Call Us What We Carry Quiz: 20 Questions to Test Your Understanding
About This Quiz
This quiz covers Amanda Gorman's Call Us What We Carry, from the opening epigraph to the final poems. Questions are divided into four categories: plot/sequence (8 questions), character motivation (5 questions), theme/symbol (4 questions), and synthesis (3 questions). Each question is either multiple-choice or short-answer. After the quiz, you'll find a complete answer key with explanations rooted in the text.
Plot/Sequence Questions (8 questions)
1. In "Monomyth,'' the poet structures the pandemic era as a hero's journey. Which event represents the "Crossing the Threshold" stage?
- A) The WHO declaring a pandemic
- B) The killing of Breonna Taylor
- C) The January 6 Capitol riot
- D) Joe Biden's inauguration
2. Short answer: In "School's Out,'' students are forced off campus. What historical warning does the speaker offer? (One word or short phrase.)
3. Which chapter adapts a 1918 letter of condolence from the Superintendent of the Yakama Indian Agency?
- A) "Letter from a Nurse''
- B) "Selma Epp''
- C) "Condolence''
- D) "The Donohue Family''
4. In the poem "Ship's Manifest,'' what does the poet say the book is a record of?
- A) Only factual events
- B) What was meant and felt
- C) Political speeches
- D) Natural disasters
5. Short answer: In "The Donohue Family Ledgers,'' what does the crossed-out entry about "This girl was buried in the trench'' illustrate?
6. According to "Monomyth,'' when did Amanda Gorman deliver her inaugural poem?
- A) February 19, 2021
- B) January 20, 2021
- C) November 7, 2020
- D) March 11, 2021
7. In "The Hill We Climb,'' the speaker calls the nation "unfinished'' but not which of the following?
- A) Broken
- B) Divided
- C) Lost
- D) Afraid
8. Short answer: In "What We Carry,'' what metaphor does the poet use for language? (One word.)
Character Motivation Questions (5 questions)
9. In the poem "Call Us,'' why does the speaker dissolve the individual "I'' into a collective "we''?
- A) To emphasize loneliness
- B) To reflect that over half the body is non-human
- C) To reject all community
- D) To describe a political movement
10. In "The Fellowship,'' what motivates Ida B. Wells-Barnett to write to President Wilson?
- A) A desire for personal fame
- B) Protesting segregation of Black soldiers
- C) Opposition to World War I
- D) Support for the Red Summer
11. Short answer: In "Letter from a Nurse,'' the nurse writes from a boarding school context. What institution is listed in the footnote?
12. In "Cordage, or Atonement,'' why does the speaker say "We would not be Among the Chosen, But amidst the Changed''?
- A) They prefer isolation
- B) They value transformation over privilege
- C) They reject all religion
- D) They want to be famous
13. Short answer: In "Who We Gonna Call,'' the speaker says "there are no wraiths but us.'' What does this suggest about the ghosts the speaker wants to summon?
Theme/Symbol Questions (4 questions)
14. The ark appears throughout "What We Carry.'' What does the word "ark'' derive from according to the poem?
- A) A Hebrew word for boat
- B) The Latin words arca (chest) and arcere (to contain)
- C) The Greek word for covenant
- D) The Old English word for shelter
15. In "Erasure,'' the poet redefines erasure poetry not as destruction but as what?
- A) A way to shorten poems
- B) Constructive expansion that exposes hidden voices
- C) A method to confuse readers
- D) A purely visual art form
16. In "Another Nautical,'' the suffix "-ship'' is traced to the Old English verb scieppan, meaning what?
- A) To sail
- B) To shape
- C) To bind
- D) To carry
17. Short answer: In "The Shallows,'' the poem ends with a choice after grieving: "Shall this leave us bitter or better?'' What does the speaker answer?
Synthesis Questions (3 questions)
18. Both "Condolence'' and "Letter from a Nurse'' adapt historical documents from the 1918 influenza pandemic. What theme do they share with Gorman's own pandemic poems?
- A) The joy of isolation
- B) The cyclical nature of grief and resilience
- C) The superiority of modern medicine
- D) The irrelevance of community
19. Short answer: In "Closure,'' the poet redefines closure not as a circle but as what shape? What does this suggest about moving forward?
20. Throughout the collection, Gorman uses the act of writing as both a personal and collective act. In "We Write,'' the speaker says "we write because you might listen.'' How does this connect to the idea of carrying as presented in the book?
- A) Writing stores memories that can be passed on
- B) Writing is only for the poet
- C) Listening is irrelevant
- D) Carrying means forgetting
Answer Key
1. B — In "Monomyth,'' the "Crossing the Threshold'' includes the pandemic declaration and Breonna Taylor's killing, marking the entry into crisis. (Chapter 64 evidence references these events.)
2. "Beware the ides of March.'' — The poem warns that cases spread like spillage on this date, alluding to Julius Caesar's assassination. (Chapter 7 outline.)
3. C — Chapter 39, "Condolence,'' adapts a 1918 letter from the Superintendent of the Yakama Indian Agency. (Outline chapter 39.)
4. B — The poem says the book is an account of "what was meant and felt, not merely what happened.'' (Chapter 2 outline.)
5. The erasure of individual identity in mass death. — The ledgers show how official records reduce a person to a scribbled note, symbolizing communal grief and responsibility. (Outline chapter 44; chapter 44 outlines the "girl'' metaphor.)
6. B — The "Climax'' section of Monomyth lists January 20, 2021, as Inauguration Day when Gorman read her poem. (Chapter 64 evidence: "Jan. 20: Ext. Capitol Building—Day.'')
7. A — "Broken'' — The poem says the nation is "unfinished, not broken.'' (Chapter 72 outline.)
8. Ark — "Language is an ark.'' (Chapter 71 evidence: "language is an ark.'')
9. B — "At times over half of our bodies are not our own'' — the microbiome reframes identity as inter-species. (Chapter 16 evidence.)
10. B — She protested General Ballou's Bulletin Number 35 ordering Black soldiers to avoid public places. (Chapter 48 outline.)
11. Bureau of Indian Affairs — The footnote situates the nurse within the institutional context of a Native American boarding school. (Outline chapter 40.)
12. B — Transformation (being Changed) is valued over being set apart as Chosen. (Chapter 23 evidence: "We would not be Among the Chosen, But amidst the Changed.'')
13. That the ghosts we seek are actually parts of ourselves. — The poem calls for summoning "our tender selves'' rather than external spirits. (Chapter 33 evidence: "Let it be our tender selves.'')
14. B — From Latin arca (chest) and arcere (to contain). (Chapter 71 evidence: "The word comes from the Latin word arca…")
15. B — Erasure poetry seeks the undercurrent, exposing voices exiled from history. (Outline chapter 37.)
16. B — Scieppan means "to shape.'' (Outline chapter 17.)
17. "Grieve, then choose.'' — The poem concludes that the answer lies in grieving and then making a choice. (Outline chapter 11.)
18. B — Both poems show that grief and resilience recur across pandemics, linking historical trauma to present experience. (Outline chapters 39 and 40.)
19. A spiral. — Moving forward rather than returning. It suggests that closure is an ongoing process that leads us closer together. (Outline chapter 70: "redefines closure as a spiral, not a circle'' and "If we are brought any closure, it will be in us being brought closer'' from chapter 64 evidence.)
20. A — Writing is a bridge of mutual searching and healing; carrying memories forward ensures they are heard and held. (Outline chapter 63 and overall theme of carrying as preservation.)