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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 are the three poker players in "Poker Star" from The Pill Versus The Springhill Mine Disaster?

2. When is the best time to climb the silver stairs in "The Silver Stairs of Ketchikan" in The Pill versus The Springhill Mine Disaster?

3. How are Ophelia's clothes spread in "The Rape of Ophelia" in The Pill versus The Springhill Mine Disaster?

4. What is the first item in "Karma Repair Kit: Items 1-4" of The Pill versus The Springhill Mine Disaster?

5. What do the Chinese smoke in "A Postcard from Chinatown" in The Pill versus The Springhill Mine Disaster?

Short Essay Questions

1. What similes and metaphors are used in the poem "Sonnet" from The Pill Versus the Springhill Mine Disaster?

2. What qualities are outstanding in the poems of Brautigan in terms of imagery?

3. What is referred to in the poem "1942" from The Pill Versus the Springhill Mine Disaster?

4. To what is Brautigan referring in the poem, "The Pill Versus the Springhill Mine Disaster"?

5. In which poem does Brautigan refer to the Hindenberg Disaster? How?

6. Discuss the tone of the poem "The Return of the Rivers." What does Brautigan describe here?

7. What theme permeates the poem "I Feel Horrible. She Doesn't"? What symbolism supports this theme?

8. How does Brautigan's poetry in The Pill Versus the Springhill Mine Disaster differ from his prose in In Watermelon Sugar?

9. What imagery is used in the poem, "The Winos on Potrero Hill"?

10. What description does Brautigan illustrate in the poem "Poker Star"?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Compare and contrast the tone and theme of In Watermelon Sugar and Trout Fishing in America. How are they similar? How do they differ?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the imagery of "All Watched Over By Machines of Loving Grace" from The Pill Versus the Springhill Mine Disaster. How does the imagery tie to the theme of the poem?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the structure of Richard Brautigan's poetry. Define and identify the following using the poems as examples: rhyme, meter, assonance, and alliteration.

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