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Ian McEwan, The Use of Poetry

Ian McEwan, The Use of Poetry

Read The Use of Poetry and check your comprehension by answering the following questions. Then “submit” your work.

1. Michael Beard’s mother tells him about her affairs when

war breaks out with Germany.

he walks in on her with one of her lovers.

his father walks out on the marriage.

she is dying of breast cancer.

2. What feeling passes through Michael when he sees his father weeping in the garden?

empathy

tenderness

anger

horror

3. Which poet does Beard research in order to impress Maisie Farmer?

Gerard Manley Hopkins

Geoffrey Chaucer

W. B. Yeats

John Milton

4. How were Beard and Maisie’s mutual friends different from the friends Beard had before meeting Maisie?

They were wittier, but lazier.

They were better looking, but less refined.

They were more fun, but didn’t take drugs.

They were smarter, but less fun.

5. What news does Maisie break to Michael one night after some time has passed in their marriage?

She wants to be treated like a privileged Englishwoman.

She is leaving for a commune in mid-Wales and won’t return.

She has been sneaking out nights to go alone to the pub.

She is pregnant with twins.