Question

Which of the following statements are TRUE for "An American Draft Dodger in Thunder Bay"? (Check all that apply)

This text uses personification.
The speaker in the poem can go back to the United States when the war is over.
Crossing the border only refers to the act of going from America to Canada in the poem.
The speaker in the poem is an American living in Canada to avoid the draft.
The Canadian Shield has two meanings in the poem.

Answer 1

The statement "The speaker in the poem is an American living in Canada to avoid the draft" is true for "An American Draft Dodger in Thunder Bay".

Step-by-step explanation:

The first statement is false because "An American Draft Dodger in Thunder Bay" is a prose text, not a poem. Personification is a literary device commonly used in poetry where non-human objects or entities are given human qualities.

The second statement is true because the speaker in the text states that they plan to return to the United States when the war is over: "When my country gets civilized again, I'll go home."

The third statement is false because the text also mentions crossing the border in the other direction, from Canada to the United States: "I tried to swim the Pigeon River to the U.S. side, but they caught me."

The fourth statement is true because the speaker is an American who moved to Canada to avoid being drafted into the military during the Vietnam War: "I came to Canada because I didn't want to kill Vietnamese."

The fifth statement is true because the Canadian Shield is used as a metaphor in the text to represent the speaker's sense of isolation and alienation from American society, as well as a physical barrier that separates Canada and the United States: "The Shield divides us from them, just like the war."

Answer 2

The poem 'An American Draft Dodger in Thunder Bay' portrays an American living in Canada to avoid the draft. Crossing the border refers to going from America to Canada, and the Canadian Shield has dual meanings in the poem.

The correct statements for 'An American Draft Dodger in Thunder Bay' are:

The speaker in the poem is an American living in Canada to avoid the draft.

Crossing the border only refers to the act of going from America to Canada in the poem.

The Canadian Shield has two meanings in the poem.