Character Choices/Actions: Poetry Practice Test

Read the following poem and answer the question.

"First Snow"

My neighbor waves from her porch, mittened,

and shouts, Isn’t it beautiful?

I say, It’s early, and check the gutters.

The flakes land soft as unmailed letters

on the hydrangea I forgot to cut.

She laughs and spins; her boots make crescents.

I measure the driveway with my eyes,

imagining salt, imagining the slide.

A child down the street opens his mouth

and catches winter like a dare.

I turn my collar up, as if wind

were something you could argue with.

Later I will pretend I didn’t watch

their joy accumulate on every branch.

The speaker’s response to the neighbor—“It’s early”—most strongly reveals

Read the following poem and answer the question.

"Stain"

At dinner I spill red wine on the tablecloth.

The host says, It’s nothing.

I stand anyway, napkin in hand,

pressing and pressing

until the fabric thins with attention.

Everyone resumes talking, merciful.

I keep dabbing, as if effort

could rewind the glass’s tilt.

The stain spreads lighter at the edges,

a bruise learning to heal.

When dessert comes, my hands smell

like vinegar and apology.

I smile too wide and say,

Really, I’m fine.

The speaker’s insistence on pressing and pressing most strongly reveals