1 What was the author’s role in the Vietnam War? A war correspondent for a major newspaper A soldier in the army A civilian critic A war correspondent for a military newspaper 2 Which two major historical events most shaped the author as a young man? The Korean War and American counterculture The civil rights movement and the Cold War The Vietnam War and the Cold War The Vietnam War and the civil rights movement 3 Which book first brought Yusef Komunyakaa critical acclaim? Dien Cai Dau (1988) Talking Dirty to the Gods (2000) Neon Vernacular (1993) The Pleasure Dome (2001) 4 Which 21-year-old artist designed the Vietnam Veterans Memorial? Maya Lin Anne Chu Raymond Persinger Laura Ann Jacobs 5 Which is an example of a metaphor? My clouded reflection eyes me / like a bird of prey. I’m stone. I’m flesh. A red bird’s / wings cutting across my stare Half-expecting to find / my own in letters like smoke 6 Which is an example of a simile? My clouded reflection eyes me / like a bird of prey. In the black mirror / a woman’s trying to erase names. I turn / this way—the stone lets me go. I see the booby trap’s white flash. 7 Who is the name “Andrew Johnson” in reference to? Neither option A dead soldier Potentially both options A former president 8 What is the significance of the number 58,022? Neither option Both options The total number of American and Vietnamese casualties of the Vietnam War The known number of American soldiers dead or missing from the Vietnam War at one point in the 1980s 9 Which is an example of assonance in the poem? I’m stone. I’m flesh. Letters like smoke Granite / dammit My black face fades 10 What is a metonym? a word used to stand in for another, closely related word, like "the crown" as substitute for a monarch or monarchy the repetition of the same or similar vowel sounds, like “granite” and “dammit” a phrase in which several words in a row begin with the same letter a true statement which seems self-contradictory 11 What is alliteration? when a word is used to stand in for another, closely related word, like "the crown" as substitute for a monarch or monarchy when different words repeat the same or similar vowel sounds, like “granite” and “dammit” when a true statement seems self-contradictory when phrase has several words in a row beginning with the same letter 12 What is assonance? when a phrase has several words in a row beginning with the same letter when a true statement seems self-contradictory when different words repeat the same or similar vowel sounds, like “granite” and “dammit” when a word is used to stand in for another, closely related word, like "the crown" as substitute for a monarch or monarchy 13 What does the memorial wall in this poem most often operate as a metonym for? The subjectivity of memory The importance of history American racial politics The impact of the war 14 Which of the following definitions of the word “reflection” is NOT at play in the poem? consideration of some subject matter, idea, or purpose an often obscure or indirect criticism a thought, idea, or opinion formed or a remark made as a result of meditation the production of an image by or as if by a mirror 15 Which color, with all its symbolic associations, is NOT prominent in this poem’s visual landscape? black white yelllow red 16 Which character does Andrew Johnson most stand in contrast to in the poem? The white vet The speaker/author The woman trying to erase names The woman with names on her blouse 17 Which metaphor is NOT present in this poem? I’m stone. I’m a window. I’m a mirror. I’m flesh. 18 Regarding the speaker’s memory of “the booby trap’s white flash”: how many American casualties in the Vietnam War were caused by landmines and booby traps? 50% 25% Over 50% 5% 19 Approximately how many Vietnamese soldiers and civilians died in the Vietnam War? 580,000 58,000 2,000,000 1,000,000 20 Approximately how many more Vietnamese people have died from encountering the war’s leftover landmines since 1975? 10,000 40,000 20,000 30,000 21 Who or what was Agent Orange in the Vietnam War? The code name of an American Air Force base An undercover Northern Vietnamese operative in the American army A toxic herbicide used by American forces to destroy Vietnamese forests and crops, causing illness in millions of people An undercover American operative in the Liberation Army of South Vietnam 22 Which idea or ideas are communicated through the changing and combining reflections in the memorial wall? The connectivity of past and present All of the answers The fleetingness of time The vulnerability of the body 23 Where did the author grow up? Nashville, Tennessee Sacramento, California Bogalusa, Louisiana Brooklyn, New York 24 What is a possible interpretation of “the profile of night / slanted against morning?” Both options His dark skin stands out against the lighter sky behind him Neither option The black granite memorial stands out against the lighter sky behind it 25 What is a possible interpretation of "letters like smoke"? The letters are ephemeral like smoke The names on the wall remind him of the smoke and gunfire of wartime The letters are the greyish color of smoke Any or all of the answers