Quiz And Yet Kate Baer

And Yet Quiz: 20 Questions on Kate Baer's Poetry Collection

Quiz Questions

Plot and Sequence (Questions 1–8)

In "My Ambition Goes Off to War," what does the ambition pack in its suitcase before enlisting?
- A) Only practical items for combat
- B) Ordinary items and glitter heels
- C) Postcards and a winter coat
- D) A commander's uniform
In "Late Summer in a Global Pandemic," what do the speaker's children write on a note?
- A) “We want a new skateboard”
- B) “Can you jest be nice?”
- C) “The strawberries are bad”
- D) “Please take us to the park”
In "The Worst Part," what happens to the speaker's sons after they reach into the river?
- A) They catch fish and bring them home
- B) They transform into fish-like creatures and sink
- C) They ignore their mother and keep searching
- D) They climb a tree and refuse to come down
In "Postpartum Questionnaire," the speaker's responses to the screening questions reveal:
- A) A sense of connection and competence
- B) Loss of connection, guilt, and inability to cope
- C) Mild anxiety but overall well-being
- D) Anger at the medical system
In "The Second Coming of Chr*st," what explanation does the 15-year-old girl give for her pregnancy?
- A) She was pressured by her boyfriend
- B) An angel visited her
- C) She doesn't know how it happened
- D) It was a medical miracle
In "Without a Moral, There's Just a Happy Woman," how does the woman who wins the lottery respond to her husband?
- A) She shares the money equally
- B) She packs the cash and tells him she is leaving on a trip
- C) She buys a new house for the family
- D) She gives the money to charity
In "Mixup," after the body swap, what does the wife choose to do?
- A) Reverse the swap immediately
- B) Go to her husband's office and enjoy new freedoms
- C) Hide in the bathroom until it passes
- D) Call a doctor for help
In "What to Write After Another School Shooting," how does the speaker end her attempted email to the teacher?
- A) She sends a short apology
- B) She writes “I am so sorry” and then deletes everything
- C) She asks for a meeting
- D) She writes a poem instead

Character Motivation (Questions 9–13)

In "Burnout," why does the speaker refuse to discuss topics like breastfeeding and potty training?
- A) She finds them boring
- B) She is exhausted by societal pressure and the weight of the word "mother"
- C) She wants to focus on her career
- D) She thinks they are inappropriate for poetry
In "Baby Good," the speaker responds to difficult situations with a polite “haha” while internally screaming. What does this reveal about her motivation?
- A) She genuinely finds the situations funny
- B) She is performing social composure to mask maternal exhaustion
- C) She wants to avoid conflict at any cost
- D) She is planning revenge
In "Startled," the speaker reads a list of everyone who has ever hated her and finds her own name written many times. What motivates this twist?
- A) The speaker is actually her own worst enemy
- B) The list was a prank
- C) The people who hate her are all named the same
- D) The speaker misread the list
In "Dad," why does the speaker's father immediately offer to leave the unpleasant party?
- A) He is also bored and wants an excuse
- B) He senses his child's discomfort and prioritizes caring for them
- C) He was told to leave by his brothers
- D) He has an emergency at home
In "The Greatest Human Emotion," the speaker declares relief to be the highest emotion. What motivates this claim?
- A) Relief is more intense than love or hope
- B) Relief follows moments of anxiety like a doctor's call or finding a lost child
- C) Relief is easier to achieve
- D) The speaker has never experienced love

Theme and Symbol (Questions 14–17)

