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 helocentric 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 plaza 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.)

this question has two parts. answer part a, and then answer part b.

part a
according to the poem, what effect does the postcard have on the recipient?
○ 1. it serves as a fleeting reminder of the sender.
○ 2. it awakens feelings of affection for the sender.
○ 3. it creates a desire to join the sender on vacation.
○ 4. it raises questions about when the sender will visit.

part b
which detail in the poem best supports the correct answer from part a?
○ 1. the walk to the mailbox and the return with a postcard
○ 2. the description of the wonderful time to be had in a faraway place
○ 3. the expression of the wish that the receiver were along on the trip too
○ 4. the reading of the brief message and then the tossing of the postcard on the table

Explanation:

Part A

To solve Part A, we analyze each option:

• Option 1: The poem says the postcard's effect is fleeting? No, the details like "pierce the familiar place" and the postcard being a "reversible display" of feelings don't suggest fleeting.
• Option 2: The postcard makes the recipient feel affection? The lines "a compression of what we feel" and the postcard bringing a slice of the sender's place to the recipient, along with the wish "you were here" and the recipient's reaction (reading, tossing) imply it awakens affection.
• Option 3: The poem doesn't focus on the recipient wanting to join the sender on vacation, but on the connection via the postcard.
• Option 4: There's no mention of the recipient questioning when the sender will visit.

So the correct answer for Part A is 2. It awakens feelings of affection for the sender.

We need to find the detail that supports the Part A answer (awakens affection).

• Option 1: The walk to the mailbox doesn't relate to affection.
• Option 2: Describing a wonderful time in a faraway place doesn't directly show affection; it's about the place, not the sender - recipient bond.
• Option 3: The wish the receiver were along is about the receiver joining, not affection for the sender.
• Option 4: Reading the brief message (which has the sender's feelings) and then tossing the postcard (after engaging with it) shows the postcard conveys the sender's feelings, awakening affection. The postcard is a "compression of what we feel" (sender's feelings) and the recipient interacts with it, so this detail supports the affection awakening.

Answer:

1. It awakens feelings of affection for the sender.

Part B