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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In "These Hands, If Not Gods," the speaker makes a reference to the "hundred-handed ones." Who were these figures?
(a) The monsters that guard the gates of the underworld.
(b) The ancient potters who created human beings.
(c) The wise women who control fate.
(d) The giant offspring of Sky and Earth.

2. In "These Hands, If Not Gods," what comparison is made by the lines "eaten the bread/ of your thighs, broke you to wine" (7)?
(a) Jealousy and possessiveness in a relationship is compared to cannibalism.
(b) Sex with the beloved is compared to the Christian rite of communion.
(c) Coming home to the beloved is compared to the Ancient Greek tradition of hospitality.
(d) The hard work of a relationship is compared to agricultural work.

3. In "Wolf OR-7," the speaker describes a "tourmaline" dusk. What does tourmaline look like?
(a) It is a clouded and luminous orange.
(b) It is a clear yellow, but has green, blue, and pink occlusions.
(c) It is opaque, varying from red to orange.
(d) It is clear, with hues shifting from green to pink.

4. In "Ink-Light," where are the speaker and her beloved?
(a) In the desert.
(b) In a hotel room.
(c) On a riverbank.
(d) On a snowy street.

5. In "They Don't Love You Like I Love You," what kind of person does the speaker want to love her?
(a) Someone white.
(b) Someone who is not American.
(c) Someone long dead.
(d) Someone who understands her.

Short Answer Questions

1. In "Skin-Light," what is the most likely antecedent of "it" in the line "My whole life I have obeyed it" (21)?

2. In "Asterion's Lament," the speaker talks about "the slake of a monster's appetite" (28). What does "slake" mean in this context?

3. In "Wolf OR-7," what is the "trembling blue line" (32)?

4. In "The Mustangs," what AC/DC song is mentioned?

5. What does the title "The Mustangs" refer to?

Short Essay Questions

1. In "From the Desire Field," what seems to make the speaker feel better, and to what does she point as a possible, eventual cure for her sleeplessness?

2. In "Like Church," what is the literal claim about the speaker's window and what is its figurative significance?

3. In "Skin-Light," what is the "work of all good yokes" (22)?

4. In "Blood-Light," what do the scorpions represent, and how does the reader know this?

5. Explain the central conceit in the poem "Catching Copper."

6. In "Skin-Light," what is Teotlachco, and what is its significance in the poem?

7. In "Wolf OR-7," what is significant about the wolf in the poem's title?

8. What is the speaker's argument for her hands as "gods" in "These Hands, If Not Gods"?

9. In "The Mustangs," how are mustangs used symbolically?

10. What does the speaker mean in "They Don't Love You Like I Love You" when she says that she can see through maps?

(see the answer keys)

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