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MY BROTHER THE ARTIST, AT SEVEN Philip Levine As a boy he played…
MY BROTHER THE ARTIST, AT SEVEN
Philip Levine
As a boy he played alone in the fields
behind our block, six frame houses
holding six immigrant families,
the parents speaking only gibberish
to their neighbors. Without the kids
they couldn’t say “Good morning” and be
understood. Little wonder
he learned early to speak to himself,
to tell no one what truly mattered.
How much can matter to a kid
of seven? Everything.The whole world
can be his. Just after dawn he sneaks
out to hide in the wild, bleached grasses
of August and pretends he’s grown up,
someone complete in himself without
the need for anyone, a warrior
from the ancient places our fathers
fled years before, those magic places:
Kiev, Odessa, the Crimea,
Port Said, Alexandria, Lisbon,
the Canaries, Caracas, Galveston.
In the damp grass he recites the names
over and over in a hushed voice
while the sun climbs into the locust tree
to waken the houses. The husbands leave
for work, the women return to bed, the kids
bend to porridge and milk. He advances
slowly, eyes fixed, an animal or a god,
while beneath him the earth holds its breath.
Question 34
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The title of this poem suggests that the speaker’s brother is
Select one:
a.
creative
b.
capable
c.
childish
d.
innocent
Question 35
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A word closest to the meaning of “gibberish” is
Select one:
a.
dialect
b.
nonsense
c.
greetings
d.
questions
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That the boy “learned to speak to himself / to tell no one what really mattered” MOST STRONGLY reveals his
Select one:
a.
desire for escape
b.
need for isolation
c.
capacity for independence
d.
longing for privacy
Question 37
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In the context of the poem, the places referenced – “Kiev, Odessa, the Crimea…” – refer to
Select one:
a.
cites that are important in history
b.
ancient capital cities
c.
places the boy imagines visiting
d.
homelands the families left
Question 38
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The line “the sun climbs into the locust tree / to waken the houses” is an example of
Select one:
a.
hyperbole
b.
personification
c.
metaphor
d.
onomatopoeia
Question 39
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The phrase that MOST STRONGLY reinforces the power of the boy’s imagination is
Select one:
a.”a warrior / from the ancient places”
b.”he learned early to speak to himself”
c.”The whole world / can be his”
d.”pretends he’s grown up”
Question 40
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The speaker’s attitude towards their brother is both
Select one:
a.
sarcastic and superior
b.
respectful and sympathetic
c.
helpful and loving
d.
critical and disapproving
Question 41
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The parents’ dependence on their children to communicate is contrasted with the independence the boy
Select one:
a.
sees in his older brother
b.
finds for himself
c.
needs to find at home
d.
makes for his parents
