eQuizShow

The Woman I Am in My Dreams

About the Author

Question: What is the Authors name?
Answer: Maxine Tynes

Question: Where was she born?
Answer: Dartmouth, Nova Scotia

Question: What did Maxine Teach?
Answer: Black Literature and Feminist Literature

Question: Name one place she taught at?
Answer: Cole Harbour High and Auburn Drive High School

Question: When was she born and at what age did she pass away?
Answer: She was born in 1949 and passed away at age 62

Poetic Devices

Question: Name three Poetic Device used in this poem?
Answer: Personification, Repetition, Contrast, Concrete Poetry, Imagery, Tone and Mood

Question: Give an example of the Tone or Mood?
Answer: wishful, Sad, Confident, Rebelious, Dark.

Question: What is she comparing/contrasting throughout the poem?
Answer: herself and the woman in her dreams.

Question: What is Concrete Poetry used or in this poem?
Answer: To draw us into her insecurity
To pull us out of her insecurities and into her confident dream self.

Question: What is personified in the poem?
Answer: Her feet speak.

Themes

Question: What was one theme?
Answer: Loss of identity, Appearances vs. Reality

Question: What is the other theme?
Answer: Appearances vs. Reality, Loss of Identity

Question: How is movement compared?
Answer: In the poem, Tynes talks about how she dreams of her mobility. She has been immobile for most of her life and she feels as though she cannot perform tasks to her full potential.
In The Book of Negroes, Aminata travels throughout the world, "We are traveling people". Her ability to move keeps her alive, for example her trek through Africa fo

Question: How was Appearances vs. Reality compared?
Answer: In the poem, Tynes talks about being overlooked because of her disability, and the fact that people cannot see her for what she is worth. In The Book of Negroes, Aminata is not expected to have any of the qualities she possesses. ie. being a midwife, being literate, being able to count, and being able to communicate with the white folk.

Question: How was loss of identity compared?
Answer: In the poem, she struggles through a lot of physical challenges that leave her questioning who she is, and whether or not society will accept her. In the novel, Aminata struggles with the loss of names and the loss of individuality among the slaves.

The Book of Negroes

Question: Give an example of a theme that appears in both works
Answer: Loss of identity, mobility, appearances vs. reality

Question: What do feet and hands symbolize in each of these works?
Answer: beauty , strength, courage

Question: "The woman I am in my dreams I wake up/and/ carry part of her with me everywhere" (Tynes).
Relate this quote to "The Book of Negroes".
Answer: In The Book of Negroes, Aminata believes throughout the entire duration of her life that she is going to return to Africa, even after everyone says that she never will. She has a goal in mind, and uses this goal to her advantage, to finally reach her dream.

Question: How do both the woman in the poem and Aminata struggle with a loss of identity?
Answer: In the poem, she struggles through a lot of physical challenges that leave her questioning who she is, and whether or not society will accept her. In the novel, Aminata struggles with the loss of names and the loss of individuality among the slaves.

Question: Do you think the characters of Aminata and the woman in the poem are similar or different? Explain.
Answer: Similar: Both are overlooked in everyday life because of a disadvantage they may have. (woman in poem having polio and unable to walk, Aminata being a negro). Both dream of something more than they are able to grasp

Different: Aminata displays pride and confidence throughout the entirety of the novel, while the woman in the poem is not c

Random

Question: What is another name for poliomyelitis?
Answer: Polio

Question: Define personification.
Answer: Attributing human characteristics to an inanimate object, animal or abstract idea.
Example: The days crept by slowly, sorrowfully.

Question: What non-fiction person is Aminata named after?
Answer: Lawrence Hill's daughter

Question: What do the shoes symbolize in the poem? Both Nikes and heels.
Answer: Nikes: The ability to play sports on solid legs

Heels: The ability to walk with grace and fluent strides

Question: Define Concrete Poetry
Answer: Poems that are printed on a page so they form a recognizable outline related to the subject, thus conveying or extending the meaning of the words