Question

read the poem. there are several questions about this poem.
american sonnet
we do not speak like petrarch or wear a hat like spenser
and do not burrow 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 messaging cups.

we write on the back of a waterfall or lake,
adding to the new caption as conventional
as an elizabethan woman’s 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.

a slice of this place, a length of white beach,
a pizza or carved spires of a cathedral
will pierce the familiar place where you remain,

and you will toss on the table this reversible display:
a few square inches of where we have strayed
and a compression of what we feel.

(“american sonnet” from questions about angels by billy collins, © 1994. all rights are reserved to the university of pittsburgh press, pittsburgh, pa 15260. used by permission of the university of pittsburgh press.)

this question has two parts. answer part a, and then answer part b.

part a
which statement best expresses a central idea of the poem?

1. a postcard is as conventionally structured as a sonnet, but it has little meaning.
2. a postcard is more limited than a sonnet, but it creates an inspiring feeling of freedom.
3. a postcard offers a form of self-expression like a sonnet, and it provides a comforting sense of order.
4. a postcard breaks with traditional poetic forms such as the sonnet, and it shows that change is inevitable.

part b
which excerpt from the poem best develops the correct central idea from part a?

1. “fourteen lines” (line 2)
2. “wonderful time” (line 11)
3. “thin message” (line 15)
4. “reversible display” (line 19)

Explanation:

Part A

To determine the central idea, analyze each option:

• Option 1: The poem doesn't suggest postcards have "little meaning." Eliminate.
• Option 2: The poem compares postcards to sonnets (a structured form) and emphasizes order/comfort, not "freedom" from limits. Eliminate.
• Option 3: The poem shows postcards (like sonnets) are a form of self - expression (writing sentiments, describing place/feelings) and provide order (structured like a sonnet, "carefully plowed field" - like order). This matches.
• Option 4: The poem doesn't focus on postcards "breaking with traditional forms" or "change is inevitable." Eliminate.

We need an excerpt that supports the central idea from Part A (postcard as self - expression with order).

• Option 1: "fourteen lines" refers to sonnets, not postcards' self - expression/order. Eliminate.
• Option 2: "wonderful time" is a small part of the postcard's message, not about self - expression/order. Eliminate.
• Option 3: "thin message" is just about the postcard's physical aspect, not the central idea. Eliminate.
• Option 4: "reversible display" (postcard) with "a few square inches of where we have strayed and a compression of what we feel" shows self - expression (sharing feelings/where they strayed) and the postcard's structured (reversible display, like a sonnet's structure) order. This supports the central idea.

Answer:

1. A postcard offers a form of self - expression like a sonnet, and it provides a comforting sense of order.

Part B