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