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

2. 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) Gentle.
(b) Robust.
(c) Soaring.
(d) Small.

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

4. Which of these words is used by the editor to describe Oliver's style?
(a) Rich.
(b) All of these.
(c) Deep.
(d) Colorful.

5. What should one be transcending according to Everything?
(a) Barriers.
(b) Nature.
(c) Restrictions.
(d) Language.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does using nature in her poems allow Oliver to do?

2. What is the name of the first section of poems in this group?

3. What does the editor say Oliver is NOT trying to do with the poems in the first section?

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

5. In Work sometimes, which of these does Oliver list as something that happiness is NOT?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. At the beginning of The Real Prayers are Not the Words, but the Attention that Comes First, what does Oliver state the hawk finds joy in?

3. In Everything, what kind of words does Oliver say she wants to avoid in her poetry, and what examples of good words does she give?

4. At the end of Everything, what does Oliver say she wants her poems to do?

5. What parts of grammar does Oliver say she wants to cherish in Everything, and why?

6. In Mysteries, Four of the Simple Ones, what is personified in the last lines?

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

8. In Mysteries, Four of the Simple Ones, what does Oliver ask about a turtle?

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

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

(see the answer keys)

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