AP Multiple Choice Questions

Snapping Beans For Fay Whitt by Lisa Parker

I snapped beans into the silver bowl 1
that sat on the splintering slats 2
of the porchswing between my grandma and me. 3
I was home for the weekend, 4
from school, from the North, 5
Grandma hummed What A Friend We Have In Jesus 6
as the sun rose, pushing its pink spikes 7
through the slant of cornstalks, 8
through the fly-eyed mesh of the screen. 9
We didnt speak until the sun overcame 10
the feathered tips of the cornfield 11
and Grandma stopped humming. I could feel 12
the soft gray of her stare 13
against the side of my face 14
when she asked, Hows school a-goin? 15
I wanted to tell her about my classes, 16
the revelations by book and lecture 17
as real as any shout of faith, 18
potent as a swig of strychnine. 19
She reached the leather of her hand 20
over the bowl and cupped 21
my quivering chin; 22
the slick smooth of her palm held my face 23
the way she held cherry tomatoes under the spigot, 24
careful not to drop them, 25
and I wanted to tell her 26
about the nights I cried into the familiar 27
heartsick panels of the quilt she made me, 28
wishing myself home on the evening star. 29
I wanted to tell her 30
the evening star was a planet, 31
that my friends wore noserings and wrote poetry 32
about sex, about alcoholism, about Buddha. 33
I wanted to tell her 34
how my stomach burned acidic holes 35
at the thought of speaking in class, 36
speaking in an accent, speaking out of turn, 37
how I was tearing, splitting myself apart 38
with the slow-simmering guilt of being happy 39
despite it all. 40
I said, Schools fine. 41
We snapped beans into the silver bowl between us 42
and when a hickory leaf, still summer green, 43
skidded onto the porchfront, 44
Grandma said, 45
Its funny how things blow loose like that. 46

AP Multiple Choice Questions

1. This poem is in the form of a
a. Sonnet
b. Lyric
c. Free verse
d. Ballad
e. Haiku

2. Lines 34-41 serve to
a. Show the narrators hate for her grandmother
b. Demonstrate the abundance of things the narrator does not share with her grandmother
c. Prove to the reader how much the narrator wants to go back to grandmothers house and
drop out of school
d. Portray the grandmothers refusal to support the narrator with her problems
e. Provoke the reader to despise the grandmother

3. The narrator feels all of the following except
a. Happiness
b. Discomfort
c. Sadness
d. Fear
e. Reluctance

4. In Snapping Beans, the reader can infer that
a. The narrator will never be able to reveal to the grandmother what she is feeling
b. The grandmother does not care for what the narrator actually feels
c. The narrator will reveal everything to the grandmother eventually
d. The narrator will not come back to visit her grandmother again
e. The grandmother was right about the narrator hating the school

5. In the poem, the grandmother is characterized by
i. What A Friend We Have in Jesus
ii. feathered tips
iii. real as any shout of faith
a. I only
b. II only
c. I and II
d. I and III
e. I, II, and III


1. This poem is in the form of a
a. The correct answer is C. The poem is a free verse, with not rhyming scheme.
b. Therefore, choices A, B, D and E are incorrect. The poem does not take on the form of a
sonnet, lyric, ballad or haiku.
2. Lines 34-41 refer to
a. The correct answer is B. The complex syntax indicates that there are a lot of things the
narrator wishes to express to the grandmother, but the short sentence structure indicates
that the narrator actually says very little of what she meant to say.
b. Answers A and E are incorrect because the narrator never indicates that she hates the
grandmother.
c. Answer C is incorrect because the narrator indicates how much she loves school, despite
the struggles she encounters.
d. Answer D is incorrect because the grandmother never states that she will not help her
granddaughter, nor gives any indication of not supporting the narrator.
3. The narrator feels all of the following except
a. The correct answer is D. The narrator does not experience any fear of the grandmother in
the poem.
b. Answers A, B, C and E are correct. The narrator admits she feels happiness in line 39,
sadness in line 28, discomfort in line 35 and reluctance in line 41.
4. In Snapping Beans, the reader can infer that
a. The correct answer is C. This is indicated by the last line of the poem, where the
grandmother states that things blow over eventually. She is indicating that whatever the
narrator feels she must hide, she will eventually reveal when the time is right and the
uncomfortableness will blow away like the leaf in the wind.
b. Answer A is incorrect because it is the opposite of what is stated above.
c. Answer B is incorrect because the grandmother inquired first into the business of the
narrator.
d. Answer D is incorrect because the narrator enjoys her time with the grandmother.
e. Answer E is incorrect because the narrator actually loves the school.
5. In the poem, the grandmother is characterized by
i. What A Friend We Have in Jesus
ii. feathered tips
iii. real as any shout of faith
a. The correct answer is D, I and II because both lines characterize the grandmother as a
religious figure. II is incorrect because it refers to the cornfield and not the grandmother.
Therefore, answers A, B, C and E are incorrect.