Control of Composition/Writing: Poetry Practice Test

Poem excerpt:

I water the basil until the pot leaks,

as if excess could guarantee green.

The leaves smell like summer’s clean shirt.

Behind me, the sink fills with dishes,

each plate a small, dried moon.

I turn the faucet off. The silence keeps running.

Which compositional choice best shows the poet’s control in linking domestic detail to lingering unease?

A) The poet’s consistent heroic couplets create a formal, comic distance from the scene

B) The poet’s extended metaphor of water and sound culminates in “The silence keeps running” to sustain tension past the action

C) The poet’s use of second-person narration makes the speaker accusatory

D) The poet’s random imagery prevents thematic coherence

Poem excerpt:

In winter, the mailbox becomes a small mouth

that bites my fingers for news.

Mostly it chews coupons, catalogs,

bright lies about vacations.

Today it offers a letter with my surname

spelled wrong, as if grief were informal.

How does the poet’s control of personification contribute to the poem’s meaning?

A) By making the mailbox comical so the poem avoids serious emotion

B) By turning the mailbox into an active force, the poet underscores the speaker’s vulnerability to messages and misnaming in “spelled wrong”

C) By personifying only natural elements, the poet suggests nature is the main antagonist

D) By using personification, the poet proves the letter is not real