Quick Review Flashcards - Click to flip and test your knowledge!
Question
In which city was the poet Marge Piercy born?
Answer
Detroit, Michigan.
Question
What is Marge Piercy's date of birth?
Answer
31 March 1936.
Question
Marge Piercy was the first member of her family to achieve what educational milestone?
Answer
Attending college.
Question
Marge Piercy attended the University of Michigan after winning a _____.
Answer
Scholarship.
Question
Which two illnesses during Marge Piercy's mid-childhood led to her love of books?
Answer
German measles and rheumatic fever.
Question
What did Marge Piercy say her childhood reading taught her?
Answer
That "there’s a different world there."
Question
Who is Marge Piercy's current husband?
Answer
Ira Wood.
Question
In which town in Massachusetts (MA) does Marge Piercy live?
Answer
Wellfleet.
Question
Since which decade has Marge Piercy lived in the home she designed?
Answer
The 1970s.
Question
Which Marge Piercy novel won the 1993 Arthur C. Clarke Award?
Answer
He, She and It.
Question
What is the title of Marge Piercy's historical novel set during World War II?
Answer
Gone to Soldiers.
Question
Marge Piercy's work is rooted in her Jewish heritage, Communist social and political activism, and _____ ideals.
Answer
Feminist.
Question
In the poem "A Work of Artifice", what does the bonsai tree represent?
Answer
A woman.
Question
The metaphor of the bonsai tree implies a life without _____ to grow.
Answer
Space.
Question
According to the poet's introduction, bonsai means a loss of growth and _____.
Answer
Freedom.
Question
What does the poet question regarding the social role of women?
Answer
If they were just materials of interior decoration.
Question
Where were women traditionally expected to remain confined?
Answer
To the interiors.
Question
What kind of tasks were women traditionally expected to perform in the home?
Answer
Household tasks.
Question
Women were expected to remain tightly tied to their roots or _____.
Answer
Responsibilities.
Question
Why are a bonsai tree’s roots and branches pruned and tightly tied?
Answer
So it does not grow to its real size.
Question
What is the potential natural height of the bonsai tree mentioned in the poem?
Answer
Eighty feet tall.
Question
In its natural state, where could the tree have grown eighty feet tall?
Answer
On the side of a mountain.
Question
What natural event would eventually split the tree in its mountain environment?
Answer
Lightning.
Question
How tall is the bonsai tree in the poem?
Answer
Nine inches high.
Question
What container is the nine-inch tree kept in?
Answer
The attractive pot.
Question
What action does the gardener perform on the branches every day?
Answer
He whittles them back.
Question
Which verb describes the gardener's manner of speaking to the tree?
Answer
Crooning.
Question
The gardener tells the tree it is its nature to be small and _____, domestic and weak.
Answer
Cozy.
Question
According to the gardener, what makes the little tree "lucky"?
Answer
Having a pot to grow in.
Question
The poet states that with living creatures, one must begin to dwarf their growth _____ _____.
Answer
Very early.
Question
Which specific practice of physical restriction is referenced by the phrase "the bound feet"?
Answer
Foot binding.
Question
What does the phrase "the crippled brain" represent in the context of the poem?
Answer
Intellectual suppression.
Question
Which image in the poem symbolises the artificial styling of a woman's appearance?
Answer
The hair in curlers.
Question
What is the final image in the poem "A Work of Artifice"?
Answer
The hands you love to touch.
Question
Term: Extended Metaphor
Answer
Definition: A comparison between two unlike things that continues throughout a series of sentences or lines.
Question
How does the gardener justify the tree's stunted growth?
Answer
By claiming it is the tree's nature to be weak and domestic.
Question
The gardener's daily whittling of branches represents the _____ of a woman's potential.
Answer
Limiting (or pruning).
Question
What does the "attractive pot" represent in the context of the poem's metaphor?
Answer
The domestic sphere or home.
Question
According to the poet, what are women expected to understand about themselves?
Answer
Their limits.
Question
Marge Piercy's use of "whittles" suggests that the restriction of growth is a _____ process.
Answer
Constant (or gradual).
Question
What quality does the gardener attribute to the tree to discourage its natural growth?
Answer
Domesticity (or being domestic).
Question
How does the poet's background in progressive activism influence the themes of the poem?
Answer
It informs the critique of social confinement and gender roles.
Question
The poem suggests that the "nature" of the tree is not inherent, but rather _____ by the gardener.
Answer
Imposed (or constructed).
Question
What contrast is drawn between the tree's natural potential and its current state?
Answer
The difference between eighty feet on a mountain and nine inches in a pot.
Question
Why is the gardener's crooning considered ironic?
Answer
Because he speaks affectionately while actively stunting the tree's life.
Question
What does the phrase "materials of interior decoration" suggest about the status of women?
Answer
That they are viewed as objects rather than autonomous individuals.
Question
The practice of pruning roots in a bonsai tree is a metaphor for restricting a woman's _____.
Answer
Foundation (or heritage).
Question
In the poem, who is the figure responsible for maintaining the tree's artificial size?
Answer
The gardener.
Question
Which of Marge Piercy's works is described as a "sweeping historical novel"?
Answer
Gone to Soldiers.
Question
What does the poem imply is the result of starting to dwarf growth "very early"?
Answer
The creature never discovers its true potential or real size.
Question
The gardener claims it is the tree's nature to be _____ and weak.
Answer
Domestic.
Question
What is the primary theme of the poem "A Work of Artifice"?
Answer
The societal suppression and domestic confinement of women.
Question
How does the poet describe the gardener's daily maintenance of the tree?
Answer
Whittling back the branches.
Question
The term "artifice" in the title refers to the _____ nature of the tree's current state.
Answer
Unnatural (or man-made).
Question
What specific physical part of the tree is "tightly tied" to prevent growth?
Answer
The roots and branches.