Directions: Read the poem and answer the questions that follow.

Fossil
Flitting, flickering, flashing
black, white, and a note of red
passes beneath trees
that were already old at the end
of the Civil War.
The lovely departed species
announces its fearless
refusal to cease to be.
And as we stand in awe of life’s
determination, it hammers
its note of hope against the
dead dry bark that sleeves a meal.
Can an old being be resurrected?
Can a people be saved?
And at what cost?

8. In the poem, the ivory-billed woodpecker could symbolize all of the following except

a. life.
b. despair. ***
c. hope.
d. persistence.

9. Which literary element appears at the beginning of the twelfth line?

a. cultural reference
b. irony
c. humor
d. alliteration ***

10. How is the sixth line of the poem an example of irony?

a. Ivory-bills are called a “departed species,” but they are alive.
b. Ivory-bills are called “lovely,” but they are not.
c. Calling the birds “lovely” and “departed” amuses readers.
d. Calling the birds “lovely” and “departed” foreshadows their future. ***

11. What do the words “it hammers / its note of hope” foreshadow?

a. the logging of the old trees
b. the arrival of a predator
c. the continued struggle for survival ***
d. the end of conservation programs

All correct. :)