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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does Oliver try to identify at the beginning of Work Sometimes?
(a) A happy memory.
(b) A memorable moment.
(c) An identity.
(d) A shared experience.

2. What color were the eyes of the animal in The Real Prayers are Not the Words, but the Attention that comes First?
(a) Blue.
(b) Green.
(c) Black.
(d) Brown.

3. Why did Oliver choose the simple titles for her poems?
(a) To make her thoughts obscure.
(b) To leave the interpretation open.
(c) To take the guesswork away from the reader.
(d) To guide the reader.

4. What kind of citizen did the poet call the animal in The Measure?
(a) Unknown.
(b) Voracious.
(c) Shy.
(d) Elderly.

5. How do the characters in Mysteries, Four of the Simple Ones feel about the events in the poem?
(a) They are miraculaous.
(b) They are unexpected.
(c) They are frightening.
(d) They are commonplace.

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

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

8. Which of the following is not a place Oliver says she wants to be while writing her poems in Everything?
(a) Her own house.
(b) A boat at sea.
(c) A field of daisies.
(d) A spot of grass.

9. In Everything, what does Oliver say she has faith in?
(a) Her art.
(b) Her words.
(c) Herself.
(d) Her God.

10. What does Oliver say is NOT praying in The Real Prayers are Not the Words, but the Attention that comes First?
(a) Observing.
(b) Seeing what has not been seen.
(c) Witnessing with the eyes.
(d) Seeing and noticing.

11. How does the editor describe the thought put into these poems?
(a) Exuberant.
(b) Microscopic.
(c) Omniscient.
(d) Effervescent.

12. What had stacked up on the table in Work Sometimes?
(a) Work.
(b) All of these.
(c) Papers.
(d) Books.

13. What does Oliver like to assign to inanimate objects in her poems?
(a) Identities.
(b) Functions.
(c) Descriptions.
(d) Human characteristics.

14. What does the editor say there is an absence of in the first section of poems?
(a) Anachronisms.
(b) Deep analogies.
(c) Metaphors.
(d) Inside jokes.

15. How is the animal featured in The Real Prayers are Not the Words, but the Attention that comes First described in the first lines?
(a) Soaring.
(b) Robust.
(c) Small.
(d) Gentle.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is Oliver trying to establish an intimacy with in Work Sometimes?

2. What poet did Oliver live with for a time?

3. What does Oliver call the things in life that are not human?

4. What tone does Oliver take on at the end of Work Sometimes?

5. What is the turtle in Mysteries, Four of the Simple Ones, doing?

(see the answer keys)

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