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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 are the three poker players in "Poker Star" from The Pill Versus The Springhill Mine Disaster?

2. What time is cited in "Alas, Measured Perfectly" from The Pill versus The Springhill Mine Disaster?

3. What type of dawn does Brautigan write of in "Your Necklace is Leaking" of The Pill versus The Springhill Mine Disaster?

4. "Widow's Lament" in The Pill versus The Springhill Mine Disaster says that it is not quite cold enough to ask the neighbors for what?

5. What season is it in "The Double-Bed Dream Gallows" from The Pill versus The Springhill Mine Disaster?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe the simplicity of the poem "November 3." What is Brautigan's subject in this poem?

2. How does Brautigan's poetry in The Pill Versus the Springhill Mine Disaster differ from his prose in In Watermelon Sugar?

3. Where does Brautigan's humor arise in the poem "Haiku Ambulance"? How?

4. What is referred to in the poem "1942" from The Pill Versus the Springhill Mine Disaster?

5. Describe the subject of the poem "All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace." What does Brautigan hope for in this poem?

6. In what poems from The Pill Versus the Springhill Mine Disaster does Brautigan reflect personal thoughts?

7. What imagery is used in the poem, "The Winos on Potrero Hill"?

8. Discuss the tone of the poem "The Return of the Rivers." What does Brautigan describe here?

9. What is the poem "Star-Spangled' Nails" about?

10. What is the emotional state of Brautigan in the poem "Boo, Forever"?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the imagery of "All Watched Over By Machines of Loving Grace" from The Pill Versus the Springhill Mine Disaster. How does the imagery tie to the theme of the poem?

Essay Topic 2

Describe the setting of In Watermelon Sugar. What is notable about this setting in comparison to that of Trout Fishing in America?

Essay Topic 3

Compare and contrast the poems "Discovery" and "Star-Spangled' Nails." How do the poems relate structurally? Thematically?

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