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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does the editor say Oliver is NOT trying to do with the poems in the first section?
(a) Surprise the reader.
(b) Observe nature.
(c) Make the reader think.
(d) Observe humanity.

2. What were the eyes of the animal compared to in The Real Prayers are Not the Words, but the Attention that comes First?
(a) Glass.
(b) Worlds.
(c) Water.
(d) Microscopes.

3. How does Oliver say Everything first came to her?
(a) A moment of calm.
(b) A quiet whispering.
(c) A vision.
(d) A dream.

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

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

Short Answer Questions

1. What color were the eyes of the animal in The Real Prayers are Not the Words, but the Attention that comes First?

2. What does Oliver hope to show about the world in her poems?

3. Where did Oliver attend college?

4. What are most of Oliver's precious poems about?

5. Which of these is a line from The Real Prayers are Not the Words, but the Attention that comes First?

Short Essay Questions

1. In Everything, where are some of the places Oliver states she wants to go when she writes?

2. How did Oliver feel at the end of Work Sometimes?

3. In Mysteries, Four of the Simple Ones, what does Oliver ask about a seed grain?

4. In Work Sometimes, what are some of the things that Oliver lists as NOT leading to happiness?

5. What did Oliver do at the beginning of The Measure?

6. In Work Sometimes, what does Oliver say happiness truly is?

7. What does Oliver state the reader has probably felt before in Work Sometimes?

8. In The Measure, what does Mary Oliver say her watched over life resulted in and why?

9. How did Oliver feel at the beginning of Work Sometimes and why?

10. In The Real Prayers are Not the Words, but the Attention that Comes First, what is the bird doing at the beginning of the poem?

(see the answer keys)

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