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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 phrase from At Round Pond?

2. In While I Am Writing a Poem to Celebrate Summer, the Meadowlark Begins to Sing, what is the song of the bird called?

3. In While I Am Writing a Poem to Celebrate Summer, the Meadowlark Begins to Sing, what is the song of the bird compared to?

4. How does Oliver describe Have You Ever Tried to Enter the Long Black Branches?

5. In How Would You Live Then, what does Oliver say shouts out its name?

Short Essay Questions

1. How is Prose Poem 2 worded, and what effect does this have on the reader?

2. Which authors does Oliver mention in Seven White Butterflies, and why?

3. How does Oliver describe letters in Forty Years?

4. What does Oliver say the owl is symbolic of in At Round Pond?

5. In Mindful, what does Oliver say she was born to do?

6. What does Oliver say spring is like for humans?

7. What is the poet amazed by in Mindful?

8. In Grass, what does Oliver say humans could learn from inanimate objects?

9. In May, what does Oliver say she wants to see?

10. What is the main message of Daisies?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Solitude was something that Mary Oliver sought for often in this book. Where did she find it, and how did this solitude affect her writing style?

Essay Topic 2

How were the themes of life and death shown together? Why do you think Oliver chose to present these themes in tangent with each other?

Essay Topic 3

This book takes place in a few different settings. Describe some of these settings and why you think Oliver chose to place these poems in those settings.

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