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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 does the narrator feel during the storm in 'Lightning'?

2. What does the water turn to according to the metaphor in 'A Poem For the Blue Heron'?

3. What does John Chapman also use his hat for in 'John Chapman'?

4. What does the narrator dream about in 'Cold Poem'?

5. What makes the crows so angry with the owl in 'Crows and Owls'?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does the narrator in 'University Hospital, Boston' think about when she hears how old the hospital is?

2. What is the ironic idea included in 'Mushrooms'?

3. What is the main metaphor used in 'Lightning'?

4. What does the narrator say about the trees at the Boston Hospital in 'University Hospital, Boston'?

5. What kind of annoyances does the narrator of 'Egrets' face while going to see the egrets?

6. What does the narrator of 'Egrets' say allows them to step without fear?

7. What chafes the narrator in 'Fall Song'?

8. How do most people feel about vultures according to the narrator of 'Vultures'?

9. What does the narrator of 'August' accept during the poem?

10. In 'The Bobcat', what does the bobcat do that astounds the narrator?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Some of these poems alluded to Oliver's belief in God and her religious views. How did this this religious center affect the tone of the poems and the messages being presented in them?

Essay Topic 2

There was a lot of interesting advice given and received in these poems. What are some examples of this advice, and what were the consequences of it?

Essay Topic 3

What were some of the questions asked in 'The Gardens' and how did their unanswered status affect the tone of the poem?

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