Fossil
Flitting, flickering, flashing
black, white, and a note of red
passes beneath trees
that were already old at the end
of the Civil War.
The lovely departed species
announces its fearless
refusal to cease to be.
And as we stand in awe of life's
determination, it hammers
its note of hope against the
dead dry bark that sleeves a meal.
Can an old being be resurrected?
Can a people be saved?
And at what cost?
Why is pecking at a tree described as hammering a “note of hope”?
a. The sound reminds people of someone building a new home for their families.
b. The sound is a reminder that the bird must work to get its food from inside a tree.
c. The sound is a reminder that the ivory-billed woodpecker has survived against the odds.
D. The sound reminds people that the trees have been growing for a very long time.
C
Which literary element appears at the beginning of line 1?
a. Personification
b. Irony
c. Alliteration
d. metaphor
C
How are lines 6–8 an example of personification?
a. The woodpeckers are described as departed, but they are alive.
b. The lines create a vivid image of the woodpecker’s cry.
c. The woodpecker is compared to something lovely.
d. Announcing things is something humans do, not animals.
A
What do the words “it hammers / its note of hope” foreshadow?
a. The logging of the old trees
b. The arrival of a predator
c. The continued struggle for survival
d. The end of conservation programs
C
3 answers
How are lines 6–8 an example of personification?
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/personification
Your other answers are right.