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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 is the predator in Prose Poem 2?

2. What kind of creature did Oliver write about in Song of the Builders?

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

4. What are all the poems in the third section about?

5. What is the tone of While I Am Writing a Poem to Celebrate Summer, the Meadowlark Begins to Sing?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. In May, what does Oliver say makes her feel most alive?

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

4. What is compared in Many Miles?

5. What is the poet amazed by in Mindful?

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. In Grass, what does Oliver say nature does?

8. What is the main message of Daisies?

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

10. How does Oliver describe the spirit in The Soul At Last?

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

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 are some of the main places where personification is used in these poems, and what messages are sent in these moments?

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