Think you’ve got your head wrapped around Italia Mia? Put your knowledge to
the test. Good luck — the Stickman is counting on you!
Q. In lines 21-22, Petrarch says that the "verdant plain" of Italy will "be painted red..." Um, why?
Because Italians have planted many fields of poppies
Because the blood of foreign warriors will be spilled there
Because the blood of Italian princes will be spilled there
The growth of algae in the river valleys turns everything red
Q. Petrarch laments that he sees "mortal wounds...covering all your lovely body" (2-3). Of whose body might he be speaking?
Italy
the body politic
the bodies of Italian soldiers
Italy, the body politic, and the bodies of Italian soldiers.
Q. Petrarch remembers that Gaius Marius did something truly disgusting after a battle with Germanic tribes. What was it?
He drank bloody water from the river near the battlefield.
He ate the hearts of his adversaries
He put the heads of the defeated onto spikes
He had the enemy dead dragged behind horses
Q. In lines 36-38, Petrarch says that "blind desire fighting its own good/ then managed to contrive/a way to make this healthy body sick." Whatever is he talking about here?
How his love for Laura tore him apart
How the plague ravaged Florence in the 14th century
How Italian nobility weakened Italy for personal gains
How mental illness can make a person physically ill
Q. Petrarch says that "the savage beasts there with the gentle flocks/ are nested, so the best are made to groan" (41-42). Who are the "savage beasts" in this scenario? Who are the "gentle flocks"?
German mercenaries/Italian people
Italian princes/Petrarch
Native cattle/invasive species of buffalo
Man/Nature