GED Practice Question Answer: Poetry…
Last time, I gave you a GED practice question about a poem. What did you think? It’ll help you a lot to try to answer the GED question yourself first, and then look at the answer the next week. So I hope you tried this GED test question:
The Silken Tent
by Robert FrostShe is as in a field a silken tent
At midday when the sunny summer breeze
Has dried the dew and all its ropes relent,
So that in guys it gently sways at ease,
And its supporting central cedar pole,
That is its pinnacle to heavenward
And signifies the sureness of the soul,
Seems to owe naught to any single cord,
But strictly held by none, is loosely bound
By countless silken ties of love and thought
To everything on earth the compass round,
And only by one’s going slightly taut
In the capriciousness of summer air
Is of the slightest bondage made aware.
Here’s the GED Practice Question:
In the last line of the poem, the word “bondage” refers to:
1) being captured and held
2) having ties to the world
3) being held on bond
4) being a slave
5) being a servant
Maybe on the GED test, you’ll read this question and say, “bondage? That means, like, being tied up… maybe ‘captured and held’ sounds right,” and you’ll pick that answer because you’ve only got so much time to take the test and you’re in a hurry to pass your GED! But the question’s not always about what the word means in general. Sometimes on the GED, they want to know what the word means in a specific story or poem. If you see a question like this on the GED test, it can be confusing because a lot of the answers sound right. So, what do you do?
The idea is, you need to look at the reading… what’s the poet really saying? A lot of the GED reading test goes back to that… what’s the writer really saying? What’s the message? The poem compares a woman to a tent, like I talked about a couple weeks ago. The part about “bondage” talks about how the silk ties that tie the tent to the ground sometimes pull tight in the wind, and that’s the only time she feels “bondage.”
That’s metaphor… she is like a tent. So what’s the “bondage” that she feels? Is she a slave or a servant? Bondage can mean that… the GED questions sometimes are confusing like that, giving you answers that could be right. But she probably doesn’t feel like a slave or servant. She’s also not captured or held on bond. The poem doesn’t say anything about those.
What about having ties to the world? The poem talks about her soul being the center pole, pointing up to heaven. What are the ropes tying the tent down? Could they tie her to the world, while her soul points up to heaven? That makes sense… more sense than her being a servant. Do you see how pointing to heaven and being tied to the earth are similar types of things the writer is talking about? There’s nothing like being a slave or those other answers anywhere in the poem.
I say answer 2 is the best answer. On the GED, if you just read the question, the other answers seem more like meanings of “bondage.” But when you’re taking the GED test, you’ve got to think of how the question relates to the poem or reading… that’s the point. Hope this helps! Good luck on your GED studying!
To find out more about the GED test and GED test preparation, visit The GED Academy at passGED.com.

January 21st, 2008 at 10:23 pm
im understadin the basics
i think i need more help
February 16th, 2010 at 2:09 pm
I understood most of the poem but two words I did not understand. like whats capriciousness?
February 17th, 2010 at 9:13 am
Anthony,
Capriciousness here kind of means like the summer wind is unpredictable. It will blow strong, then not blow at all in an instant.
Whenever you don’t know a word, it’s real easy to remember: dictionary.com. I go there all the time when I don’t know a word in English. Sometimes they give me definitions that I don’t always understand, then I have to look up words in the definition, but eventually I figure it out because it’s so easy to copy and paste the words I don’t know.
Sometimes stripping a word down to its root is more helpful with definitions too. Like the definition for capriciousness is: subject to, led by, or indicative of caprice or whim. Well, that’s kind of confusing. But when I look up the definition of just caprice, I get: a sudden, unpredictable change, as of one’s mind or the weather. Ah! That makes more sense.
Also, don’t worry so much if you can’t figure out a couple words. Even without the word “capriciousness,” you can still understand the poem. That part of the poem says that the summer air is blowing at the tent. You don’t gotta know that it’s a capricious wind. So, don’t stress out so much if you can’t understand a word or two and a dictionary isn’t available.
May 19th, 2010 at 7:14 pm
I got the answer right. I plan to take my GED in a few days. I pray I will pass
April 14th, 2011 at 7:30 am
MMMMM wow i guess it wrong =(