Beat Poetry Answers

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Read this excerpt from Allen Ginsberg’s "A Supermarket in California."Wives in the avocados, babies in the tomatoes!What idea is expressed in this excerpt?

A
The narrator discovers parental neglect at the market.
B
The narrator notices gender roles when grocery shopping.
C
The narrator is frustrated by the crowds of people in the aisles.
D
The narrator is amazed by the market’s quantity of food and people.
4

What thoughts I have of you tonight, Walt Whitman, for I walked down the sidestreets under the trees with a headache self-conscious looking at the full moon.

T
The speaker is hastily making his way to the local supermarket to meet up with an old friend.
T
The speaker is busy gazing at the full moon when he bumps into a former acquaintance.
T
The speaker is taking a lonely stroll at night while reflecting on the words of a favorite poet.
T
The speaker is eager to return to the safety of his home and read poems by Walt Whitman.
6

I heard you asking questions of each: Who killed the pork chops? What price bananas? Are you my Angel?

T
The speaker is imagining the questions Whitman would ask if he were there.
T
The speaker is dreaming about what goods he will be purchasing.
T
The speaker is asking the grocery clerks about the freshness of the meat and the cost of the fruit.
T
The speaker is quizzing the butcher and produce workers to see if they are knowledgeable employees.
7

Read this stanza from Allen Ginsberg’s "A Supermarket in California."We strode down the open corridors together in our solitary fancy tasting artichokes, possessing every frozen delicacy, and never passing the cashier. Ginsberg most likely uses long-line free verse here to

A
draw attention to the poem’s patterns of rhyme and meter.
B
express his thoughts freely and without constraints.
C
keep the content of the poem simple and easy to imagine.
D
show his desire to return to an unassuming existence.
8

We strode down the open corridors together in our solitary fancy tasting artichokes, possessing every frozen delicacy, and never passing the cashier.

s
sampling items but not paying for them.
b
buying frozen goods from the grocery store.
l
loading up their shopping cart with frozen food.
m
marveling at the offerings available at the market.
9

I saw you, Walt Whitman, childless, lonely old grubber, poking among the meats in the refrigerator.

t
to suggest a knowledge of Walt Whitman and his poetic devices
t
to suggest an interest in Walt Whitman and his shopping habits
t
to suggest a critical judgement against Walt Whitman and other poets
t
to suggest a familiarity and kinship with Walt Whitman and other outcasts
10

In the poem "A Supermarket in California," Ginsberg most likely uses free verse to show

A
the role that jazz music played in the Beat movement.
B
the influence that Walt Whitman had in his life.
C
his rebellious attitude toward uniformity in American culture.
D
his desire to be part of mainstream society.

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