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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is the mood of "Book Lice?"

2. In this poem, the viewer is ________________ the grasshoppers.

3. "Water Striders" describes the _________ action of this insect.

4. Who reads which part of this book?

5. "The Moth's Serenade" tells of what?

Short Essay Questions

1. What story does "Moth's Serenade" tell? What does this explain about moths?

2. What might be the real purpose for a firefly's light? Why do you think this?

3. How can a person relate to this moth?

4. How are other animals like humans? What human qualities do other animals have?

5. To what does the poet compare fireflies? Is this a good comparison? Why or why not?

6. How are mayflies and fireflies similar?

7. What literary devices does the poet use to express the moth's feelings?

8. Why are mayflies so frantic, according to this poem?

9. How does a mayfly feel at the end of its life? Why?

10. What feelings are evoked by the grasshoppers? Why?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The tone of this book changes from one poem to another.

Part 1) Which poems give off a sense of chaos and frenzy? Why? How does the poet give the poems this tone? What tools does the poet use to create very different poems from these chaotic poems?

Part 2) How has the poet chosen certain insects to have certain personalities and characteristics? Do these personalities reflect the actual creatures? If so, how? If not, why not?

Part 3) Do you believe the insects are truly as the poet describes? Why or why not? What is the poets reason for giving the insects these varying personalities, opinions, and characteristics?

Essay Topic 2

Personification is an important theme found in each poem.

Part 1) Why is personification an important theme? How are the insects personified? Why does the poet choose to use personification in this poem? Is this effective? Why or why not?

Part 2) What different personalities are found in the insects? How can each of these personalities be related to humans? How is human emotion also important in these poems? Which poems focus the most on human emotion? Why? How is this connected to the behaviors of the insects?

Part 3) What other literary devices are used in this book? When and why is each literary device used? How do these literary devices help the poet make the poems engaging and purposeful?

Essay Topic 3

Mayflies live for only one day.

Part 1) How do they spend their day? Why might they do this? How do they feel about this one day? Are you surprised by this? Why or why not?

Part 2) How are many people like the mayfly? How can one relate to this creature whose life lasts only twenty-four hours?

Part 3) What is the lesson of this poem? What can the reader learn about how one should spend one's life, based on this poem? Why?

(see the answer keys)

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