Copyright © 2006 StudyIsland.com - All rights reserved. Generation Date: 10/16/2007 Generated By: Albert Deep Symbolism The Snow Man One must have a mind of winter To regard the frost and the boughs Of the pine-trees crusted with snow; And have been cold a long time To behold the junipers shagged with ice, The spruces rough in the distant glitter Of the January sun; and not to think Of any misery in the sound of the wind, In the sound of a few leaves, Which is the sound of the land Full of the same wind That is blowing in the same bare place For the listener, who listens in the snow, And, nothing himself, beholds Nothing that is not there and the nothing that is. adapted from "The Snow Man" by Wallace Stevens 1. Why does the poet use the title “The Snow Man” for this poem? A. Snow is always used as a way to convey coldness and death. B. Snowmen only are visible in winter just as someone who is trying to be avoided only comes out in winter. C. Snowmen are cold physically just as someone who is sad is cold emotionally. D. The poem is about snow, so he has to name it after something in the snow. In the beginning, we were happy. And we were always excessive. So in the beginning we were happy to excess. We were Mom and Dad and I--three palindromes!--and we lived eight hundred feet in the air above San Francisco; an apartment at the top of a building at the top of a hill: full of light, full of voices, full of windows, full of water and bridges and hills. Mom was the center. Mom was irresistible. Whatever she was saying or wearing or smelling of was captivating--all our senses were attuned to her. As soon as I was old enough to walk, I admired and wanted to be like her, so much that they had me seeing a shrink by the time I was three. The shrink said I needed to spend more time with my dad. But how? Mom was irresistible. One Sunday, on a shrink-mandated father-and-son outing, Dad took me across the bay on the ferry, re-creating the commute he made as a boy, before the Golden Gate Bridge was completed, from Catholic school in San Francisco to his home in Marin. Dad always said, he wasn't a man until he made it to the other side. Now, it was my turn. On the way, Dad misplaced his wallet. To make matters worse, halfway there it started to rain, and we didn't have any umbrellas, so when we arrived we stood in a doorway near the water. Dad hadn't shaved since Friday morning before work, and he looked rough. Even I could see it. Our matching jumpsuits were sad without Mom. We looked out at the water. A man with a box and an umbrella strode past, glanced at us, stopped fifty feet on, turned, walked back, and handed the box to Dad. "I can't give you anything else," he said. "But take this." Dad said, "Thank you," and took the box. Dad opened the box. "He gave us donuts!" I shouted. Dad looked at me and started chuckling. "That guy thinks we don't have any money." "We don't," I said, reminding him about the wallet. He took a donut, laughed again, and blew powdered sugar out of his mouth. "What do you mean," he said, "we're millionaires!" I ate a glazed, and then a chocolate with sprinkles. Dad ate all the rest, steadily, devouring them with great relish and no preference for jelly over old fashioned over chocolate or bear claw--only pleasure, and great amusement. adapted from Oh The Glory Of It All by Sean Wilsey 2. What act or object from the story is symbolic of the narrator becoming a man? A. the narrator's father losing his wallet during the outing B. the narrator enjoying donuts with his father C. the narrator being closer to his mother than his father D. the narrator and his father crossing the Golden Gate Bridge 3. What object or act symbolizes the family being happy and on top of the world? A. the narrator's relationship with his mother B. the narrator's dad losing his wallet C. the location of their apartment D. the father and son outing Despite her name, Momma Rose's favorite flowers were African and French marigolds, and they were the first seeds to go into the ground. But Momma Rose didn't simply open the paper packets and dump them onto the soil, nor did she pour them into her palm and laboriously pick them out one by one. She had a seed sower: a little plastic gadget that evenly and quickly dispensed seeds, and she considered it one of the most ingenious inventions of her time. After filling the sower, she leaned over and began placing the seeds an inch apart, until half the tilled space was filled, humming Vivaldi's "Spring" while she worked. http://www.chickflicksezine.com/archives/issue2/workman_mommarose.html 4. What does Momma Rose’s name symbolize? A. her favorite flowers B. her love of the seed sower C. her connection with nature D. her dislike of Spring Alexander was reluctant to go to his father's summer home in Valencia. It was junior year, and all his friends would be planning out the onset of their senior year. Alexander hadn't even seen his father Gene in four years since his job moved him to Alaska, away from Alexander and his mother. The distance proved to be too wide for Alexander's mom and his father as they ended up divorcing. The last time he saw his father, Alexander had a baby face. "He probably won't even recognize me," Alexander thought to himself as he scratched at the shaggy beard that hung from his chin and neck like a fur scarf. The last time he had heard from Gene, Gene had sent Alexander a picture of himself holding a large salmon. In the picture, Gene had a beard as thick as a storm cloud, but he was wearing shorts. When Alexander's mother June told Alexander he would have