Dream of Knives by: Alfred A. Yuson Last night I dreamt of a knife I had bought
Question:
Dream of Knives
by: Alfred A. Yuson
Last night I dreamt of a knife
I had bought for my son. Of rare design,
it went cheaply for its worth–short dagger
with fancily rounded pommel, and a wooden sheath
which miraculously revealed other, miniature blades.
Oh how pleased he would be upon my return
from this journey, I thought. What rapture
will surely adorn his ten-year princeling’s face
when he draws the gift the first time. What quivering
will most certainly be unleashed.
When I woke, there was no return, no journey,
no gift, and no son beside me. Where do I search
for this knife then, and when do I begin to draw
happiness from reality, and why do I bleed so
from such sharp points of dreams?
- The poem is:
- Purely lyric
- Purely dramatic
- Partly narrative
- Partly expository
- As to form, this poem is an example of:
- Structured
- Free verse
- Both a and b
- Poetic prose
- The persona speaking in the poem is:
- The poet
- The father
- The son
- Nobody in particular
- The lines are addressed to:
- The poet himself
- The father himself
- His son
- The readers
- Line 1 contains:
- A metaphor
- A personification
- A paradox
- Symbol
- Line 3-5 (“short dagger… miniature blades”) is an example ofwhat type of writing:
- Expository
- Descriptive
- Narrative
- Opinionated
- The speaker, in stanza 1, could be characterized as:
- Gloomy, depressed
- Laid-back, unconcerned
- Happy, glad
- Outrageous, offensive
- Can the answer to #7 be said about the speaker in stanza 2 aswell?
- Yes
- No
- Perhaps
- It doesn’t follow
- In the last stanza, the speaker could be described as:
- Cheerful, in high spirits
- Sad, depressed
- Indifferent, detached
- Shameful, appalling
- One contrast enacted in the poem characterizes the strugglebetween:
- Truth vs. lies
- Illusion vs. reality
- Innocence vs. destruction
- Love vs. hate
- Another contrast dramatized in the poem is that between:
- Sleeping vs. getting up
- Happiness vs. sorrow
- Life vs. death
- All of the above
- Another contrast acted out in the poem is that whichinvolved:
- Dreaming vs. waking
- Warm vs. cold
- Passion vs, social convention
- All of the above
- The tone of the poem:
- Is quite objective
- Is rather serious
- Is euphoric with an undercurrent of pathos
- Is ridiculous or absurd
- The kind of language used in this poem is:
- Archaic or antiquated
- Slang or vernacular
- Cultured and literary
- Cryptic and enigmatic
- The title of the poem:
- Is ironic
- Is symbolic
- Is used for ornamentation and vivid effect only
- Has no connection in the poem whatsoever
- Is the knife mentioned in the poem a positive or a negativesymbol?
- Positive
- Negative
- Bothe a and b
- None of the above
- What is the significance of the fact that when the speaker wokeup, the son was not beside him?
- The son is dead
- The son does not want to do anything with his father’s dreamfor him
- The father, in reality, does not really have a son
- All of the above
- The reader’s reaction to the speaker is one of:
- Amusement, glee
- Admiration and sympathy
- Indifference, apathy
- Dislike, aversion
- The theme expressed in the poem is:
- The conflict between father and son
- The father’s expression of love for his son
- The difficulty of fulfilling a dream
- All of the above
- The essential value of this poem as art is that:
- It appeals to our sense of beauty
- It conveys a moral
- It gives information
- All of the above
Foundations of Financial Management
ISBN: 978-1259024979
10th Canadian edition
Authors: Stanley Block, Geoffrey Hirt, Bartley Danielsen, Doug Short, Michael Perretta