Question

read the poem. there are several questions about this poem.
there are 21 lines in the poem. the poem is numbered every 5 lines.
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 womans 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.
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

1. the expression of the wish that the receiver were along on

the trip too

1. the reading of the brief message and then the tossing of

Explanation:

In the poem, the line "We express the wish that you were here" shows an affectionate sentiment. This indicates that the postcard (as a form of communication in the poem) awakens feelings of affection for the sender. For Part B, the expression of the wish that the receiver were along on the trip too (from the line "We express the wish that you were here") directly supports the idea that the postcard awakens feelings of affection (as it's a form of expressing care/affection for the recipient).

Answer:

Part A: 2. It awakens feelings of affection for the sender.
Part B: 3. the expression of the wish that the receiver were along on the trip too