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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 emotion does the narrator of the poem "Wedding-Wind" feel?

2. What season does the poem "Coming" discuss?

3. To whom is the poem "Born Yesterday" dedicated?

4. To whom is "All Catches Alight" dedicated?

5. What animal is mentioned in the poem "Wires"?

Short Essay Questions

1. In the poem "Maiden Name," what has marriage done to the subject? What is the result of this?

2. What is the poem "Water" about? What does he say about water?

3. In the poem "The Large Cool Store," what does the store sell? What is the end of the poem about?

4. What is the subject of the poem "Wants"? What does the narrator desire at the end?

5. In "The Dedicated," why are the walks smoothed out? Where do the feet of the doves perch?

6. In "Breadfruit," what do the boys dream of? Where do these visions end?

7. In the poem "Talking in Bed," how does the narrator feel about talking in bed? What does he say is hard to do?

8. In the poem "Waiting for Breakfast," what is the female character doing? What does the narrator do to her, and how does he feel about this?

9. In "Love," what is the difficult part of love? Who does love suit?

10. In the poem "An Arundel Tomb," who are the subjects of the poem? What are they doing?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Ships are a common element that Larkin uses in his poetry. Write an essay on the symbolism of the ship in Larkin's collection "The Less Deceived."

Essay Topic 2

Think about the theme of dawn in the collection "The North Ship." Write an essay explaining the use of dawn in the collection, using at least three examples.

Essay Topic 3

Using at least three poems, write an essay about the theme of music in Larkin's collection, "The North Ship."

(see the answer keys)

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