I'll Fly Away Quiz: Test Your Knowledge of Rudy Francisco's Poetry Collection
This 20-question quiz spans Rudy Francisco's full collection I'll Fly Away. Questions cover plot and sequence, character motivation, theme and symbol, and synthesis. After completing the quiz, check the answer key for brief explanations. Use the book overview for broader context, or visit the ending explained and questions and answers pages for deeper analysis.
Quiz Questions
Plot and Sequence (Questions 1-8)
1. In the poem "And maybe we all know a 'Ricky'" (Chapter 5), what does Ricky's community offer as substitutes to protect him from violence?
- A) Money and jewelry
- B) O-Dog for Cane and Caesar for Ruby
- C) Their own freedom for Ricky's safety
- D) A dandelion as a peace offering
2. In "Alternate endings for the black movies" (Chapter 37), what happens to Cane in the revised ending of Menace II Society?
- A) He is killed in a drive-by shooting
- B) He moves to Atlanta with Ronnie
- C) He goes to prison
- D) He becomes a police officer
3. In "What I know is this" (Chapter 6), what object does Francisco use as a metaphor for the baton in a relay race?
- A) A torch
- B) A microphone
- C) A flag
- D) A key
4. In "Divorce is a stubborn grease fire" (Chapter 8), what physical item is stolen from the speaker's mother by the fire?
- A) Her wedding dress
- B) A photograph album
- C) Her wedding ring
- D) The family home
5. In "Seventeen" (Chapter 24), what does the older speaker wish he could tell his younger self to do at prom?
- A) Stay home and read a book
- B) Compliment Rochelle Moss and ask her to dance
- C) Ignore everyone and focus on his grades
- D) Stand up to a bully
6. In "I say black fatherhood" (Chapter 52), what word does the narrator whisper to himself to cool his anger after a racist remark?
- A) "Zoey"
- B) "Patience"
- C) "Courage"
- D) "Forgiveness"
7. In "Afterwards" (Chapter 15), when the speaker's car breaks down at a busy intersection, what does he humorously imagine the car wanted to be?
- A) A boat
- B) A couch
- C) A bicycle
- D) A tree
8. In "It is the year 2036" (Chapter 31), how does society classify the killing of unarmed Black people by police drones?
- A) A justified action
- B) A "mechanical error"
- C) An unavoidable accident
- D) A crime of passion
Character Motivation (Questions 9-13)
9. In "Perhaps I told you I was leaving" (Chapter 10), why does the speaker announce their departure?
- A) They are moving to a new city
- B) They believe it is the only way the addressee will notice their absence
- C) They are angry about a betrayal
- D) They want to end the relationship permanently
10. In "The women in my family never use measuring cups" (Chapter 50), why do the women cook without measuring tools?
- A) They cannot afford proper kitchen equipment
- B) They rely on intuition, taste, and inherited knowledge
- C) They follow recipes from memory
- D) They are in a hurry and skip steps
11. In "Dear PTSD" (Chapter 45), what does the speaker express curiosity about regarding his father?
- A) How his father met his mother
- B) What his father was like before trauma changed him
- C) Whether his father will seek treatment
- D) Why his father never talks about the past
12. In "Unsolicited advice" (Chapter 51), what song is the expectant father told to play on the way to the hospital?
- A) "Three Little Birds" by Bob Marley
- B) "Everything is Going to Be Alright"
- C) "Redemption Song" by Bob Marley
- D) "No Woman, No Cry" by Bob Marley
13. In "Whoever said a choir" (Chapter 46), why do the speaker and his father sing loudly to Bob Marley in the car?
- A) To celebrate a family reunion
- B) To fight against Alzheimer's disease and preserve memory
- C) To drown out traffic noise
- D) To impress other drivers
Theme and Symbol (Questions 14-17)
14. In "This is how I scare the dirt" (Chapter 3), what does the pen represent?
- A) A weapon of violence
- B) A tool to combat death and enact resurrection through writing
- C) A symbol of academic achievement
- D) A means of communication between lovers
15. In "Drowning Fish" (Chapter 14), what does the drowning fish primarily symbolize?
- A) Environmental pollution
- B) Depression and the feeling of drowning in sadness
- C) The destruction of nature by humans
- D) A failed relationship
16. In "The Peace Lily" (Chapter 44), what does the peace lily represent?
- A) Romantic love and devotion
- B) Resilience and the ability to bloom despite difficult circumstances
- C) Wealth and prosperity
- D) The end of a conflict
17. In "Legend has it" (Chapter 4), what does J Dilla's act of making instrumentals from his living body in the hospital illustrate?
