Function of Text Structure: Poetry Practice Test

Read the poem below, in which a speaker recounts an awkward compliment.

You said my presentation was “brave.”

Not good.

Not clear.

Brave.

All day the word followed me

like a loose thread.

At night, I tried it on again:

brave as in standing,

brave as in speaking,

brave as in not leaving.

By morning, the thread

was tied into a knot

I could almost call mine.

How does the poem’s repetition and isolation of the word “Brave.” function structurally?

Read the poem below, describing a gardener’s early morning routine.

Before sunrise,

I kneel to the beds

and listen.

The soil makes no speech,

but it holds yesterday’s rain

like a secret.

I pull weeds—

thin arguments—

and set them aside.

Only then do I water,

a slow applause

for what stayed.

How does the poem’s step-by-step structure affect the portrayal of gardening?