The Émigrée Quizzes

The Émigrée Quiz

1 Which of the following is an example of personification?

"The white streets of that city, the graceful slopes" (Line 9)

"My city takes me dancing..." (Line 21)

"That child’s vocabulary I carried here / like a hollow doll, opens and spills a grammar" (Lines 12-13)

"It may by now be a lie, banned by the state" (Line 15)
2 Which of the following is NOT a motif or symbol used in the poem?

Paper

Shadows

A wolf

Sunlight
3 Which of the following does the speaker not have?

A paperweight

A passport

A piece of paper

A hollow doll
4 "There once was a ____... I left it as a ___."

country / child

country / hollow doll

city / November

city / child
5 Which of the following is NOT a major theme in the poem?

War

Religion

Memory

Language
6 In what year was "The Émigrée" published?

1987

1983

1976

2001
7 Which of the following is an example of caesura?

"They accuse me of being dark in their free city" (Line 23)

"That child’s vocabulary I carried here / like a hollow doll" (Lines 12-13)

"I comb its hair and love its shining eyes" (Line 20)

"There once was a country... I left it as a child" (Line 1)
8 Which color is used to describe the streets of the city?

Brown

Grey

Earthy

White
9 Which of the following is NOT a metaphor in the poem?

"my original view, the bright, filled paperweight" (Line 6)

"and the frontiers rise between us, close like waves" (Line 11)

"but my memory of it is sunlight-clear" (Line 2)

"...as time rolls its tanks" (Line 10)
10 The poem contains ____

rhree stanzas, with the first two containing nine lines and the final stanza containing eight lines.

four stanzas of nine lines each.

Tthree stanzas, with the first two containing eight lines and the final one containing nine lines.

rhree stanzas of eight lines each.
11 Which of the following is NOT used to describe the city?

A docile figure

White Streets

Sunlight

A doll
12 Which of the following best describes the speaker's tone when discussing the "city of walls?"

Threatened

Calm

Docile

Confronting
13 What is the definition of an émigrée?

A person on the move

A person who comes to live permanently in a foreign country

A person who has left their own country in order to settle in another, typically for political reasons

An expatriate
14 Which of the following is NOT a simile used in the poem?

"...as time rolls its tanks" (Line 10)

"...docile as paper" (Line 19

"That child's vocabulary I carried here / like a hollow doll" (Lines 12-13)

"and the frontiers rise between us, close like waves" (Line 11)
15 What is the speaker's childhood vocabulary compared to?

Tyranny

A lie

A grape

A hollow doll
16 Which of the following is used to describe language?

A hollow paperweight

December

Colorful molecules

A filled paperweight
17 What word is used at the end of each stanza?

Country

Girl

City

Sunlight
18 Which month is referenced in the poem?

November

January

March

December
19 The opening line alludes to ___.

fairytales

nothing

World War 2

Europe
20 Which of the following best describes the poem's meter?

Iambic tetrameter

Iambic pentameter

Blank verse

Free verse
21 What is the city "sick with" according to Line 7?

Tyrants

War

Corrupt politicians

Malaria
22 What is the passage of time metaphorically compared to?

A fight with a loved one

Warfare (tanks)

A waterfall

A soothing balm
23 Who or what accuses the speaker?

The dolls

The tyrants

An unspecified "they"

The walls
24 What is the speaker accused of?

Leaving

Absence and darkness

Supporting the wrong side

Tyranny and oppression
25 What does the speaker's shadow symbolize?

Even her own darkness is a symbol of her sunlit impression of her country

Evil

The speaker's love for her children

The personified city's cowardice

The Émigrée Questions and Answers

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

Ask Your Own Question

Study Guide for The Émigrée

The Emigrée study guide contains a biography of Patricia Aakhus, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

Read the Study Guide for The Émigrée…