Function of POV: Poetry Practice Test

Read the poem below.

Title: "Instructions for Leaving"

Fold the map until the creases

remember only straight roads.

Tell the cat you will be back;

practice saying it without sound.

Pack one mug—the chipped one—

so your mouth won’t expect perfection.

When you lock the door,

count to five, then to five again,

as if numbers can hold a threshold.

On the bus, watch your reflection

float over the dark window.

If you feel relief,

call it weather.

How does the poem’s shifting between imperative commands and second-person (“you”) address affect its meaning?

Read the poem below.

Title: "After the Bell"

You sit in the last desk, hood up,

as if cloth can dim the fluorescent hum.

You keep your pencil moving

so no one can accuse you of stopping.

When the teacher says your name,

you answer with a nod—

a small door opening, then closing.

At the window, you watch

the buses kneel and rise

like animals trained to leave.

In your backpack, the worksheet creases

into a map of where you won’t go.

At home, you will explain nothing,

because you have learned

silence is a language that passes.

How does the poem’s use of second-person (“you”) perspective function?