In "Beach Body," the speaker rejects the "cropped body" and demands "all the hotbody." What does the "mountain body" symbolize?
- A) A body that is strong but inflexible
- B) A body that defies narrow beauty standards and embraces diversity
- C) A body that is natural and athletic
- D) A body that is always moving
The repeated use of the word "goodbye" in parentheses in "The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up" symbolizes:
- A) The literal act of throwing away possessions
- B) The rejection of victim-blaming language like "boys will be boys"
- C) The end of a relationship
- D) A farewell to childhood
In "And Yet" (Chapter 35), the speaker says "the war will always be in you." What theme does this line reinforce?
- A) The futility of all personal effort
- B) The ongoing inner struggle between hope and fear
- C) The need for an external hero
- D) The importance of recycling and calling relatives
In "Baby Clothes," the speaker calls putting away baby clothes "the edge of horror." What theme does this symbol convey?
- A) The difficulty of household chores
- B) The fear and tenderness of accepting a child's growth and impermanence
- C) The horror of shopping for children
- D) The speaker's dislike of babies

Synthesis (Questions 18–20)

Compare the use of repetition in "And Yet" (Chapter 35) and "Summing It Up" (Chapter 62). How does repeating the same stanza affect the meaning in both poems?
- Short answer: It emphasizes that the insights—such as the inner war or the question "What is the point?"—are not one-time revelations but ongoing truths that must be continually revisited.
Both "Invocation" (Chapter 14) and "The Second Coming of Chr*st" (Chapter 51) use religious imagery. How does the speaker's relationship to prayer differ between the two poems?
- Short answer: In "Invocation," the speaker uses prayer quietly to confess her exhaustion and fake nostalgia; in "The Second Coming," the girl uses an angelic story to frame her pregnancy, while her father searches for a sign. Prayer in the first is private and conflicted, while in the second it is public and defensive.
The collection's title is "And Yet." Using evidence from at least two poems besides the title poem, explain how the phrase "and yet" functions as a motif of perseverance.
- Short answer: In "Episiotomy," pain is immediately countered with "Still—there are good things," mirroring an "and yet" resilience. In "Fatal Flaw," the repeated "and yet" signals stubborn perseverance despite emotional volatility. The motif transforms obstacles into moments of continuance.

Answer Key

B – The ambition packs ordinary items and glitter heels, symbolizing the clash between personal desire and harsh reality.
B – The children write “Can you jest be nice?” after a domestic frustration scene.
B – The sons transform into fish-like creatures and sink, while other parents clap.
B – The questionnaire reveals loss of connection, guilt about competence, and inability to cope.
B – The girl claims an angel visited her, echoing the Annunciation.
B – She packs the cash and tells her husband she is leaving, then drives away.
B – She goes to his office, enjoys being called "Bud," and refuses to swap back.
B – She types “I am so sorry” and then deletes everything, saying "delete" three times.
B – The speaker is burned out by relentless advice culture and says the word "mother" is too heavy.
B – The "haha" masks internal screaming, showing performed politeness amid maternal exhaustion.
A – The twist reveals that the speaker's worst critic is herself.
B – Without hesitation, the father reads his child's discomfort and offers to leave immediately.
B – The poem lists relief after specific anxieties: first breath, seeing a child, doctor's call.
B – The "mountain body" rejects the cropped ideal and celebrates softness, curves, strength, etc.
B – Each "goodbye" discards a harmful phrase like "boys will be boys" or "she was asking for it."
B – The war inside the self combines hope and fear, reinforcing the central tension of the collection.
B – Putting away baby clothes is "the edge of horror" because it confronts the child's growth and the impermanence of love.
Repetition in both poems turns a single stanza into a refrain, suggesting that the realization — the inner war or the unanswerable question — is not a one-time epiphany but a cyclical truth requiring constant acknowledgment.
In "Invocation" prayer is a whispered confession of real exhaustion masked as nostalgia; in "The Second Coming" a girl uses angelic visitation as a public shield against shame and her father looks for a sign — prayer here is a tool for survival or deflection rather than inner honesty.
In "Episiotomy" the speaker lists pain ("nail on thumb, thorn") and immediately says "Still—there are good things," embodying an "and yet" pivot toward gratitude. In "Fatal Flaw" the speaker tracks emotional swings and concludes with "and yet," signaling perseverance despite self-criticism. The phrase throughout the book stitches together suffering and continuation.