Question 2 of 15 • ARC English 10 Semester 2 CR/Summer
Read the poems below and answer the question that follows. “Listening to Her Practice: My Middle Daughter, on the Edge of Adolescence, Learns to Play the Saxophone”by Barbara Cooker For Rebecca Her hair, that halo of red gold curls,has thickened, coarsened,lost its baby fineness,and the sweet smell of childhoodthat clung to her clotheshas just about vanished.Now she’s getting moody,moaning about her hair,clothes that aren’t the right brands,boys that tease.She clicks over the saxophone keyswith gritty fingernails polished in pink pearl,grass stains on the kneesof her sister’s old designer jeans.She’s gone from sounding like the smoke detectorthrough Old MacDonald and Jingle Bells.Soon she’ll master these keys,turn notes into liquid gold,wail that reedy brass.Soon, she’ll be a woman.She’s gonna learn to play the blues. Source: Cooker, Barbara. “Listening to Her Practice: My Middle Daughter, on the Edge of Adolescence, Learns to Play the Saxophe.” Ordinary Life. New York: ByLine Press, 2000. El Camino College. Web. 6 May 2011. “Hanging Fire”by Audre Lorde I am fourteenand my skin has betrayed methe boy I cannot live withoutstill sucks his thumbin secrethow come my knees arealways so ashywhat if I diebefore the morning comesand momma’s in the bedroomwith the door closed. I have to learn how to dancein time for the next partymy room is too small for mesuppose I die before graduationthey will sing sad melodiesbut finallytell the truth about meThere is nothing I want to doand too muchthat has to be doneand momma’s in the bedroomwith the door closed. Nobody even stops to thinkabout my side of itI should have been on Math Teammy marks were better than hiswhy do I have to bethe one wearing bracesI have nothing to wear tomorrowwill I live long enoughto grow upand momma’s in the bedroomwith the door closed. Source: Lorde, Audre. “Hanging Fire.” The Black Unicorn: Poems. New York: Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press, 1978. El Camino College. Web. 06 June 2011. Which statement is the most accurate comparison of the two poems?
Answer
A
Both poems deal with adolescence, but one is blank verse and the other is free verse.
B
Both poems use apostrophe, but only one includes allusions and metaphors.
C
Neither poem uses rhyme, but the poem by Lorde uses rhythm.
D
Both poems deal with adolescence but from different perspectives.