Question

questions 1 through 4 refer to the following. this poem is from karin gottshall, crocus. @2007 by fordham university press. the raspberry room it was solid hedge, loops of bramble and thorny as it had to be with its berries thick as bumblebees. it drew blood just to get there, but i was queen of that place, at ten, though the berries shook like fists in the wind, daring anyone to come in. i was trying so hard to love this world-real rooms too big and full of worry to comfortably inhabit-but believing i was born to live in that cloistered¹ green bower:² the raspberry patch in the back acre of my grandparents orchard. i was cross - stitched and beaded by its fat, dollmakers needles. the effort of sliding under the heavy, spiked tangles that tore my clothes and smeared me with juice was rewarded with space, wholly mine, a kind of room out of the crush of the bushes with a canopy of raspberry dagger - leaves and a syrup of sun and birdsong. hours would pass in the loud buzz of it, blood made it mine - the adventure of that red sting singing down my calves, the place the scratches brought me to: just space enough for a girl to lie down. 1 secluded, protected 2 a shady place under trees or plants in lines 3 - 4, what does i was queen / of that place reveal about the speaker? a she feels that she has exclusive control over her space within the hedge. b she is spoiled by the adults in her family who fulfil all her wishes. c she wants more of her grandparents orchard for her own use. d she prefers the elaborate world that exists only in her mind.

Explanation:

The phrase "I was queen of that place" implies a sense of ownership and control. In the context of the poem, the speaker describes the raspberry patch as her own space. There is no indication of the speaker being spoiled (B), wanting more of the orchard (C), or preferring an imaginary world (D). The idea of being "queen" suggests exclusive control over her space within the hedge.

Answer:

A. She feels that she has exclusive control over her space within the hedge.