Homework answers / question archive / What I Have Left is Imagining  by Heather MacLeod   I used to live in the arctic, but I left so often my leaving became unnoticed, an event which slipped away

What I Have Left is Imagining  by Heather MacLeod   I used to live in the arctic, but I left so often my leaving became unnoticed, an event which slipped away

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What I Have Left is Imagining

 by Heather MacLeod 

 I used to live in the arctic, but I left so often my leaving became unnoticed, an event which slipped away. I used to live in the arctic, thought I was a boomerang, my point of origin the north, but I grew up, here in the Cariboo with bit and bridle, Bay and Appaloosa, instead of inukshuk1 and ulu2, Char and Whitefish. I used to live in the arctic, found my ancestors' footsteps in the Northwest Passage trailing behind Franklin3, and found what it meant, for me, to be Métis. I used to live in the arctic, a place where my Indian blood found room to live, elliptical it moved within me, solid as snow, smooth and clear as the first layer of ice over the waters of Great Slave. I used to live in the arctic, and what I have left is imagining; imagine me talking to you frost trailing out with my breath; pretend I speak sounds in the shape of syllabics, say thank you in Dogrib, pretend I cry in Cree.

 

The reference to "Franklin" (line 13) is an example of

 A. a fantasy. 

B. an allusion. 

C. an allegory. 

D. a stereotype. 

 

12. The word "elliptical" (line 17) is used to imply a 

A. skating rink. 

B. math problem. 

C. field of solid snow. 

D. cycle of movement. 

 

13. The phrase "solid as snow" (line 18) is an example of

 A. simile. 

B. metaphor. 

C. apostrophe. 

D. understatement. 

 

14. The phrase "smooth and clear" (line 19) is used to describe the A. ice. 

B. snow. 

C. blood. 

D. waters. 

 

15. The final stanza suggests that the speaker imagines that she 

A. is freezing. 

B. cannot speak. 

C. is short of breath. 

D. has returned home. 

 

16. Line 26, "say thank you in Dogrib, pretend I cry in Cree," suggests Dogrib and Cree are 

A. places. 

B. animals. 

C. syllables. 

D. languages. 

 

17. The first line in each stanza illustrates the use of 

A. rhyme. 

B. rhythm. 

C. repetition. 

D. run-on sentences. 1

 

8. The tone of this poem is primarily 
A. angry. 

B. cheerful. 

C. reflective. 

D. humorous.