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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. Which of these is a line from The Measure?

2. What is Oliver trying to describe with the lilt in the words in Everything?

3. Which of the following is not a place Oliver says she wants to be while writing her poems in Everything?

4. In the Measure, what happens in the pinewoods?

5. What is the main subject of Everything?

Short Essay Questions

1. 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?

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

3. 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?

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

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

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

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

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

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

10. What did the turtle in The Measure do when Oliver stopped to help it?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How is prose poetry different from other forms, and what other effects did prose form have on the poems written in that style?

Essay Topic 2

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?

Essay Topic 3

What are some of the key examples of gratitude in this book, and how are these instances conveyed?

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