An Agony. As Now Quizzes

An Agony. As Now Quiz

1 How many different kinds of pain are listed in this poem?
4

2

5

3
2 What kind of literary element is "fouled tunes" (line 4)?
simile

allegory

comparison

metaphor
3 What does "wretched" most likely mean in the context of line 6?
physically appealing

foul, disgusting

promiscuous

lovely and beautiful
4 What does Baraka mean by "without shadow, or voice, or meaning" when referring to the "hard flesh" that he touches in Stanza II?
They are dead bodies

They are actually robots

They are monsters

He is interacting with their flesh but has no contact with their souls
5 What traps the speaker of the poem?
He is being held captive by a horde of men

The confines of jail

His own flesh, which is made into an object by society

A factory that he cannot escape
6 What is the first kind of pain listed in this poem ("As now, as all his / flesh hurts me")?
jumping into a vat of acid

the torture of being stuck inside your body that is not a part of who you actually are

being touched with someone that has very rough hands

having a skin condition that makes skin-to-skin contact painful
7 What is the second kind of pain given in this poem ("As when she ran from me into / that forest")?
worry that she will be eaten by monsters in the forest

not being able to run

pain of abandonment and loss of love

pain of the unknown
8 What goes "higher than even old men thought / God would be" (Stanza V)?
a bird

the devil

the mind

a helicopter
9 Who turns out to be a "self, after all" (Stanza VI)?
God

the "lost soul"

the devil

the speaker
10 What kind of literary element is "whithered yellow flowers" in Stanza V?
hyperbole

metonymy

simile

metaphor
11 How is beauty practiced in Stanza V?
through poetry

through the separation between soul and body

through nature, like trees and a river

through pain
12 What does the speaker *actually* live inside?
human love

New York City

his body

his home
13 What can the speaker be recognized as?
his facial features

his height and weight

where he lives

words and emotion
14 What has no feeling in Stanza VIII?
the body

words

the soul

metal
15 What is left screaming by the end of the poem?
the soul that is trapped inside of its body

everyone

the speaker's lover

the "lost soul"
16 Based on textual evidence, who could be the "lost soul" the speaker refers to in Stanza V?
Baraka's first wife, Hattie Jones

the person the speaker abandoned in a past life

white people

Jack Kerouac
17 What kind of literary element is "blind" (Stanza V)?
onomatopoeia

simile

hyperbole

metaphor
18 What kind of literary device is used in "silver, spiraled, whirled" (Stanza V)?
assonance

metonymy

alliteration

onomatopoeia
19 What does "corrupt" most likely mean in the context of line 35?
healthy

debased/depraved

together

complete
20 What is the closest definition of "gale" in the context of Stanza VI?
a courtyard

a type of bridge

a windy place

a forest
21 What kind of associations come up with the actions of "the cold men in their gale" in Stanza VI?
fear, death, destruction

ritual, conformity, collectivity

religion, sacredness, awe

harmony, unity, peace
22 In other words, what do the speaker's enemies do to him in Stanza III?
make him read lots of books and expand his mind

kill him

carry him in a ritualistic procession as if preparing him for sacrifice

offer him the tools necessary to have a successful life
23 Why does the speaker call flesh "an abstraction" is Stanza III?
bodies are very beautiful and often the skin looks like a work of art

his flesh has been cut up and deformed through torture

someone's flesh is often obstructed by clothing

any perception of the body is influenced by societal conventions
24 What "glows as the day with its sun" (Stanza VII)?
the gale that the cold men are living in

flesh, symbolized by metal that is so hot it becomes white

God

the sky
25 Why might have Baraka chosen to repeat "the yes" the times in Stanzas V-VI?
to really emphasize what he is referring to

because it sounds cool

to bring up different kinds of "yes"

it creates a repetition of rhythm and speeds up the meter towards the climax of the poem; also helps the poem sound more musical

An Agony. As Now Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for An Agony. As Now is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

Ask Your Own Question

Study Guide for An Agony. As Now

An Agony. As Now study guide contains a biography of Imamu Amiri Baraka, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

Read the Study Guide for An Agony. As Now…