Question

How is the poem "On the Bus with Rosa Parks" different from the memoir My Story? Select five choices.

The poem describes a single scene; the memoir describes many scenes.
The poem uses few words; the memoir uses many words.
The poem has short lines and stanzas; the memoir is written in prose paragraphs.
The poem places the bus ride in historical perspective; the memoir does not.
The poem explains why Rosa Parks stayed seated; the memoir does not.
The poem shows an outsider’s point of view of Rosa Parks; the memoir does not.
The poem compares Rosa Parks’s gaze to a flame; the memoir does not.

Answer 1

Selected choices:
- The poem describes a single scene; the memoir describes many scenes.
- The poem uses few words; the memoir uses many words.
- The poem has short lines and stanzas; the memoir is written in prose paragraphs.
- The poem shows an outsider’s point of view of Rosa Parks; the memoir does not.
- The poem compares Rosa Parks’s gaze to a flame; the memoir does not.

Brief reasoning: the poem is a compact, imagistic account focused on one moment from an observer's viewpoint and uses poetic line/stanza form and figurative language; the memoir is a longer prose account covering many events and gives Rosa Parks’s firsthand perspective.