A Work of Artifice – MCQs

1. What is a bonsai tree?
   a) A wild tree growing on a mountainside
   b) A miniature tree grown in a container, carefully shaped and pruned to maintain small size
   c) A tree that dies after splitting by lightning
   d) A tree planted by a gardener
2. According to the poem, how tall could the bonsai tree have grown naturally?
   a) Fifty feet tall
   b) Sixty feet tall
   c) Eighty feet tall
   d) One hundred feet tall
3. How tall is the bonsai tree after being pruned?
   a) Six inches high
   b) Nine inches high
   c) Twelve inches high
   d) Fifteen inches high
4. What does the gardener do to the bonsai tree?
   a) Waters it regularly
   b) Carefully prunes it, whittling back the branches
   c) Plants it in rich soil
   d) Exposes it to sunlight
5. The gardener tells the tree it is "your nature to be small and cozy." This statement is:
   a) True
   b) False and represents manipulation
   c) Scientifically accurate
   d) The gardener's honest opinion
6. What is the central metaphor of the poem?
   a) Gardening and horticulture
   b) A bonsai tree representing the restricted potential of women
   c) Lightning and natural disasters
   d) The beauty of miniature objects
7. The gardener's daily action of pruning symbolizes:
   a) Care and love for plants
   b) Horticultural skill
   c) Societal control and restriction of individual potential
   d) Environmental management
8. What historical practice does "bound feet" refer to?
   a) Tying feet with ropes for walking
   b) A Chinese practice of binding girls' feet to restrict growth
   c) A modern fashion trend
   d) A medical procedure
9. "The crippled brain" in the poem refers to:
   a) Brain injury
   b) Mental disability
   c) Stunted or restricted mental growth through conditioning
   d) Educational limitations
10. "Hair in curlers" symbolizes:
    a) A fashion choice
    b) Subjugation to beauty standards and physical control
    c) Hair care routine
    d) A hairstyle preference
11. The phrase "the hands you love to touch" is significant because:
    a) It refers to beautiful hands
    b) It shows how control and oppression are masked by affection and love
    c) It describes a physical gesture
    d) It is purely romantic imagery
12. Who does the bonsai tree primarily represent in the poem?
    a) Children
    b) Animals
    c) Women in society
    d) Trees in general
13. What does the "attractive pot" symbolize?
    a) Actual beauty
    b) The limitations and constraints placed on an individual's potential
    c) A gardening tool
    d) Decoration only
14. The poem was written during which era?
    a) 1950s
    b) 1970s at the height of the American Feminist movement
    c) 1980s
    d) 1990s
15. What is the poem's form and structure?
    a) Multiple stanzas with regular rhyme scheme
    b) One stanza of 24 short lines in free verse
    c) Quatrains with ABAB rhyme scheme
    d) Sonnets
16. The gardener's crooning words to the tree serve to:
    a) Encourage natural growth
    b) Soothe the tree while justifying its limitation
    c) Teach the tree about gardening
    d) Show kindness to the tree
17. The title "A Work of Artifice" means:
    a) A work of art
    b) A clever trick or deception that creates an unnatural, restricted version
    c) A work of gardening
    d) A work of nature
18. What is the primary theme of the poem?
    a) The beauty of miniature plants
    b) The art of gardening
    c) Suppression, control, and restriction of individual potential, particularly for women
    d) The dangers of lightning strikes
19. The poem uses which main literary device?
    a) Simile
    b) Metaphor (bonsai tree representing women)
    c) Alliteration
    d) Onomatopoeia
20. The gardener says the tree is "lucky" to have a pot to grow in. This is an example of:
    a) Literal truth
    b) Irony (justifying limitations as fortunate)
    c) Metaphor
    d) Simile
21. Which phrases in the final lines shift from metaphor to stark reality?
    a) "bound feet, crippled brain, hair in curlers, hands you love to touch"
    b) "The bonsai tree in the attractive pot"
    c) "carefully pruned it"
    d) "whittles back the branches"
22. What does Piercy critique through this poem?
    a) Gardening practices
    b) Plant biology
    c) Societal control, patriarchy, and gender inequality
    d) Tree growth patterns

Answers: 1-b, 2-c, 3-b, 4-b, 5-b, 6-b, 7-c, 8-b, 9-c, 10-b, 11-b, 12-c, 13-b, 14-b, 15-b, 16-b, 17-b, 18-c, 19-b, 20-b, 21-a, 22-c.