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. What storms in 'May'?

2. What swims in everyone in 'Blossom'?

3. What does the narrator of 'White Night' compare the muskrat's house to?

4. What does the narrator of 'The Sea' call the sea?

5. What does the narrator of 'Bluefish' compare the Bluefish to as they eat?

Short Essay Questions

1. What do the fish do in the secret pools in 'Climbing the Chagrin River'?

2. What does the narrator of 'The Roses' compare the blooming of the roses to?

3. What does the narrator of 'The Roses' say there is no end to?

4. What does the narrator say mankind is nourished by in 'The Fish'?

5. What sad event happens in the second part of 'Something'?

6. What does the narrator of 'Morning at Great Pond' say the coming morning renews in her at the Great Pond?

7. How does the narrator of 'Crossing the Swamp' feel when she gets covered in the mud from the swamp?

8. What is the first big question asked of the reader in 'Tecumseh'?

9. What is the prayer whispered in 'The Garden', and who is it meant for?

10. What does the narrator of 'The Plum Trees' say a man must not succumb to?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Despair was a theme that was placed in a number of sensitive places in these poems. What are some of these places, and what role did despair play in this book?

Essay Topic 2

What happened to the 'Lost Children', and what were some of the theories Oliver had about these circumstances.

Essay Topic 3

Oliver puts a huge emphasis on optimism in many of these poems. Which poems presented this idea, and how did they differ in the way each presented this theme?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 604 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample