Time Is a Mother Quizzes

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

Writing

Atheism

Zen Buddhism

Prayer
2 What story does this poem engage with?

The Gates of Paradise

Ten Bulls

The Flood

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

epigraph

in the middle

first poem of the first section

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

It relates to the poems in Section I

It has no bearing on the entire collection

Sets the tone, introduces thematic throughline of transformations

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

21

22

14

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

The speaker's father

The Bull

The speaker's mother

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

swallowed him

looked light

purpled around him

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

Tercets

Couplets

Free verse

Quatrains
9 What is the poem's meter?

Trochaic meter

Anapest meter

Iambic pentameter

Free verse
10 How many stanzas does the poem have?

4

2

3

1
11 Why does the speaker step outside?

He wants to escape the bull

He becomes a matador

He claims he has no choice

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

kerosene blue

bruised blue

night purple

ocean 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?"

Reaching

War

Entrances

Self exploration
15 What language does the speaker claim to be speaking?

Vietnamese

No language

English

Written language only
16 According to the speaker, what does it mean to be a boy?

to be responsible to one's mother

to love to play

to be a child

to be a murderer of childhood
17 What quality of the bull's does the speaker focus on?

Divinity

Hurtfulness

Beauty

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

The bull's soul

Answers

The depths

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's mother

Zeus

A god

The speaker himself
22 What particular theme does this poem introduce?

Relationship to Mother

Entrances

War

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 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 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.
24 Why doesn't the speaker want the bull?

He wants a horse instead

He doesn't like himself

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?

Eschewing attachment

Learning how to relate to animals

Learning how to meditate

Self-realization

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