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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. In How Would You Live Then, what does Oliver talk about being an adviser?

2. What are cantos?

3. In Seven White Butterflies, what does Oliver compare butterfly wings to?

4. Which of the following does Oliver say she learns from in Mindful?

5. What does Oliver say always seems brighter than the present in Prose Poem 1?

Short Essay Questions

1. What are some of the questions asked in How Would You Live Then?

2. What are the two extremes Oliver describes about her life in Long Afternoon at the Edge of Sister Pond?

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

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

5. What is the overall feeling in Prose Poem 1?

6. In While I am Writing a Poem to Celebrate Summer, the Meadowlark Begins to Sing, what does Oliver say she has envied her whole life?

7. What is Oliver admonishing the reader to do in How Would You Live Then?

8. What does Oliver state she can't wait for at the end of Long Afternoon at the Edge of Sister Pond?

9. What is the main message of Song of the Builders?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

Mary Oliver has an incredible gift for creating touching analogies. What are some of the analogies shared in these poems, and what are their deeper meanings?

Essay Topic 3

What are some of the particular animals that were included in these poems, and what did their inclusion do to the tone of the poems?

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