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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What is found by Oliver, belonging to a heron, in Mysteries, Four of the Simple Ones?
(a) A nest.
(b) An egg.
(c) A feather.
(d) A print.

2. What is the main subject of Everything?
(a) Love.
(b) Nature.
(c) Poetry.
(d) Transcendance.

3. What did Oliver do at the end of Work Sometimes?
(a) Went back to work.
(b) Closed her blinds.
(c) Ran for her life.
(d) Took a nap.

4. How does Oliver state we must pray in The Real Prayers are Not the Words, but the Attention that comes First?
(a) We must desire and pursue.
(b) We must observe and meditate.
(c) We must listen and obey.
(d) We must ask and wait.

5. What did the animal in The Measure do when the poet tried to save it?
(a) Ran away.
(b) Bit her.
(c) Looked into her eye.
(d) Hissed at her.

6. What is Oliver's most commonly used literary device in these poems?
(a) Anthropomorphism.
(b) Allusion.
(c) Metaphor.
(d) Simile.

7. What are most of the poems in this collection about?
(a) People.
(b) Education.
(c) Plants and animals.
(d) Literature.

8. What does Oliver try to provide multiple avenues for in her poems?
(a) Tonality.
(b) Interpretation.
(c) Modality.
(d) Thought provocation.

9. What does Oliver hope to show about the world in her poems?
(a) Where the world has been.
(b) What is becoming of the world.
(c) How the world works.
(d) How to navigate through the world.

10. Which of these is a line from The Real Prayers are Not the Words, but the Attention that comes First?
(a) Where does it go and why?
(b) Where can we turn for peace?
(c) How does one see and turn away.
(d) How can we be as they?

11. What is the subject of Mysteries, Four of the Simple Ones?
(a) Literature.
(b) Personal identity.
(c) Motivations.
(d) Nature.

12. What does Oliver say about our lives in The Measure?
(a) They are blessed.
(b) They are watched over.
(c) They are our right.
(d) They are purposeful.

13. What is Oliver trying to describe with the lilt in the words in Everything?
(a) Gravity.
(b) Creation.
(c) Choices.
(d) Human Nature.

14. What does Oliver say she wants readers of Everything to look beyond?
(a) The lines.
(b) The page.
(c) The meaning.
(d) The words.

15. In Work Sometimes, what does Oliver say happiness is?
(a) Usefulness.
(b) Moments of peace.
(c) Work ongoing.
(d) A job well done.

Short Answer Questions

1. What animal was featured in The Measure?

2. What does Oliver think people should pay more attention to in life?

3. How was the poet traveling when she saw an animal in The Measure?

4. What else does the editor say there is an absence of in the first section of poems?

5. What does Oliver try to avoid awkwardness in as she is writing?

(see the answer keys)

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