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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What style is Work Sometimes written in?

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

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

4. In Everything, what are we told to do in order to truly grasp the idea of poetry?

5. What did the animal in The Measure do when the poet tried to save it?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. 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?

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

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

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

7. 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?

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

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

10. 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?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Friendship is a strong theme throughout the book. Where are some places that this theme appears, and how do these moments affect the tone of those poems?

Essay Topic 2

Fear is a common theme in this book that is presented a number of times in a number of different poems. What are some of these instances, and how are these examples different from each other?

Essay Topic 3

What is the main message being sent in Work Sometimes, and how is this poem different from the other poems in the first section of this book?

(see the answer keys)

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