- A) The dangers of overwork
- B) Art as a life force and transcendence through creation
- C) The importance of medical technology
- D) The loneliness of fame
Synthesis (Questions 18-20)
18. In "Mama Saba asks" (Chapter 2), Francisco compares English to a "shiny hammer." What limitation of language does this image reveal?
(Short answer)
19. Both "Drowning Fish" (Chapter 14) and "The poem where I lie about everything" (Chapter 11) feature a speaker who hides their true feelings. What common theme do these poems explore together?
- A) The joy of artistic creation
- B) Performative happiness and the hidden pain beneath a mask of well-being
- C) The importance of family traditions
- D) The healing power of nature
20. In "Instructions for black people" (Chapter 39), the poem presents a series of impossible, contradictory directives. What larger societal critique does this structure serve?
- A) The beauty of complex language
- B) The double bind and systemic racism that Black people face in America
- C) The importance of following rules
- D) The decline of politeness in modern society
Answer Key
1. B — O-Dog for Cane and Caesar for Ruby
The community tries to negotiate with violence, offering substitutes, but the negotiation fails due to a "language barrier."
2. B — He moves to Atlanta with Ronnie
In Francisco's alternate ending, Cane survives the drive-by and builds a life with Ronnie, working nights while she attends class.
3. B — A microphone
Francisco writes that the baton becomes a microphone, turning a marathon into a relay when someone continues the race.
4. C — Her wedding ring
The fire, a metaphor for divorce, consumed the mother's wedding ring and left a permanent shadow on her hand.
5. B — Compliment Rochelle Moss and ask her to dance
From an older perspective, the speaker wishes he could urge his seventeen-year-old self to ignore his nerves and take that chance.
6. A — "Zoey"
The narrator whispers his daughter's name twice, and the name acts like "ice cubes" to cool his rising anger.
7. B — A couch
The speaker humorously imagines his broken-down car wanted to be a couch instead of a vehicle.
8. B — A "mechanical error"
The poem satirizes how society blames technology rather than addressing persistent racism, even as unarmed Black people continue to be killed.
9. B — They believe it is the only way the addressee will notice their absence
The speaker stages an exit as a cry for recognition, feeling invisible unless they leave.
10. B — They rely on intuition, taste, and inherited knowledge
The women season until it tastes good, add ingredients generously, and cook until ready—honoring tradition and sensory wisdom over precise measurements.
11. B — What his father was like before trauma changed him
The speaker addresses PTSD as a person who "met" his father and altered his identity; no pre-trauma details are given, only a longing to know.
12. B — "Everything is Going to Be Alright"
The poem instructs the expectant father to play this song as a calming ritual during the drive to the hospital.
13. B — To fight against Alzheimer's disease and preserve memory
The speaker frames their loud singing as a deliberate act of defiance against the illness, vowing not to go quietly.
14. B — A tool to combat death and enact resurrection through writing
The poem concludes that "sometimes a pen is also a shovel," presenting writing as a means of defying mortality.
15. B — Depression and the feeling of drowning in sadness
The speaker uses the real event of fish drowning due to low oxygen as an analogy for his own depression and struggle to survive.
16. B — Resilience and the ability to bloom despite difficult circumstances
The peace lily grows even in shade, mirroring the poem's message that environment does not have to stop personal growth.
17. B — Art as a life force and transcendence through creation
J Dilla's hospital-bed production becomes a metaphor for grinding oneself into art that reaches places the artist never goes.
18. The image reveals that English, while powerful and useful, is a limited tool that cannot capture every human experience or translate every concept.
The speaker searches their entire English vocabulary for a word Mama Saba requests and finds no equivalent, highlighting gaps between languages.
19. B — Performative happiness and the hidden pain beneath a mask of well-being
In both poems, the speaker insists "I'm fine" while revealing deep struggles—depression, loneliness, exhaustion—showing the cost of hiding true emotion.
20. B — The double bind and systemic racism that Black people face in America
The contradictory commands (speak but be silent, wear nothing, don't run) expose the impossible survival position imposed on Black individuals, with America personified as a record player repeating history backwards.
Return to the I'll Fly Away book page for a full summary, or explore the ending explained and questions and answers for more study resources.