to stay with Gene for the summer, Alexander immediately went back to three years earlier when he last saw Gene—before he had a driver's license, before he had a job, before he grew his own beard. Alexander tried everything to stay. Finally, he got so frustrated that he cut off his beard and shaved his head in protest. Suddenly, Alexander was that little kid he was when Gene left. He couldn't even form a decent argument to convince his mother that he would be okay by himself for the summer while she went for her summer internship in New York. "I'd be a bad mother if I left you alone here," she told him. "You'd be a bad mother if you left at all," he responded in kind. "That's what he did." A week later, a freshly-shaved Alexander was out of state and in Valencia. As he walked up to the his father's summer home, he was blinded by the sand being blown in from the wind and tide. Alexander could almost taste the salt—if he still had his beard, it would have collected in his beard. The side of Gene's summer home was faded. It had once been a deep crimson red, as if the house itself had bled out from the roof. The house was owned by Alexander's grandfather—Gene's father. It was the only thing he left to Gene other than the last name—the same last name Alexander carried. Alexander had seen older pictures of a beardless Gene and his grandfather fishing and surfing near the house. The house looked so much more pathetic in person than it did in Alexander's memories, postcards, and pictures. Despite this, Alexander could see that Gene was renovating the shack. There were buckets of paint, brushes, and drop cloths stacked by the wall facing the ocean. Alexander rang the bell, but there was no answer. He decided to let himself in through the screen door. As he dropped his bags and made his way around the house, Alexander noticed a number of framed pictures of his grandfather and Gene. In one, they were surfing in front of the house. In another, they were barbecuing in the backyard. They both wore matching Bermuda shirts as the flames from the fire outlined the house's red exterior. It was like they were standing in the middle of a fire, but the look on their faces was even brighter. That's when Alexander's eyes moved to the window facing the ocean. In the surf, he saw his father coasting and pivoting on his surfboard as if it were made of string. He looked the same as he did in all the pictures--hairy, happy, haunted. adapted from "Endless. Summer." by c.safos 5. What is the beard in the story symbolic of? A. being grown up B. reconciliation C. future plans D. being obnoxious 6. What is a symbol of relationships in the story? A. Gene surfing B. Gene wearing shorts C. Gene's salmon D. Gene's summer house David's Haircut When David steps out of the front door he is blinded by the white, fizzing sunlight and reaches instinctively for his dad's hand. It's the first warm day of the year, an unexpected heat that bridges the cusp between spring and summer. Father and son are on their way to the barbershop, something they have always done together. Always, the routine is the same. "It's about time we got that mop of yours cut," David's dad will say, pointing at him with two fingers. "Perhaps I should do it. Where are those shears, Janet?" Sometimes, his dad chases him round the living room, pretending to cut off his ears. When he was young David used to cry, scared that maybe he really would lose his ears. He has long since grown out of that. Mr. Samuels' barbershop is in a long room. There is a groove worn in the welcome mat by the men who wipe their feet. David loves the barbershop--it's like nowhere else. It smells of smoke and men and hair oil. Black and white photographs of men with out-of-fashion hairstyles hang above a picture rail. Two barber's chairs are bolted to the floor. They are heavy, old-fashioned chairs with foot pumps that hiss and chatter as Mr. Samuels adjusts the height of the seat. In front of the chairs are sinks with a showerhead and long metal hose attached to the taps. Behind the sinks are mirrors and on either side of these, shelves overflowing with a mixture of plastic combs, shaving mugs, scissors, straight razors, hair brushes and, stacked neatly in a pyramid, 10 bright red tubs of Brylcreem. When it is David's turn for a cut, Mr. Samuels places a wooden board covered with a piece of oxblood red leather across the arms of the chair, so that the barber doesn't have to stoop to cut the boy's hair. David scrambles up onto the bench. "The rate you're shooting up, you won't need this soon, you'll be sat in the chair," the barber says. "Wow," says David, squirming round to look at his dad, forgetting that he can see him through the mirror. "Dad, Mr. Samuels said I could be sitting in the chair soon, not just on the board!" "So I hear," his father replies, not looking up from the paper. "I expect Mr. Samuels will start charging me more for your hair then." "At least double the price," said Mr. Samuels, winking at David. "Wasn't so long ago when I had to lift you onto that board because you couldn't climb up there yourself," he says. "They don't stay young for long do they, kids," Mr. Samuels declares. All the men in the shop nod in agreement. David nods too. In the mirror he sees a little head sticking out of a long nylon cape. Occasionally he steals glances at the barber as he works. He smells a mixture of stale sweat and aftershave as the barber's moves around him, combing and snipping, combing and snipping. David feels like he is in another world, noiseless except for the scuffing of the barber's