicide note, we may assume
    1. that the author intends to commit suicide soon
    2. that he will kill his dog
    3. it will take a lifetime to finish his “note”
    4. he’ll wait until Hollywood makes a film out of his paperback

 

  1. When the poem states “The ground opens up and envelops me”, the author wants
    1. to give human qualities to the ground
    2. to confuse us
    3. to make us think he is in danger
    4. to simply add more words to the poem

 

  1. The author sees his daughter
    1. praying her night prayers
    2. talking to a leprechaun
    3. talking to herself
    4. talking on her cell phone