9
QuizMultiple Choice

Contemporary Poetry: Seamus Heaney’s “Digging” — Quiz

Question 9 • English Language Arts 12

Read the excerpt from "Digging" Till his straining rump among the flowerbeds Bends low, comes up twenty years away Stooping in rhythm through potato drills Where he was digging. Read the haiku by Bashō. On the way to the outhouse— the white of the moonflower by torchlight. How does the structure of these poems differ?

Answer
A
“Digging” jumps from the present time to the past, while Bashō's haiku captures a single moment in time.
B
“Digging” attempts to capture a moment in the distant past, while Bashō's haiku speculates about the future.
C
“Digging” describes a moment in the present time, while Bashō's haiku jumps back in time.
D
“Digging” speculates about the future, while Bashō's haiku commemorates a time from the distant past.
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