shoes on the floor and the snap of his scissors. Sleepily, his eyes dropping to the front of the cape where his hair falls with the same softness as snow, and he imagines sitting in the chair just like the men and older boys, the special bench left leaning against the wall in the corner. He thinks about the picture book of bible stories his aunt gave him for Christmas, the one of Samson having his hair cut by Delilah. David wonders if his strength will go like Samson's. When Mr. Samuels has finished, David hops down from the seat, rubbing the itchy hair from his face. Looking down he sees his own thick, blonde hair scattered among the browns, greys and blacks of the men who have sat in the chair before him. For a moment he wants to reach down and gather up the broken blonde locks, to separate them from the others, but he does not have time. "I tell you what, lad, let's get some fish and chips to take home, save your mum from cooking tea," says David's dad and turns up the street. The youngster is excited and grabs his dad's hand. The thick-skinned fingers close gently around his and David is surprised to find, warming in his father's palm, a lock of his own hair. adapted from "David's Haircut" by Ken Elkes 7. What other image from the story is symbolic of David growing into a young man? A. The picture book of bible stories B. His hair C. The men in the shop nodding D. The smell of chips 8. Consider the following quote from the story: “It's the first really warm day of the year, an unexpected heat that bridges the cusp between spring and summer. Father and son are on their way to the barbershop, something they have always done together.” What does the “cusp that bridges the gap between spring and summer” represent? A. David growing from a child into a young man B. The line of customers waiting for haircuts C. Life and death D. Mr. Samuels and the men at the barbershop’s feelings about David The Cricket War That summer an army of crickets started a war with my father when they invaded our cellar. Dad didn't care for bugs much more than Mamma, but he could handle a few spiders and creepy crawlers living in the basement. Every farm house had them. A part of rustic living, and something you had to put up with if you wanted the simple life. He told Mamma: Now that we're living out here, you can't be jerking your head over what's plain natural, Ellen. But she was a city girl through and through and had no ears when it came to accepting vermin. She said a cricket was just a noisy cockroach. She said in the city there were blocks of buildings overrun with cockroaches with no way for people to get rid of them. No way could she sleep with all that chirping going on; then to prove her point she wouldn't go to bed. She drank coffee and she paced between the couch and the TV. Next morning, she threatened to pack up and leave, so Dad went to the hardware store. He squirted poison from a jug in the basement and around the foundation of the house. When he was finished, he told us that was the end of it. What he should have said was: This is the beginning. The beginning of our war, the beginning of our destruction. I often think back to that summer and try to imagine him delivering a speech like that, because for the next fourteen days Mamma kept finding dead crickets in the clean laundry. She'd shake out a towel or a sheet and a dead cricket would roll across the linoleum. Sometimes the cat would corner one and swat it around, then carry it away in his mouth. Dad said swallowing a few dead crickets wouldn't hurt as long as the cat didn't eat too many. Each time Momma complained he told her it was only natural that we'd be finding a few dead ones for a while. adapted from "The Cricket War" by Bob Thurber 9. What do the crickets in the story symbolize? A. The feeling of change from a city to a rural environment B. The desire of the narrator to go home C. The feeling of the narrator’s mother to want to go back to work D. The feeling of the narrator’s father to want to go back to school 10. What does the war with the crickets symbolize? A. The conflict between the narrator’s mother and father B. The conflict between the narrator and his new house C. The conflict between the father and the narrator D. The conflict between the mother and the narrator When the Year Grows Old by Edna St. Vincent Millay I CANNOT but remember When the year grows old— October—November— How she disliked the cold! She used to watch the swallows Go down across the sky, And turn from the window With a little sharp sigh. And often when the brown leaves Were brittle on the ground, And the wind in the chimney Made a melancholy sound, She had a look about her That I wish I could forget— The look of a scared thing Sitting in a net! Oh, beautiful at nightfall The soft spitting snow! And beautiful the bare boughs Rubbing to and fro! But the roaring of the fire, And the warmth of fur, And the boiling of the kettle Were beautiful to her! I cannot but remember When the year grows old— October—November— How she disliked the cold! 11. Consider the following lines from the sixth stanza: “But the roaring of the fire/And the warmth of fur.” What could the fur stand for? A. a coat B. rivers C. trees D. people Nick's grandfather preferred using a hammer for opening walnuts. It was just one reason the seven-year-old was more than a little afraid of him. Nick had never seen him eat one of the nuts; the old man just sat there and opened them. It didn't help that his grandfather rarely spoke, or refused to wear socks even on the coldest day in winter. The stooped old man was weird, and smelled of musty basements. http://www.literarypotpourri.com/03_Feb/fl_feb_03.html 12. The grandfather's refusal to wear socks most likely symbolizes his -A. musty-smelling home. B. stubbornness. C. fear of children. D. eating habits. 