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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. In "In Memoir of Sergei O," why does O'Hara dread going to a certain location?

2. In "St. Paul and All That," O'Hara writes about what disappearing?

3. Who is the epigram at the start of "For the Chinese New Year & For Bill Berkson" written by?

4. In "For the Chinese New Year & For Bill Berkson," what is O'Hara able to ignore?

5. How many parts does "For the Chinese New Year & For Bill Berkson" contain?

Short Essay Questions

1. What are some of the pleasures O'Hara discusses in "Five Poems"?

2. Describe O'Hara's experience on the train in "A Little Travel Diary."

3. What does O'Hara request at the end of "Down at the Canal"?

4. What is O'Hara convinced his generation is going to do in "For the Chinese New Year & For Bill Berkson"? How is this similar to the previous generation?

5. How does O'Hara explain love at the end of "St. Paul and All That"?

6. What is the poem "Cornkind" about?

7. Describe two of the cities that O'Hara mentions in "Mary Desti's Ass."

8. In "For the Chinese New Year & For Bill Berkson," why does O'Hara compare and contrast America to Old Europe?

9. Describe the dream O'Hara has in "Kamin's Dance Shop."

10. Why does O'Hara think the world is coming to an end in "For the Chinese New Year & For Bill Berkson"?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss how O'Hara's poetry differs from the poetry of his idols, the Russian and German poets. How has poetry evolved over time?

Essay Topic 2

How is Russian culture important to O'Hara, and how is this culture represented in his poetry?

Essay Topic 3

Explain the technique of free-writing. Choose one poem of O'Hara's that demonstrates this technique. Provide examples of how the message of the poem is or is not effectively conveyed to the reader through free-writing.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 481 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample