View a FREE sample

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

Short Answer Questions

1. How does Oliver use plants and animals in her poems?

2. What does using nature in her poems allow Oliver to do?

3. In Everything, what are we told to look to for examination?

4. How does Oliver describe her poetry in Everything?

5. Which of these is a line from The Measure?

Short Essay Questions

1. In Mysteries, Four of the Simple Ones, what does Oliver ask about a seed grain?

2. What does Oliver think the turtle was heading for in The Measure?

3. In Mysteries, Four of the Simple Ones, what does Oliver ask about a turtle?

4. What parts of grammar does Oliver say she wants to cherish in Everything, and why?

5. In The Real Prayers are Not the Words, but the Attention that Comes First, what is the bird doing at the beginning of the poem?

6. At the end of Everything, what does Oliver say she wants her poems to do?

7. In Mysteries, Four of the Simple Ones, what does Oliver say about the pond?

8. What does Oliver state the reader has probably felt before in Work Sometimes?

9. What did the turtle in The Measure do when Oliver stopped to help it?

10. What did Oliver do at the beginning of The Measure?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Solitude was something that Mary Oliver sought for often in this book. Where did she find it, and how did this solitude affect her writing style?

Essay Topic 2

What role does symbolism play in these poems, and what are some of the major symbols presented?

Essay Topic 3

Laughter and happiness are common themes found in this book. Where do these come into play, and how are the poems with those themes different from the others in this book?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 661 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample