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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 does Oliver come to a better understanding of human nature?
(a) She observes the ocean tides.
(b) She meditates.
(c) She talks to people of different ages.
(d) She looks to non-human examples.

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

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

4. How does Oliver describe her poetry in Everything?
(a) Her art.
(b) Her children.
(c) Her message.
(d) Her creation.

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

Short Answer Questions

1. How are the poems in this book grouped together?

2. What does Oliver want to celebrate in Mysteries, Four of the Simple Ones?

3. What did Oliver say she was outside of while writing Work Sometimes?

4. What is the subject of Mysteries, Four of the Simple Ones?

5. What style is Work Sometimes written in?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. In The Measure, what does Oliver say happens to the lives that are watched over?

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

4. 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?

5. What did the hawk do at the end of The Real Prayers are Not the Words, but the Attention that Comes First?

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

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

8. In Everything, what does Oliver say she wants her poems to be able to do?

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

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

(see the answer keys)

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