1 Who is the poem's speaker? Somebody who has just ordered a box full of bees A bee who lives on a farm A grieving husband participating in the custom of "telling the bees" A writer comparing her words to swarming bees 2 Broadly speaking, what did bees symbolize in seventeenth-century Europe? Noisiness and immorality Creativity and individuality Hard work and piety Poverty and monasticism 3 What is the meaning of the word "colonnade"? A colonial outpost A military parade A dessert made of fruit A row of columns 4 Which writer did NOT use bees as a symbol or allegory? Fanny Burney John Mandeville Mary Leapor John Greenleaf Whittier 5 What are the bees probably NOT intended to symbolize in this poem? Climate change Familial demands on women The speaker's thoughts Sexual aggression 6 Where does the poem most likely take place? A field of flowers The speaker's home An industrial honey farm A school 7 Which collection was this poem a part of? Double Exposure The Colossus The Bell Jar Ariel 8 How does the work's final stanza most clearly differ from the others? It is only one line long It is the only part that does not rhyme It is written in a different meter It is spoken by a different speaker 9 Fill in the blank: I wonder if they would forget me/If I just undid the locks and stood back and _______" closed my eyes ran away died turned into a tree 10 Which is an example of irony? The amount of noise that the bees make The speaker's comparison of herself to God The speaker's feeling of temptation despite the danger of the bees The speaker's ability to keep her bees alive or let them die 11 Fill in the blank: It is the noise that _____ me most of all, appalls ensnares intrigues distracts 12 What does the speaker NOT compare the box to? A baby A tent A coffin A chair 13 How many stanzas are in the poem? 9 3 7 5 14 The speaker compares the bees to a mob from where? The Old West Victorian Britain Ancient Rome Revolutionary America 15 What is the meaning of the word "laburnum"? A diploma A kitchen counter A New England company A type of tree 16 What is the meaning of the word "din"? Noise Sunset Dinner Hillside 17 Which best describes the poem's portrayal of power? The bees' power comes from their cleanliness and cooperativeness The speaker struggles to decide whether it is she or the bees who holds disproportionate power The speaker loses her power when she buys the bees and gives up her job The speaker struggles for power, but is no match for nature 18 What is the poem's meter? It has no set meter Iambic pentameter Dactylic pentameter Anapestic tetrameter 19 What best describes the poem's conflict? The speaker's decision about whether to free the bees The speaker's fight against the queen bee The bee's decision about whether to sting the human The beekeeper's conflict with the industrialist 20 What best describes the speaker's feelings about the bees? alternating fascination and fear intimacy and love maddening irritation self-effacing admiration 21 What type of stanzas appear in the poem? Couplets The stanzas are unmatched Tercets Sestets 22 How is the theme of femininity discussed in the poem? The poem subtly equates the speaker's fear of the bees with women's fear of violence or subjugation The bees' collaboration suggests that only collaboration between women will better their lot The speaker's desire to engage with insects hints at a need to escape human gender norms The queen bee represents the feminists of the twentieth century 23 Which mythological figure is alluded to in the poem? Hercules Narcissus Persephone Daphne 24 What do the trees most closely symbolize? The abundance of nature Escape from conflict Strength The speaker's ambivalence 25 Which of the following is a metaphor? "Square as a chair and almost too heavy to lift" "They can die, I can feed them nothing" "There is only a little grid, no exit" "In my moon suit and funeral veil"