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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. In the Measure, what happens in the pinewoods?
(a) The sun shines in happy measures.
(b) Blueberries ripen early.
(c) Small animals are left alone.
(d) Flowers make perfect cover.

2. What is the length of most of Oliver's poems in this collection?
(a) Many pages.
(b) A few short stanzas.
(c) Just a few lines.
(d) Medium in length.

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

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

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

Short Answer Questions

1. When did the poet say the animal in The Measure had began her journey?

2. Where did Oliver attend college?

3. What does Oliver try to identify at the beginning of Work Sometimes?

4. What does the editor say new readers of Oliver will feel when they read the first section?

5. What did Oliver do at the end of Work Sometimes?

Short Essay Questions

1. 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?

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

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

4. In The Measure, how does Oliver say the turtle came to choose its course of travel for the day Oliver saw it?

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

6. What does Oliver say she wants to honor with her poem, Everything?

7. What is the main question Oliver asks in Work Sometimes?

8. In The Real Prayers are Not the Words, but the Attention that Comes First, what does Mary Oliver state the real method of praying should be?

9. What did Oliver compare the feet of the hawk to in The Real Prayers are Not the Words, but the Attention that Comes First?

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

(see the answer keys)

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