The Bean Eaters Quizzes

The Bean Eaters Quiz on "The Bean Eaters"

1 To what does the word "yellow" refer?
The bean eaters' complexion

The color of their clothes

The bean eaters' courage

The color of the walls
2 In what collection of poetry did "The Bean Eaters" first appear?
We Real Cool

A Street in Bronzeville

In the Mecca

The Bean Eaters
3 Which of the following lines is an example of verbal irony?
As they lean over the beans in their rented back room

Dinner is a casual affair

Two who are Mostly Good

Plain chipware on a plain and creaking wood
4 Which of the following is NOT scattered about their apartment?
Tobacco crumbs

Receipts

Beads

Cigarette butts
5 What is the difference between twinklings and twinges?
Twinklings denotes a fond memory and twinges denotes a somehow painful memory.

Twinkling denotes a memory about their youth and twinges denotes a more recent memory.

Twinklings denotes a painful memory and twinges denotes a fond memory.

They mean pretty much the same thing.
6 Why do the poeple in this poem likely eat beans most days?
Because they love beans.

Because beans are a cheap and nutritious food.

Because there is an abundance of beans in Chicago.

Because beans reminds them of their younger years.
7 What is the significance of the fact that they rent their room rather than own it?
Because of their sordid past, the bean eaters are not able to own a house in their own names.

The bean eaters cannot afford to own a house, so the fact that they are renters reminds us that they live in poverty.

There is no significance, it is merely a coincidence.

The bean eaters have been swept aside by society, and because they rent their space, they have to continue to fight for a place of their own.
8 What is the meaning of the word "chipware"?
Chipware is a word invented by Brooks to symbolize the elderly.

Chipware is a word invented by Brooks to mean "chipped dinnerware."

Chipware is what happens to wooden tables when they start to chip.

Chipware is an early type of software used in naval computers.
9 What is the metrical form of "The Bean Eaters"?
Iambic tetrameter

Anapestic tetrameter

The poem lacks regular meter

Iambic pentameter
10 What is the rhyme scheme?
AABA BCBC EFF

AABA BCDC EFF

ABAB BCBC EFF

AABB CCDD ABA
11 What do the chipped plates and creaking wood symbolize?
The fact that they don't take care of their stuff.

The clumsiness of the bean eaters.

The aging of the bean eaters.

The carelessness of the bean eaters.
12 What is the significance of the phrase "Mostly Good"?
Brooks uses it simply for its sonic quality.

It leaves room to imagine the couple as mischievous or rebellious youth.

It reminds us that they are imperfect people.

It tells us that they have guilty consciences.
13 What is the effect of the word "Two" in the poem?
It mimics the sound of an owl hooting: "Two who, two who"

It is the first time we learn how many people are present in the poem.

The use of numbers reminds us that the poem is about aging.

It ties the couple into a single unit and blurs their individuality.
14 Where does the couple live?
In a two bedroom apartment.

In a small house in Chicago.

On a street in Bronzeville.

In a rented back room.
15 What is the significance of "putting on their clothes" and "putting things away"?
The lines demonstrate the monotony of their lives as they age.

The lines represent the effort to be presentable, despite their limited means.

The lines are a tender exploration of the ways which they help each other.

The lines are ironic, because their place is actually a cluttered mess.
16 What kind of flatware does the couple use?
Silver

Tin

Stainless steel

Aluminum
17 What does Brooks mean when she writes that they "have lived their day"?
Everyone only gets one best day of their life.

They just had the best day of their lives.

They have already experienced the prime of their lives.

They made the most of their time.
18 In which stanza are the members of the couple finally addressed as individuals?
The third.

The first.

The second.

They are never addressed seperately.
19 What most closely describes the speaker's tone?
Nervous, anxious, clammy

Sad, somber, depressed

Airy, nonchalant, dispassionate

Angry, fervent, passionate
20 Which of the following contains alliteration?
Remembering, with twinklings and twinges,

Two who are Mostly Good.

Dinner is a casual affair.

Tin flatware.
21 When was the poem first published in print?
1968 in In the Mecca

1960 in The Bean Eaters

1991 in Report from Part One

1959 in Poetry magazine
22 Which publishing company first published the collection by the same name?
Riverhead

Broadside Press

Penguin

Harpers
23 In which category does D.H. Melhem place "The Bean Eaters" in the context of the entire collection?
Miscellaneous

Political (general)

Social (relational)

Political (current)
24 The bean eaters are...
An aging Black couple who copes with their boredom by reminiscing about their younger years.

An agining Black couple who, despite living in poverty, finds ways to have excitement in their lives.

A couple who believes in the magic properties of beans to turn them young again.

A couple in Bronzeville who won the lottery but still eats beans every night to keep them humble.
25 A twinge is a...
A type of ornamental shredding on the edge of a fabric.

Moral or emotional pang.

A sparkle on the surface of water.

A small, flexible branch from a tree.

How are traditional forms brought out in Bean eaters by Gwendlyn Brooks

The speaker takes on an airy, dispassionate third-person omniscent perspective. The Free verse with irregular meter and rhyme scheme.

Asked by Alicent K #1272569

Answered by Aslan on 11/7/2023 6:18 PM

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The bean eaters

The imagery reinforces imagery filled with nostalgia warmth. "The Bean Eaters" is a poem describing the simple, frugal ritual of eating beans as enacted by an aging Black couple in the 1960s. The first stanza establishes the ritual—"They eat beans...

Asked by Gracie H #1207027

Answered by Aslan on 1/19/2022 2:39 AM

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Do you think you could sympathize more with the people in this poem if you knew their names? Why or why not?

Asked by coco b #900877

Answered by coco b #900877 on 5/4/2019 2:43 PM

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The Bean Eaters

by Gwendolyn Brooks

The Bean Eaters Quiz on "The Bean Eaters"

The Bean Eaters Questions and Answers

Study Guide for The Bean Eaters

Essays for The Bean Eaters