AUTO WRECK POEM
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
GRADE 12

"Auto Wreck" by Karl Shapiro
Its quick soft silver bell beating, beating,
And down the dark one ruby flare
Pulsing out red light like an artery,
The ambulance at top speed floating down
Past beacons and illuminated clocks
Wings in a heavy curve, dips down,
And brakes speed, entering the crowd.
The doors leap open, emptying light;
Stretchers are laid out, the mangled lifted
And stowed into the little hospital.
Then the bell, breaking the hush, tolls once.
And the ambulance with its terrible cargo
Rocking, slightly rocking, moves away,
As the doors, an afterthought, are closed.

We are deranged, walking among the cops
Who sweep glass and are large and composed.
One is still making notes under the light.
One with a bucket douches ponds of blood
Into the street and gutter.
One hangs lanterns on the wrecks that cling,
Empty husks of locusts, to iron poles.

Our throats were tight as tourniquets,
Our feet were bound with splints, but now,
Like convalescents intimate and gauche,
We speak through sickly smiles and warn
With the stubborn saw of common sense,
The grim joke and the banal resolution.
The traffic moves around with care,
But we remain, touching a wound
That opens to our richest horror.
Already old, the question Who shall die?
Becomes unspoken Who is innocent?

For death in war is done by hands;
Suicide has cause and stillbirth, logic;
And cancer, simple as a flower, blooms.
But this invites the occult mind,
Cancels our physics with a sneer,
And spatters all we knew of denouement
Across the expedient and wicked stones.

QUESTIONS

Refer to the poem on page 31 and answer the questions below.

1. Complete the following sentences by using the words provided in the list Write only the words next to the question number (1.1–1.3)

   police van; accident; dead; ambulance; break-down; injured

   This poem describes how the (1.1) … rushes to the scene of the (1.2) … The (1.3) … are picked up and taken to hospital.                                                           (3)
2. Refer to stanza
   2.1 At what time of the day does this incident happen? (1)
   2.2 In lines 4-6 (“The ambulance at ... and illuminated clocks”) the ambulance is compared to a bird. Quote TWO separate words that support this (1) (2)
3. Choose the correct answer to complete the following Write only the answer (A-D).
   The word “mangled” in line 9 tells us that ...
   1. The vehicles are badly damaged.
   2. Some of the bystanders are very upset.
   3. The policemen are emotionless.
   4. The accident victims are seriously injured.                       (1)
4. Refer to lines 15 and 16 (“We are deranged … and composed”).
   Quote TWO separate words that show the difference in the reactions of the speaker and the policemen.                                                                             (2)
5. Refer to line 25 (“We speak through sickly smiles ...”).
   Explain why the onlookers have “sickly smiles”.                    (2)
6. Refer to stanza
   Using your own words, name TWO things that the onlookers are concerned about.                                                            (2)
7. Complete the following sentences by using the words provided in the list below.

   solution; confuses; reason; unnatural; clarifies; logical

   In the last stanza, the speaker argues that there is always a (7.1) ... for Suicide, while stillbirth is (7.2) ... However, a car crash (7.3)... the minds of ordinary people.  (3)
8. Explain why the poet mentions war, suicide, stillbirth and cancer in a poem about a road (2)
9. The poem was first published in Do you think it is still relevant today?
   Discuss your view.                                                                  (2)
10. Has this poem changed your understanding of the causes of road deaths? Discuss your (2) [22]

ANSWERS