Function of Setting: Poetry Practice Test

Read the following poem, then answer the question.

"Basement Laundry"

In the apartment basement, the ceiling pipes

sweat steadily into their own rust.

Washing machines thump like distant doors,

and dryer vents breathe warm, borrowed air.

Someone’s sock clings to the cinderblock wall

as if it tried to climb out.

I feed quarters into the slot

and watch my shirts turn slowly—

small planets with no weather.

Above me, footsteps cross the living rooms,

but down here the light is always midwinter.

Which choice best describes how the apartment basement laundry room setting functions in the poem?

Read the following poem, then answer the question.

"Orchard in November"

In the abandoned orchard, trees hold

their last apples like bruises they won’t admit.

Frost stitches the grass to itself.

A ladder lies down in wet leaves

as if it finally grew tired of reaching.

I walk the rows where names on tags

have gone blank from rain.

Somewhere a crow rehearses one note.

The wind turns each branch

into a thin, complaining hinge.

I leave with my hands empty,

still smelling sweetness I didn’t take.

Which choice best describes the function of the abandoned orchard in November setting in the poem?