Question

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 childhood that clung to her clothes has 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 keys with gritty fingernails polished in pink pearl, grass stains on the knees of her sister’s old designer jeans. She’s gone from sounding like the smoke detector through 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 fourteen and my skin has betrayed me the boy I cannot live without still sucks his thumb in secret how come my knees are always so ashy what if I die before the morning comes and momma’s in the bedroom with the door closed. I have to learn how to dance in time for the next party my room is too small for me suppose I die before graduation they will sing sad melodies but finally tell the truth about me There is nothing I want to do and too much that has to be done and momma’s in the bedroom with the door closed. Nobody even stops to think about my side of it I should have been on Math Team my marks were better than his why do I have to be the one wearing braces I have nothing to wear tomorrow will I live long enough to grow up and momma’s in the bedroom with 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?

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.

Answer 1

i believe the answer is A

hope this helps

Answer 2

I believe that the correct answer to the question would be A: Both poems deal with adolescence, but one is blank verse and the other is free verse.

Step-by-step explanation:

The reason for this answer comes from understanding what a blank verse, and a free verse, poems are, and also why they would each apply to these two poems. In the case of Barbara Cooker´s poem, although there is no rhyme to her poem, there is a rythm that can be detected, especially in certain parts of the long stanza. This is the description of a blank verse, it is a poem that presents a rythm, but whose words are unrhymed. Whereas the second poem, "Hanging Fire", by Audre Lorde, does not present either of these characteristics, seeming more like the long diatribe of an adolescent who cannot settle on what they want to say, but think everything at once and want to express everything at once. This is the description of a free verse poem. This is why the answer would be A.