Time Is a Mother Quizzes

Time Is a Mother Quiz: "The Bull"

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

Prayer

Writing

Atheism
2 What story does this poem engage with?
Ten Bulls

The Gates of Paradise

Genesis

The Flood
3 Where does "The Bull" appear in the collection?
first poem of the first section

epigraph

last poem of the last section

in the middle
4 How does the poem's placement affect the entire collection?
It relates to the poems in Section IV

Sets the tone, introduces thematic throughline of transformations

It has no bearing on the entire collection

It relates to the poems in Section I
5 How many lines does the poem "The Bull" have?
21

14

22

20
6 Who is standing alone in the backyard at the beginning of the poem?
The Bull

The speaker

The speaker's mother

The speaker's father
7 Finish this quote: "...so dark / the night__"
bruised around him

swallowed him

purpled around him

looked light
8 What is the poem's form?
Couplets

Free verse

Tercets

Quatrains
9 What is the poem's meter?
Iambic pentameter

Trochaic meter

Free verse

Anapest meter
10 How many stanzas does the poem have?
1

4

3

2
11 Why does the speaker step outside?
He wants to escape the bull

He wants to fight the bull

He becomes a matador

He claims he has no choice
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

The speaker does not ask the bull anything

What it needs

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

Entrances

War

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

Vietnamese

Written language only

No language
16 According to the speaker, what does it mean to be a boy?
to be a child

to be a murderer of childhood

to love to play

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

Hurtfulness

Divinity

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

Beauty

The bull's soul

The depths
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

Rainbow

Gray and black

Cool colors
21 What is the entrance of the bull compared to?
A god

The speaker himself

The speaker's mother

Zeus
22 What particular theme does this poem introduce?
War

Entrances

Relationship to Mother

Animal instincts
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 freedom.

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 his mother in the afterlife.
24 Why doesn't the speaker want the bull?
He doesn't like himself

He wants a horse instead

He doesn't want the bull to be beautiful

He is scared of the bull
25 What is the Zen story The Ten Bulls about?
Learning how to relate to animals

Eschewing attachment

Learning how to meditate

Self-realization

Time Is a Mother Questions and Answers

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

Ask Your Own Question

Study Guide for Time Is a Mother

Time Is a Mother study guide contains a biography of Ocean Vuong, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

Read the Study Guide for Time Is a Mother…