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.
how do the lines develop a central idea in the poem?

1. by describing the elizabethan womans eyes,

the lines show how art changes when seen
through a different pair of eyes

1. by making a comparison, the lines emphasize

that people, past and present, want to share
their unique adventures with others

1. by making a comparison, the lines illustrate

how a postcard, like a sonnet, has features
that are predictable and established

1. by providing an example from elizabethan

times, the lines reveal how people through
time have viewed the art of writing poems and
postcards
part b
which additional lines from the poem also develop the
central idea from part a?

1. lines 10 - 11

Explanation:

For Part A:

• The poem "American Sonnet" compares the modern - day picture postcard (a form of communication) to the traditional sonnet. The lines use comparison. The sonnet is a traditional form with 14 lines, while the picture postcard is a more modern, perhaps less formal form of expressing thoughts (like a "poem on vacation"). The comparison shows that both (the traditional sonnet - like form of sharing feelings in a structured way and the postcard - like form) are ways for people (past - those who wrote sonnets, present - those who send postcards) to share their experiences.
• Option 1 is incorrect because the poem is not mainly about Elizabethan women's eyes changing the view of art. Option 3 is incorrect as the postcard is presented as a more "vacation" - like, less structured form compared to the sonnet. Option 4 is incorrect as there is no main focus on Elizabethan times as an example for the art of writing poems and postcards.

For Part B:

• Lines 10 - 11 ("We announce that we are having a wonderful time. We express the wish that you were here") further develop the idea of sharing experiences (a central idea from Part A). Just as the comparison in Part A shows sharing (sonnet - structured sharing, postcard - more casual sharing), these lines show the act of sharing one's current experience (having a wonderful time) and the wish to share the physical presence (wish that you were here) with others.

Answer:

Part A: 2. by making a comparison, the lines emphasize that people, past and present, want to share their unique adventures with others
Part B: 1. lines 10 - 11