Question

read the poem. there are several questions about this poem.
a sonnet is a rhyming poem with 14 lines. petrarch and spenser were european poets who became famous for their sonnets.

american sonnet
we do not speak like petrarch or wear a hat like spenser
and it is not fourteen lines
like furrows in a small, carefully plowed field
but the picture postcard, a poem on vacation,
that forces us to sing our songs in little rooms
or pour our sentiments into measuring cups.
we write on the back of a waterfall or lake,
adding to the view a caption as conventional
as an elizabethan woman’s heliocentric eyes.
we locate an adjective for the weather.
we announce that we are having a wonderful time.
we express the wish that you were here
and hide the wish that we were where you are,
walking back from the mailbox, your head lowered
as you read and turn the thin message in your hands.
a slice of this place, a length of white beach,
a piazza or carved spires of a cathedral
will pierce the familiar place where you remain,
and you will toss on the table this reversible display:
a few square inches of where we have strayed
and a compression of what we feel.
(\american sonnet\ from questions about angels by billy collins, © 1994. all rights are controlled by the university of pittsburgh press, pittsburgh, pa 15260. used by permission of the university of pittsburgh press.)

\adding to the view a caption as conventional / as an elizabethan woman’s heliocentric eyes\ (lines 8–9)
how do the lines develop a central idea in the poem?

1. by describing the elizabethan woman’s eyes, the lines show how art changes when seen through a different pair of eyes
2. by making a comparison, the lines emphasize that people, past and present, want to share their unique adventures
3. by making a comparison, the lines illustrate how a postcard, like a sonnet, has features that are predictable and established
4. by providing an example from elizabethan times, the lines reveal how people through time have viewed the art of writing poems and postcards

part b
which additional lines from the poem also develop the central idea from part a?

1. lines 10–11
2. lines 14–15
3. lines 16–17
4. lines 19–20

Explanation:

Part A

To solve this, we analyze each option:

• Option 1: The lines don't focus on how art changes with different eyes, but on comparing postcard captions to Elizabethan eyes' conventionality. Eliminate.
• Option 2: The lines compare postcard captions to Elizabethan women’s heliocentric eyes (conventional) to show how people (past and present) share experiences (postcard as modern "poem", sonnet as traditional). This emphasizes unique adventures via comparison.
• Option 3: The lines don't illustrate postcard/sonnet predictability, but contrast American sonnet with traditional, then use comparison for shared experience. Eliminate.
• Option 4: The lines don't reveal how Elizabethan times viewed poems/postcards, but use Elizabethan eyes as a conventional comparison for postcard captions. Eliminate.

First, identify the central idea from Part A: people (past/present) share unique adventures (via postcards/sonnets). Now analyze each option:

• Lines 10 - 11: "We announce that we are having a wonderful time. We express the wish that you were here" – shows sharing experience (wish you were here), aligning with sharing adventures.
• Lines 14 - 15: "walking back from the mailbox, your head lowered as you read and turn the thin message in your hands" – focuses on receiving postcard, not sharing adventure. Eliminate.
• Lines 16 - 17: "A slice of this place, a length of white beach, a piazza or carved spires of a cathedral" – describes the place, not sharing experience. Eliminate.
• Lines 19 - 20: "a few square inches of where we have strayed and a compression of what we feel" – focuses on the postcard's content of straying, but not the act of sharing (like lines 10 - 11's wish you were here). Eliminate.

Answer:

1. by making a comparison, the lines emphasize that people, past and present, want to share their unique adventures

Part B