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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 objects did Anderson sell over the phone as one of her money-making stints at Georgetown?

2. The poem entitled "First Marking Period" (166) focuses on which book?

3. Which of Anderson's books do Anderson and the librarian discuss within the poem "librarian on the cusp of courage" (188)?

4. In what language does Anderson say she often dreams?

5. What does the hammer symbolize in the poem entitled "separation--AWOL 1" (121)?

Short Essay Questions

1. What quality of icebergs does Anderson liken to her move to Washington, D.C. in the poem entitled “calving iceberg” (138) and why?

2. How does the motif of dreams enter Anderson’s poetry memoir?

3. In what way does Anderson characterize the way in which her life and her stories intersect?

4. Whom does Anderson credit with teaching her everything she knows about (170) her “responsibility to [her] readers”?

5. How does the theme of family bonds enter the part of the memoir about Anderson’s return home from Denmark?

6. How does Anderson go about creating an interdisciplinary work of literature within the poem entitled “forgiveness” (206)?

7. To what location is Anderson referring when she discusses her “last leaving” and her “predawn trip” in the poem “calving iceberg” (138)?

8. What is one suggestion that Anderson provides in relation to how young women should be instructed in a different manner than the ways in which they are currently taught?

9. How does the theme of isolation enter the part of the memoir dealing with Anderson’s time at Georgetown University?

10. What two elements does Anderson contrast within the poem “triptych” (210) and for what purpose?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss Anderson’s use of Aristotle's appeals within the text of SHOUT. How does Anderson use ethos, pathos, and logos within her verse memoir in order to persuade the reader of key messages central to the tenets of the work?

Essay Topic 2

In what way does Anderson herald and/or denigrate the use of coping mechanisms in dealing with trauma and how does Anderson’s treatment of this topic relate to the poetry memoir's depicted messages?

Essay Topic 3

Analyze the interplay between the appendices of SHOUT and one of the poetry memoir's main messages. How does Anderson make connections between these elements and how does their juxtaposition help them get across one main message of the poetry memoir?

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