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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. How does the narrator get into the whorehouse?

2. In 'John Chapman', what state does John Chapman live in?

3. Why do some people not gather the mushrooms in 'Mushrooms'?

4. What did someone tell the narrator in the second part of 'A Poem for the Blue Heron'?

5. In 'Clapp's Pond', how wide is Clapp's Pond?

Short Essay Questions

1. Where does personification fit in 'Lightning'?

2. What sound does the narrator describe at the beginning of 'Postcard from Flamingo'?

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

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

5. What does the alligator in 'Postcard From Flamingo' do?

6. What do the Sioux say about ghosts in the poem 'Ghosts'?

7. What does the first snow do to familiar things in the poem 'First Snow'?

8. What is the central theme in the first four poems?

9. What does the narrator's companion tell her over and over while at the hospital in 'University Hospital, Boston'?

10. What question does the narrator want to ask the stranger on the plane in 'Flying'?

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

What was the main theme in 'Flying' and what kinds of literary devices were used to present this interesting and unique theme?

Essay Topic 3

Through these poems, Oliver presented a very interesting and unique philosophy on life. What was this philosophy, and how did this different idealism affect the tone of her literature?

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This section contains 562 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample