1 Who is the poem's speaker? Somebody who has just ordered a box full of bees A bee who lives on a farm A writer comparing her words to swarming bees A grieving husband participating in the custom of "telling the bees" 2 Broadly speaking, what did bees symbolize in seventeenth-century Europe? Creativity and individuality Poverty and monasticism Noisiness and immorality Hard work and piety 3 What is the meaning of the word "colonnade"? A dessert made of fruit A colonial outpost A military parade A row of columns 4 Which writer did NOT use bees as a symbol or allegory? John Mandeville Mary Leapor John Greenleaf Whittier Fanny Burney 5 What are the bees probably NOT intended to symbolize in this poem? Familial demands on women Sexual aggression Climate change The speaker's thoughts 6 Where does the poem most likely take place? A school An industrial honey farm The speaker's home A field of flowers 7 Which collection was this poem a part of? Double Exposure The Colossus Ariel The Bell Jar 8 How does the work's final stanza most clearly differ from the others? It is the only part that does not rhyme It is only one line long It is written in a different meter It is spoken by a different speaker 9 Fill in the blank: I wonder if they would forget me/If I just undid the locks and stood back and _______" ran away died turned into a tree closed my eyes 10 Which is an example of irony? The speaker's ability to keep her bees alive or let them die The amount of noise that the bees make The speaker's comparison of herself to God The speaker's feeling of temptation despite the danger of the bees 11 Fill in the blank: It is the noise that _____ me most of all, ensnares appalls distracts intrigues 12 What does the speaker NOT compare the box to? A coffin A tent A chair A baby 13 How many stanzas are in the poem? 7 5 9 3 14 The speaker compares the bees to a mob from where? Ancient Rome Revolutionary America Victorian Britain The Old West 15 What is the meaning of the word "laburnum"? A diploma A New England company A type of tree A kitchen counter 16 What is the meaning of the word "din"? Sunset Noise Hillside Dinner 17 Which best describes the poem's portrayal of power? The speaker loses her power when she buys the bees and gives up her job The bees' power comes from their cleanliness and cooperativeness The speaker struggles for power, but is no match for nature The speaker struggles to decide whether it is she or the bees who holds disproportionate power 18 What is the poem's meter? Dactylic pentameter It has no set meter Anapestic tetrameter Iambic pentameter 19 What best describes the poem's conflict? The bee's decision about whether to sting the human The speaker's fight against the queen bee The speaker's decision about whether to free the bees The beekeeper's conflict with the industrialist 20 What best describes the speaker's feelings about the bees? self-effacing admiration alternating fascination and fear intimacy and love maddening irritation 21 What type of stanzas appear in the poem? Sestets Couplets Tercets The stanzas are unmatched 22 How is the theme of femininity discussed in the poem? The speaker's desire to engage with insects hints at a need to escape human gender norms The bees' collaboration suggests that only collaboration between women will better their lot The poem subtly equates the speaker's fear of the bees with women's fear of violence or subjugation The queen bee represents the feminists of the twentieth century 23 Which mythological figure is alluded to in the poem? Hercules Persephone Narcissus Daphne 24 What do the trees most closely symbolize? The speaker's ambivalence The abundance of nature Escape from conflict Strength 25 Which of the following is a metaphor? "There is only a little grid, no exit" "They can die, I can feed them nothing" "In my moon suit and funeral veil" "Square as a chair and almost too heavy to lift"