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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. How many quatrains make up Forty Years?

2. In Forty Years, what does Oliver say she struggles with?

3. What did Oliver say the woman who planted the bleeding heart plant probably got joy from in The Bleeding Heart?

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

5. What does Oliver say we are building in Song of the Builders?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

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

5. What creature is described in Spring, and why?

6. What is the poet amazed by in Mindful?

7. In Mindful, where does Oliver say she gets all of her teaching?

8. What does Oliver say we are all helping to build in Song of the Builders?

9. 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?

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

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

How does Mary Oliver change through the progression of these poems, and what causes these changes?

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?

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