Time Is a Mother Quizzes

1 What personal practice of Vuong's is especially relevant to the poem "The Bull"/

Writing

Zen Buddhism

Atheism

Prayer
2 What story does this poem engage with?

The Gates of Paradise

Ten Bulls

Genesis

The Flood
3 Where does "The Bull" appear in the collection?

last poem of the last section

in the middle

epigraph

first poem of the first section
4 How does the poem's placement affect the entire collection?

Sets the tone, introduces thematic throughline of transformations

It has no bearing on the entire collection

It relates to the poems in Section I

It relates to the poems in Section IV
5 How many lines does the poem "The Bull" have?

21

14

20

22
6 Who is standing alone in the backyard at the beginning of the poem?

The speaker's father

The speaker's mother

The speaker

The Bull
7 Finish this quote: "...so dark / the night__"

purpled around him

looked light

swallowed him

bruised around him
8 What is the poem's form?

Quatrains

Couplets

Tercets

Free verse
9 What is the poem's meter?

Iambic pentameter

Trochaic meter

Free verse

Anapest meter
10 How many stanzas does the poem have?

2

3

1

4
11 Why does the speaker step outside?

He claims he has no choice

He wants to escape the bull

He becomes a matador

He wants to fight the bull
12 What color are the bull's eyes?

night purple

kerosene blue

ocean blue

bruised blue
13 What does the speaker ask the bull?

If the bull will spare him

What it wants

The speaker does not ask the bull anything

What it needs
14 Which of the following does not appear in "The Bull?"

Entrances

Self exploration

War

Reaching
15 What language does the speaker claim to be speaking?

No language

Written language only

Vietnamese

English
16 According to the speaker, what does it mean to be a boy?

to be a murderer of childhood

to be a child

to love to play

to be responsible to one's mother
17 What quality of the bull's does the speaker focus on?

Hurtfulness

Gentleness

Divinity

Beauty
18 In reaching for the bull, what does the speaker say he is reaching for?

The bull's soul

The depths

Answers

Beauty
19 How does the poet write out the conjunction "and"?

&

and

+

this conjunction does not appear in this poem
20 What is the poem's color palette?

Warm colors

Cool colors

Gray and black

Rainbow
21 What is the entrance of the bull compared to?

The speaker himself

The speaker's mother

Zeus

A god
22 What particular theme does this poem introduce?

Animal instincts

Entrances

War

Relationship to Mother
23 How does "The Bull" relate to the final poem in the collection?

In "The Bull," the speaker reaches toward an animal-shaped entrance that represents himself. In the last poem, he finds freedom.

In "The Bull," the speaker reaches toward an animal-shaped entrance that represents himself. In the last poem, he finds his mother in the afterlife.

In "The Bull," the speaker reaches toward an animal-shaped entrance that represents himself. In the last poem, he finds the bull and kills him.

In "The Bull," the speaker reaches toward an animal-shaped entrance that represents his mother. In the last poem, he finds the bull and kills him.
24 Why doesn't the speaker want the bull?

He is scared of the bull

He doesn't like himself

He doesn't want the bull to be beautiful

He wants a horse instead
25 What is the Zen story The Ten Bulls about?

Self-realization

Learning how to relate to animals

Learning how to meditate

Eschewing attachment

Time Is a Mother

by Ocean Vuong

Time Is a Mother Quiz: "The Bull"

Time Is a Mother Questions and Answers

Study Guide for Time Is a Mother