Poet: I can’t answer questions on Texas standardized tests about my own poems
If she had known the answer, would that make the question any better?I remember back when I was in high school, I always sort of assumed that the authors of the poems we were tested on wouldn't be able to answer the ridiculous questions on our assessments.  But even if they did, I've never been able to figure out what skills these questions were testing.  If poems are open to interpretation, isn't it reasonable to think that two equally skilled readers would arrive at different conclusions?  Which is to say: Is the answer really objective?In any case, the state of standardized testing is miserable, and unfortunately from all accounts I have heard it is worse abroad.  I don't think this should be much of a surprise to anyone.