Question

Help! I have no idea about these questions!

Answer 1

C

a solace of ripe plums

seeming to fill the air

They taste good to her

1. Refer to Explorations in Literature for a complete version of this poem.

In "To a Poor Old Woman," William Carlos Williams repeats the phrase "They taste good to her" four times.

How does this use of repetition affect the poem?

The repetition develops the poem's stunned, confused mood.

The repetition conveys the poem's increasingly desperate mood.

The repetition helps create the poem's calm, contemplative mood.

The repetition stresses the poem's exuberant, joyous mood.

2. Refer to Explorations in Literature for a complete version of this poem.

In "To a Poor Old Woman," how does the image of ripe plums "seeming to fill the air" affect the poem?

It indicates that the speaker is not really observing a woman eating plums, but is actually imagining the entire scene.

It makes clear to readers that the woman knows that she is being observed by the speaker as she eats.

It helps stress the idea that the woman, though poor and old, is greatly soothed by the simple pleasure of eating the plums.

It works to suggest the sound made by the woman eating the plums, which the speaker can hear from afar.

3. Refer to Explorations in Literature for a complete version of this poem.

In "To a Poor Old Woman," how does paper bag full of plums act as a symbol?

It represents the limits of human happiness, which stresses the poem's fatalistic tone.

It represents the mundaneness of everyday experience, which conveys the poem's indifferent tone.

It represents the simple pleasures that make life worth living, which helps give the poem its positive tone.

It represents the great luxuries that people experience only occasionally, which develops the poem's awestruck tone.

Answer 2

1. The repetition helps create the poem's calm, contemplative mood.

2. It helps stress the idea that the woman, though poor and old, is greatly soothed by the simple pleasure of eating the plums.

3. It represents the simple pleasures that make life worth living, which helps give the poem its positive tone.

When thinking about poetry, sometimes it is helpful first to think about whether the overall feeling of the poem is positive or negative. If you can narrow it down to something even more specific that is better. But for now, let's give this poem the broader label of positive. For the first question, the fact that the poem is positive eliminates the first two answer choices. To determine between the last two, you could ask yourself how positive? Is it over the top excitement, or simple happiness. The words "comforted" and "solace" help to create the calm and contemplative mood as well as the repetition.

For question 2, the first option is incorrect because the entire scene isn't being described, just the woman. The second option doesn't work because we have no indication that the woman knows she is being observed. The last one is just silly because there is nothing to suggest the speaker is hearing the sound of the woman sucking the plums from afar.

For question 3, the first two can be eliminated with the positive vs negative strategy. The last one should also be eliminated because the plums aren't luxuries. The woman has an entire bag of them.