A Work of Artifice Poem Questions and

Answers & MCQs

Read the extracts given below and the following questions:

Question 1.
“But a gardener Carefully pruned it It is nine inches high”
a. Name the poem and the poet. What does the gardener carefully prune
and why do you think so?
b. Why do you think the word „but‟ is used in the above line of the poem?
c. What are the two fates of the bonsai tree told in the poem? Explain How
do they differ?
d. With whom is the fate of the bonsai compared to? Which fate of the
bonsai do you think is better? Why? Give reasons.
Answers:
a. The name of the poem is “A Work Of Artifice”. The poet‟s name is Marge
Piercy. The gardener pruned the bonsai tree carefully which he has grown
in the attractive pot in order to make it look beautiful for decorating at
home and also in order to restrain the growth of the tree.

b. The bonsai tree could have grown eighty feet tall if it had grown on the
mountainside. But the height of the bonsai tree has been checked by the
gardener by pruning it carefully and thus he was able to restrict its height
from eighty feet to nine inches only.

c. The bonsai tree which is in the attractive pot, maintained by the gardener
who prunes it and whittles back its branches has one fate. The bonsai tree
growing on the side of the mountain driven by lightning has another fate.
The first one being at home is small as its height is checked by the
gardener whereas the second one os eighty feet tall standing on the
mountainside with no one to restrict its growth or to take care of it.
d. According to me, the bonsai tree on the mountain side has a better fate
than the one growing in the pot because the bonsai on the mountain side
is free from all restrictions. The women in the same way who are not under
restrictions but are free to chase their dreams have a better fate than the
women who are confined at home with social restrictions and are made to
do only house-old chores.

Question 2.
“Every day as he
Whittles back the branches”
a. Who is “he” referred to in the above line? What does “whittles” mean?
b. Whose branches are whittled back? Why?
c. While he whittles back the branches, he is saying something to it. What
are they?
d. Explain the inner meaning of what “he” says?
Answers:
a. “He” is referred to the gardener in the above line. “Whittles” means to
carve into an object by constantly cutting small slices from it.

b. The branches of the bonsai tree that has been grown by the gardener in
the pot are being whittled back. The branches of the tree are whittled back
in order to make it look more beautiful and also to check its growth.

c. While the gardener whittles back the branches of the bonsai tree, he
croons to it and says that it is the nature of the tree to be small and cozy,
domestic and weak. He also says to the little tree that it is lucky since it has
grown in a pot as it is safe from all the hazards of outside.

d. Here the tree is actually compared to a woman and the gardener

symbolizes the man who thinks a woman to be weak and small, menial and
humble. The man considers a woman fit to be at home. According to him
this is her appropriate position where she does only her household
activities. At the same time he also considers a woman to be lucky to be at
home pot in the poem as she is also safe from the hazards that can come
to her from outside.

Question 3.
“How lucky, little tree, To have a pot to grow in”
a. Which tree is said to be little tree? What does the “pot” in the poem
symbolize?
b. Why does the speaker call the little tree lucky?
c. What is done to the little tree every day and why?
d. Just before these lines the speaker speaks something in a negative tone.
Explain it.
Answers:
a. The bonsai tree grown in the attractive pot which is only nine inches high
is said to be little tree. The pot in the poem symbolizes the house where
women are confined to-limited to the domestic sphere.

b. According to the speaker the little tree is lucky to grow in a pot because
it is small and fragile. So it will not be able to tolerate or withstand the
lightning of the storm, which the bonsai tree on the mountain side can
endure.

c. The branches of the little tree are whittled back every day by the
gardener carefully so that it doesn‟t grow tall and its height is restricted
only to nine inches. The gardener prunes the tree everyday also to make it
look beautiful in the attractive pot.

d. Just before these lines the speaker that is the gardener uses some
negative words to describe the nature of the bonsai tree. He describes the
tree to be small and cozy , domestic and weak. The
gardener thinks the small bonsai plant to be only a decorative item at
home. So it is called domestically weak, since it is small, it will not be able to
withstand the natural calamities.
Question 4.
“With living creatures One must begin very early to dwarf their growth;
a. Who is “there” in the above line referred to? What does the line “to dwarf
their growth” mean?
b. What are the examples given by the speaker “to dwarf their growth”?
c. Explain the examples given by the speaker.
d. What is the theme of the poem?
Answer:
a. “There” is referred to actually the human beings especially the women of
the society whose growth is being curbed. “To dwarf their growth” means
to stunt or restrict their growth.

b. The speaker uses some examples through which the growth can be
stunted. They are bound feet and crippled brain.

c. The practice of bound feet of women to prevent their feet from growing
in the Chinese culture, of course to some extent is painful. Again crippled
brain means making their brains unfit by making the women to believe
what the men think. The women are mad to lose their power of thinking
and reasoning. Thus through these two ways the women are suppressed in
society.

d. In the poem Marge Piercy alludes to the trickery of men and the
oppression of women. lt is about the suppression of the full potential of
women by the men in patriarchal society by using different means of
trickery.

A Work of Artifice Poem MCQs

Question 1.
Who is the main speaker of the poem?
a. The poet
b. The tree
c. The gardener
d. The mountain
Answer:
a. The poet

Question 2.
What does the quote “bound feet” refer to?
a. Things related to garden
b. Things related to women
c. Things that refer to a beauty shop
d. Things that refer to shoes
Answer:
b. Things related to women

Question 3.
Which of the following would best exemplify the theme?
a. Negative experiences can limit us in the future
b. Women are unfairly oppressed by the society especially in some Asian
cultures
c. Gardening practices should be changed
d. Moving away from harmful situations can be harmful for growth
Answer:
b. Women are unfairly oppressed by the society especially in some Asian
cultures

Question 4.
The poet has spoken about the bonsai‟s height which it could have grown
on the mountainside. What is it?
a. hundred feet tall
b. eighty inches tall
c. eighty feet tall
d. ninety feet tall
Answer:
c. eighty feet tall
Question 5.
What is the height of the bonsai tree in the pot?
a. five inches high
b. seven inches high
c. eight inches high
d. nine inches high
Answer:
d. nine inches high

Question 6.
What does the home of a woman compared to in the poem?
a. mountain
b. pot
c. garden
d. tree
Answer:
b. pot

Question 7.
Who is deceived in the poem?
a. The gardener
b. The bonsai plant
c. The women
d. Both (b) and (c)
Answer:
d. Both (b) and (c)

Question 8.
What figures of speech do we find used to describe the bonsai?
a. Personification and extended metaphor
b. Metaphor
c. Personification
d. Simile
Answer:
a. Personification and extended metaphor

Question 9.
In the lines 12-16 of the poem the speaker uses certain adjectives? How
many adjectives are used in these lines?
a. five
b. six
c. three
d. four
Answer:
a. five

Question 10.
What part of speech is artifice?
a. Adverb
b. Noun
c. Adjective
d. Pronoun
Answer:
b. Noun