1 Who is the poem's speaker? A bee who lives on a farm A grieving husband participating in the custom of "telling the bees" A writer comparing her words to swarming bees Somebody who has just ordered a box full of bees 2 Broadly speaking, what did bees symbolize in seventeenth-century Europe? Creativity and individuality Noisiness and immorality Poverty and monasticism 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 Greenleaf Whittier John Mandeville Fanny Burney Mary Leapor 5 What are the bees probably NOT intended to symbolize in this poem? Familial demands on women Climate change Sexual aggression The speaker's thoughts 6 Where does the poem most likely take place? An industrial honey farm The speaker's home A field of flowers A school 7 Which collection was this poem a part of? Ariel The Bell Jar Double Exposure The Colossus 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 written in a different meter It is the only part that does not rhyme 9 Fill in the blank: I wonder if they would forget me/If I just undid the locks and stood back and _______" died turned into a tree closed my eyes ran away 10 Which is an example of irony? The speaker's feeling of temptation despite the danger of the bees The amount of noise that the bees make The speaker's comparison of herself to God 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 intrigues distracts ensnares 12 What does the speaker NOT compare the box to? A chair A coffin A tent A baby 13 How many stanzas are in the poem? 3 5 9 7 14 The speaker compares the bees to a mob from where? Victorian Britain The Old West Ancient Rome Revolutionary America 15 What is the meaning of the word "laburnum"? A kitchen counter A New England company A type of tree A diploma 16 What is the meaning of the word "din"? Sunset Noise Dinner Hillside 17 Which best describes the poem's portrayal of power? The speaker struggles for power, but is no match for nature 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 bees' power comes from their cleanliness and cooperativeness 18 What is the poem's meter? It has no set meter Iambic pentameter Dactylic pentameter Anapestic tetrameter 19 What best describes the poem's conflict? 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 The speaker's fight against the queen bee 20 What best describes the speaker's feelings about the bees? self-effacing admiration alternating fascination and fear maddening irritation intimacy and love 21 What type of stanzas appear in the poem? Sestets Tercets Couplets The stanzas are unmatched 22 How is the theme of femininity discussed in the poem? 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 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? Narcissus Persephone Hercules Daphne 24 What do the trees most closely symbolize? The speaker's ambivalence Escape from conflict The abundance of nature Strength 25 Which of the following is a metaphor? "In my moon suit and funeral veil" "There is only a little grid, no exit" "They can die, I can feed them nothing" "Square as a chair and almost too heavy to lift"