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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 kind of animal does Atwood equate with human souls in Part 5 of the poem "Songs For Murdered Sisters"?

2. What question does the speaker ask the dead sister in the Coda of the poem "Songs For Murdered Sisters"?

3. Why were the old stories comforting in a way in the poem "The Dear Ones"?

4. Who were the scythians in the poem "Digging Up the Scythians"?

5. What do the hinges of the speaker's joints creak like in the poem "The Tin Woodwoman Gets a Massage"?

Short Essay Questions

1. How do the murdered sisters die in the poem "Songs For Murdered Sisters"?

2. In the poem "Salt," what does Atwood warn will happen if one spends too much time in the past?

3. What would be the advantage to slugs reproducing by bud or spore, according to Atwood in "Double-Entry Slug Sex"?

4. In the poem "Frida Kahlo, San Miguel, Ash Wednesday," where does Frida Kahlo live on?

5. What happens when the Tin Woodwoman gets a massage in the poem by the same name?

6. What is the purpose of the mushrooms in the poem "September Mushrooms"?

7. What does the speaker's mother in the poem "Blizzard" fight?

8. What does Atwood use the ghost cat in the poem by the same titled to symbolize?

9. Why does the speaker implore people to keep their clothes on in the poem "Everyone Else's Sex Life"?

10. What are the images in tension with each other in the poem titled "A Genre Painting"?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How does Atwood use animals and insects to convey messages to the readers not only about the natural world, but about human nature, throughout this collection? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions.

Essay Topic 2

What are some of Atwood's pieces of advice to readers regarding the topics of aging and death? Write an essay explaining your answers, citing specific references to the text to help support your conclusions.

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay exploring the different meanings and feelings Atwood assigns to different textiles in the poem Princess Clothing.

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