El Olvido:

It is a dangerous thing
to forget the climate of your birthplace,
to choke out the voices of dead relatives
when in dreams they call you
by your secret name.
It is dangerous
to spurn the clothes you were born to wear
for the sake of fashion; dangerous
to use weapons and sharp instruments
you are not familiar with; dangerous
to disdain the plaster saints
before which your mother kneels
praying with embarrasing fervor
that you survive in the place you have chosen to live;
a bare, cold room with no pictures on the walls,
a forgetting place where she fears you will die
of loneliness and exposure
Jesus, Maria, y Jose, she says
el olvido is a dangerous thing

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1. What does the term el olvido mean?
a. danger
b. forgetfulness
c. mother
d. birthplace
B?

3. According to the speaker, it is dangerous to
a. pray
b. wear traditional clothes
c. scorn religion
d. dream
C?

4. What is meant by "to choke out" dead relatives' voices, in line 3?
a. to ignore what they taught
b. to smother them with love
c. to forget their ways
d. to become angry with them
A?

Thanks
-MC

3 answers

Also, I need help figuring out the tone of this poem. What is the speaker's attitude towards the subject? I know that the speaker is pretty serious ...

Thanks
-MC

Your answers look right to me.

they are