13. The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth; then took the other, as just as fair, And having perhaps the better claim, Because it was grassy and wanted wear; Though as for that the passing there Had worn them really about the same, And both that morning equally lay In leaves no step had trodden black. Oh, I kept the first for another day! Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back. I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference. adapted from "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost "The Road Not Taken" by Robert FrostWhat do the two roads symbolize in this poem? A. The idea of choice B. Two paths through a forest C. The concept of sorrow D. Retracing one's steps Mi Abuelo Where my grandfather is, is in the ground Where you can hear the future Like the movie Indian with his ear at the tracks. A pipe leads down to him so that sometimes He whispers what will happen to a man In town, or how he will meet the best Dressed woman tomorrow and how the best Man at her wedding will chew the ground Next to her. Mi abuelo is the man Who speaks through all the mouths in my house. An echo of me hitting the pipe sometimes To stop him from saying my hair is a Sieve is the only other sound. It is a phrase That among all others is the best, He says, and my hair is a sieve is sometimes Repeated for hours out of the ground When I let him, which is not often. An abuelo should be much more than a man Like you! He stops then, and speaks: I am a man Who has served the ants with the attitude Of a waiter, who has made each smile as only An ant who is fat can, and they liked me best, But there is nothing left. Yet I know he ground Green coffee beans as a child, and sometimes He will talk about his wife, and sometimes About when he was deaf and a man Cured him by mail and he heard groundhogs Talking, or about how he walked with a cane He chewed on when he got hungry. At best, Mi abuelo is a liar. I see an old picture of him at nani's with an Off-white, yellow center mustache, and sometimes That's all I know for sure. He talks best About these hills, slowest waves, and where this man Is going, and I'm convinced his hair is a sieve, That his fever is cooled now underground. Mi abuelo is an ordinary man. I look down the pipe, sometimes, and see a Ripple-topped stream, in its best suit, in the ground. adapted from "Mi Abuelo" by Alberto Rios 14. Consider the following lines from the poem: ”Mi abuelo is the man/Who speaks through all the mouths in my house.” What could the mouth stand for? A. Old age B. Family C. Secrets D. Windows "Ah! Here is a subject," exclaimed the king, when he saw the little prince coming. And the little prince asked himself: "How could he recognize me when he had never seen me before?" He did not know how the world is simplified for kings. To them, all men are subjects. "Approach, so that I may see you better," said the king, who felt consumingly proud of being at last a king over somebody. The little prince looked everywhere to find a place to sit down; but the entire planet was crammed and obstructed by the king's magnificent ermine robe. So he remained standing upright, and, since he was tired, he yawned. "It is contrary to etiquette to yawn in the presence of a king," the monarch said to him. "I forbid you to do so." "I can't help it. I can't stop myself," replied the little prince, thoroughly embarrassed. "I have come on a long journey, and I have had no sleep..." "Ah, then," the king said. "I order you to yawn. It is years since I have seen anyone yawning. Yawns, to me, are objects of curiosity. Come, now! Yawn again! It is an order." "That frightens me... I cannot, any more..." murmured the little prince, now completely abashed. "Hum! Hum!" replied the king. "Then I... I order you sometimes to yawn and sometimes to" He sputtered a little, and seemed vexed. For what the king fundamentally insisted upon was that his authority should be respected. He tolerated no disobedience. He was an absolute monarch. But, because he was a very good man, he made his orders reasonable. "If I ordered a general," he would say, by way of example, "if I ordered a general to change himself into a sea bird, and if the general did not obey me, that would not be the fault of the general. It would be my fault." "May I sit down?" came now a timid inquiry from the little prince. "I order you to do so," the king answered him, and majestically gathered in a fold of his ermine mantle. But the little prince was wondering... The planet was tiny. Over what could this king really rule? "Sire," he said to him, "I beg that you will excuse my asking you a question" "I order you to ask me a question," the king hastened to assure him. "Sire, over what do you rule?" "Over everything," said the king, with magnificent simplicity. "Over everything?" The king made a gesture, which took in his planet, the other planets, and all the stars. "Over all that?" asked the little prince. "Over all that," the king answered. For his rule was not only absolute: it was also universal. "And the stars obey you?" "Certainly they do," the king said. "They obey instantly. I do not permit insubordination." adapted from The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint Exupery 15. What does the king symbolize in this excerpt? A. greed B. laziness C. power D. evil Answers 1. C 2. D 3. C 4. C 5. A 6. D 7. B 8. A 9. A 10. A 11. A 12. B 13. A 14. D 15. C Explanations 1. The best explanation as to why the poet names the poem snowman is because snowmen are cold physically just as someone who is sad is cold emotionally. Just because a poem is about a particular subject doesn’t mean it has to have a title that relates to the subject. Also, snow isn’t always used to convey cold and death, sometimes it’s used to convey a color or emotion. 