The Poet X

Part I: In the Beginning was the Word

1. What can you infer about the narrator sitting on the stoop according to the final two stanzas of “Stoop-
Sitting”?
A. The narrator has very little adult supervision over the summer.
B. The narrator feels like going upstairs to their apartment is like jail.
C. Her Mami would not approve of her sitting on the stoop.
D. All of the above.

2. Which of the following words best describes how the narrator feels about her body at the beginning of
Part I?
A. uncomfortable
B. unhappy
C. pleased
D. proud

.
3. According to Part I, why does Xiomara believe her mother chose an appropriate name for her?

A. because Xiomara has a twin named Xavier

B. because Xiomara decides that she does not want to take communion at church
C. because Xiomara is difficult to pronounce, and she is difficult to control
D. because Xiomara means “One who is ready for war” and she has a “gift of battle”

4. Which of the following is the main reason that Xiomara resents her twin brother?

A. because he is a genius and never has to struggle for good grades

B. because he can afford to be softer because she is hard enough to defend him
C. because he never has to do housework like she does
D. because he is strong, and no one ever bothers him like they do her

5. Why does Xiomara say that the day she got her period was the most impactful day of her life?

A. She already knew what to do because she had older girls talking about it.
B. She knew that it meant her childhood was over, and she was now a woman.
C. She was already scared because she had not been prepared for it, and her mother’s reaction was abusive
and terrifying.
D. That was also the day she stole money from her mother, and her mother caught her.

6. All of Xiomara’s mother’s decisions and reactions seem to focus on what?

A. ensuring that Xiomara does not have ‘relations’ with boys

B. making sure that Xiomara goes to church and confesses regularly
C. training Xiomara to keep a clean house for her husband when she gets older
D. guaranteeing that Xiomara will get into a good college when she graduate
7. What does the following quote illustrate about the relationship between Xiomara and Xavier?

“My brother was birthed a soft whistle:

quiet, barely stirring the air, a gentle sound.
But I was born all the hurricane he needed
to lift - and drop - those that hurt him to the ground.”

A. Xiomara hated that Xavier was so quiet and liked so much by their mother.
B. Xiomara felt it was her job to protect her brother because he was too gentle.
C. Xiomara knew that she was not as smart of Xavier, but she was much tougher.
D. Xiomara understood that she had to help their mother around the house and Xavier did not.

8. What is the overall effect of Xiomara’s allusion to Medusa in “How I Feel about Attention”?

A. Xiomara believes that she is just as ugly and repulsive as Medusa.

B. The author believes that she is just not enough like her own parents.
C. Xiomara feels that her hair is like snakes coming from her head.
D. The author feels that she is both strong and cursed, just as Medusa was.

9. Overall, when Xiomara encounters any type of hostility, rudeness or aggression, what is her first reaction?

A. She becomes aggressive and hostile in return.

B. She stops talking and tries to get out of the situation.
C. She lets her twin brother take charge and get her out of the situation.
D. She tries to keep her tempter, but it doesn’t always work.

10. Which of the following best expresses the main idea of the poem, “After”?

A. Listening to music and writing are Xiomara’s only ways to deal with her emotions.
B. No matter what she does or doesn’t do, she gets unwanted attention from men and boys.
C. She is an attractive young lady, and everyone thinks so.
D. She has a great sense of style, and it has gotten noticed around the neighborhood.

11. Which of the following quotes most clearly shows the author’s attitude about church?

A. “...Why does listening to his commandments/mean I need to shut down my own voice?”
B. “When I was little, /I loved Mass./The clanging tambourines/and guitar.”
C. “I’ve always stood with the other parishioners/at the end of Mass to receive the bread and wine.”
D. “I don’t want to take/the bread and wine, and Father Sean says/it should always and only be done with
joy.”
12. When Xiomara and her brother are born, her mother gives Xiomara a bracelet that says, “Mi Hija”. Why
does she go on to say, “This will be your favorite gift. /This will become a despised shackle.”?

A. She is proud to be born a twin, but she would like to have more of her own identity.
B. The bracelet is a visible sign that her mother and father had almost given up on being able to have
children.
C. She treasures being her mother’s daughter, but she feels like it also makes her prisoner of her mother’s
expectations.
D. The bracelet shows that she is the more responsible of the two twins and must always take care of her
brother.

13. Which of the following best describes the relationship Xiomara’s father has with his family?

A. He tries to be there emotionally, but he really works too much.

B. He stays out drinking, so his family hardly ever sees him.
C. He deals with and takes care of the twins more than their mother does.
D. He is physically with them, but he is emotionally distant.

14. How does Xavier act when he finds the flyer for the poetry club that Xiomara was trying to hide?

A. He laughs at her because he knows she is not a good poet.

B. He encourages her to share her genius.
C. He tells her that he will tell their mother.
D. He never says anything to let her know he say it.

15. What is the most likely reason that Xiomara has to do more of the housework than Xavier?

A. because their mother likes him more than Xiomara

B. because it is what is expected in their Dominican culture
C. because Xavier is so smart, he should be spending all of his time studying
D. because their mother believes that Xiomara will be a maid when she graduates

16. What does Xiomara believe that her mother would have been had she not been forced by her family to
marry Xiomara’s father?

A. The author believes that her mother would have been a nun.
B. The author believes that her mother would have gone to college and had a career.
C. The author believes that her mother would have been a maid.
D. The author believes that her mother would have been a stay-at-home mother without a job.

17. In the poem, “Questions I Have”, what extended metaphor does the author use to illustrate her confusion
about boys?

A. She compares her questions to how her mother and father treat each other.
B. She describes how she does not want to end up in a loveless marriage.
C. She compares her confusion to stirring up a fire.
D. She compares her questions and feelings to cooking.
18. Which of the following idioms best describe Xiomara and Caridad’s friendship?

A. “Birds of a feather flock together”

B. They see “eye to eye”
C. “Opposites attract”
D. “You can’t judge a book by its cover”

19. What does the author mean when she describes herself saying that she had “...a silent mouth/until it’s sharp
as an island machete.”

A. She doesn’t have much to say, but when she does, she says what she thinks, no matter how harsh or
hard.
B. She doesn’t feel like she is ever able to express herself around her parents.
C. She tries not to talk, even when she feels like she is going to explode if she doesn’t say something.
D. She has been encouraged by her parents to stay quiet and not express her opinion.

20. Overall, which of the following is the strongest reason the author does not want to go to Confirmation
classes?

A. because she feels that the whole thing is a waste of her time
B. because she has too many questions about God that no one is willing to answer
C. because she knows that she has no interest in becoming a nun
D. because she has really never liked religion, even as a young child