Time Is a Mother Quizzes

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

Atheism

Writing

Zen Buddhism

Prayer
2 What story does this poem engage with?

Ten Bulls

The Flood

The Gates of Paradise

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

in the middle

epigraph

last poem of the last section

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

It has no bearing on the entire collection

It relates to the poems in Section IV

Sets the tone, introduces thematic throughline of transformations

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

20

22

14

21
6 Who is standing alone in the backyard at the beginning of the poem?

The speaker

The Bull

The speaker's father

The speaker's mother
7 Finish this quote: "...so dark / the night__"

purpled around him

swallowed him

looked light

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

Quatrains

Tercets

Free verse

Couplets
9 What is the poem's meter?

Iambic pentameter

Trochaic meter

Anapest meter

Free verse
10 How many stanzas does the poem have?

1

4

2

3
11 Why does the speaker step outside?

He claims he has no choice

He wants to fight the bull

He wants to escape the bull

He becomes a matador
12 What color are the bull's eyes?

night purple

kerosene blue

ocean blue

bruised blue
13 What does the speaker ask the bull?

What it needs

The speaker does not ask the bull anything

If the bull will spare him

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

War

Self exploration

Entrances

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

No language

Written language only

English

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

to be a child

to love to play

to be a murderer of childhood

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

Divinity

Hurtfulness

Gentleness

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

The bull's soul

Beauty

Answers

The depths
19 How does the poet write out the conjunction "and"?

&

+

this conjunction does not appear in this poem

and
20 What is the poem's color palette?

Cool colors

Gray and black

Warm colors

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

Zeus

The speaker himself

The speaker's mother

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 his mother. In the last poem, he finds the bull and kills him.

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 himself. In the last poem, he finds freedom.
24 Why doesn't the speaker want the bull?

He wants a horse instead

He doesn't like himself

He is scared of the bull

He doesn't want the bull to be beautiful
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