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NAME
CLASS
SELECTION TEST
DATE
SCORE
LITERARY RESPONSE AND ANALYSIS
I Am Offering This Poem Jimmy Santiago Baca
since feeling is first E. E. Cummings
COMPREHENSION (50 points; 5 points each)
On the line provided, write the letter of the best answer to each of the following items.
______ 1. The speaker of Jimmy Santiago Baca’s poem offers the poem as a gift because he —
A does not have anything else to offer
B values poetry over material things
C knows the recipient loves poetry
D wants the recipient to appreciate art
______ 2. The speaker of “I Am Offering This Poem” asks the recipient to —
F
hide the poem in the forest
G respond to his message quickly
H keep and treasure the poem
J
read and then discard the poem
______ 3. In Baca’s poem the speaker hopes that his poem will —
A be critically acclaimed
B win the heart of someone dear
C change the way people live their lives
D offer comfort to the speaker’s loved one as time goes by
Copyright © by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. All rights reserved.
______ 4. In Baca’s poem the repetition of the same line following each stanza —
F
creates a jarring rhythm
G emphasizes the speaker’s feelings
H undercuts what has gone before
J
adds variety to the poem’s structure
______ 5. In the construction of “since feeling is first,” E. E. Cummings —
A uses the metaphor of “Spring” to express being unloved
B describes love as being a parenthesis
C relies on nonstandard punctuation, capitalization, and syntax
D uses many similes
______ 6. The premise of “since feeling is first” is that —
F
the brain’s reasoning is stronger than emotion
G emotion, not reason, fosters love
H the power of the brain is stronger than the “eyelids’ flutter”
J
death will eventually overcome love
I Am Offering This Poem / since feeling is first
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DATE
SCORE
______ 7. According to the speaker of “since feeling is first,” what is better than wisdom?
A Flowers
B The flutter of his lady’s eyelids
C Kisses
D The brain’s “best gesture”
______ 8. Which of the following statements about Cummings’s poem is true ?
F
The speaker is delighted to be immersed in love.
G The woman addressed by the speaker does not return his affection.
H The speaker fears that death will ruin their love.
J
The poem follows a standard structure.
______ 9. To Cummings the flutter of his love’s eyelids tells him that —
A she should see an eye doctor
B they are meant to be together
C she is flirting with him
D he has forgotten to bring her flowers
______ 10. Cummings urges his readers to —
F
look before you leap
G consider alternatives
H be fools in love
J
open their eyes to spring
On the line provided, write the letter of the best answer to each of the following items.
______ 11. “I Am Offering This Poem” is considered a lyric poem mainly because it is a —
A simple poem that tells a story
B tragic poem that teaches a lesson
C short poem that expresses strong emotion
D rhyming poem that reveals passion
150
Holt Assessment: Literature, Reading, and Vocabulary
Copyright © by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. All rights reserved.
LITERARY FOCUS (20 points; 5 points each)
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______ 12. The speaker of Baca’s poem compares love to —
F
a wilderness that has never been explored
G a treasure that will never be exhausted
H a fire that burns out of control
J
food and clothing that provide warmth
______ 13. In “since feeling is first,” the speaker uses the metaphor “life’s not a paragraph” to
suggest that —
A life is not neat and orderly
B the story of a person’s life cannot be written down
C people shouldn’t pay any attention to the rules of grammar
D life has no meaning
______ 14. The metaphor “death i think is no parenthesis” in the context of the poem
means that —
F
the dead can’t send love letters
G death will not separate the lovers
H life is better than death
J
death has no meaning
CONSTRUCTED RESPONSE (30 points)
Copyright © by Holt, Rinehart and Winston. All rights reserved.
15. On a separate sheet of paper, explain what feeling the gift expresses
in “I Am Offering This Poem.” Support your answer with examples of
figurative language from the poem that express the emotion.
I Am Offering This Poem / since feeling is first
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