2. If you follow what the narrator says, he says that "Dad always said, he wasn't a man until he made it to the other side. Now, it was my turn." This is in reference to the trip the narrator and his father make across the Golden Gate Bridge. 3. Consider the location of the narrator's home. He states, "In the beginning, we were happy." Then he talks about his apartment sits over the city. It's a visual that reinforces the saying, "on top of the world." 4. Symbolism is when certain objects or images are used in place or to represent other ideas. A symbol must be something tangible or visible (something you can touch or feel), but the idea it symbolizes must be something abstract or universal (love, hate, worry). For example, a caged bird could be used as a symbol to mean imprisonment (depending on how the writer uses the symbol). Authors often use names as symbols. 5. Consider how Alexander is when he has a beard. He has a job, he has a driver's license, and he has responsibilities. Now, consider how Alexander reacts when he realized he has to go to Gene's for the summer. He acts impulsively and cuts off his hair and beard in protest. The narrator even states that after this happens "Alexander was that little kid he was when Gene left." For Alexander, the beard represents him being a grown-up. 6. Consider the look of Gene's summer home--it is run down and faded, much like his relationship with Alexander. Then, consider how the house used to look when Gene and his father were together. In all the pictures, the house looks rich and vibrant, and the relationship with Gene and his father seems to be just as warm as the house's color. 7. Consider the following image form the story: “Looking down he sees his own thick, blonde hair scattered among the browns, grays and blacks of the men who have sat in the chair before him. For a moment he wants to reach down and gather up the broken blonde locks, to separate them from the others, but he does not have time.” All of the older men have darker hair, some even gray, and David’s hair is mixed in with theirs. This image shows that he’s starting to grow into being a man. 8. Think about how the seasons change. During spring, things are growing and are in bloom from the winter. The same can be said about David. He’s changing from a boy into a young man. 9. The narrator states that the crickets were part of the adjustment his father warned about when they moved from the city. The narrator states, “But she was a city girl through and through…”, meaning that the mother was used to the city, and the house in the country was a big adjustment for her to make, especially when the crickets from the country started to invade the home—the one place she felt the most comfortable in being in the country. 10. In the story, it’s clear that the mother didn’t want to move to the new house in the country. It’s clear there is tension between the mother and father because of the move, and instead of trying to work on the problem the mother has with the crickets, the father goes out of his way to wage a war against the crickets. It could be said that he does this because it’s easier fighting with the crickets than it is with his wife. 11. Think of the cold that is present in the poem. The objects in the sixth stanza are all warm. It makes sense then that the fur could be a coat since a coat keeps one warm. 12. The grandfather's refusal to wear socks symbolizes his stubbornness. The passage above describes the grandfather as a strange character who hammers open walnuts but never eats them, refuses to wear socks in the winter, and smells like musty basements. 13. Symbols are words or objects that stand for something larger than their literal meaning. On the surface, this appears to just be a poem about two diverging roads the narrator has come upon. But if you look deeper, you will see that the narrator has to think hard about which "road" to take, since he can only take one and not the other. He ends up choosing "the one less traveled by"--the "choice" that very few others have made--and that has "made all the difference" in his life. We often talk about choices symbolically, in terms of roads: "I should never have gone down that path," really means, "I should never have made that choice." 14. Consider the qualities of a mouth. They can open and close, eat and talk. It would make sense that windows do the some of the same functions. 15. In this excerpt from the classic children's story, The Little Prince, the character of the king is used symbolically. In other words, the king represents something larger than just himself--he stands for the idea of power. By making the king look rather ridiculous for "commanding" the prince to do whatever the prince was already doing, the author is making a statement about power in our society. Even though we tend to place a high value on power, the author is using the symbol of the king to say that it's silly and meaningless for one person to have power over others and order them about, just for the sake of doing so. Copyright © 2006 StudyIsland.com - All rights reserved.