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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does the building represent in "Riding the Elevator Into the Sky"?
(a) Human consciousness.
(b) Reincarnation.
(c) Faith.
(d) Human struggles.

2. "Hansel and Gretel" is about whose wild obsession?
(a) A mother's.
(b) Gretel's.
(c) Hansel's.
(d) A witch's.

3. What is the focus of the author's version of "Red Riding Hood"?
(a) The relationship between Red Riding Hood and the woodsman.
(b) The improbability of the outcome.
(c) The wolf.
(d) The grandmother.

4. Who is pursuing the speaker in "Oh"?
(a) Death.
(b) Doubt.
(c) A shadow.
(d) Mental illness.

5. What is the first poem in the first part of The Book of Folly?
(a) "The Ambition Bird."
(b) "The Assassin."
(c) "The Jesus Papers."
(d) "The First Poem."

6. How many poems are in the collection "O Ye Tongues"?
(a) Five.
(b) Ten.
(c) Nine.
(d) Fifteen.

7. What type of conflict is present in "The Civil War"?
(a) Person vs. nature.
(b) Person vs. society.
(c) Person vs. self.
(d) Person vs. person.

8. In what year was The Death Notebooks published?
(a) 1975.
(b) 1973.
(c) 1977.
(d) 1974.

9. What theme is explored in "The Frog Prince"?
(a) Guilt.
(b) Forgiveness.
(c) Salvation.
(d) Trust.

10. Whose quote inspired The Awful Rowing Toward God?
(a) A priest.
(b) A nun.
(c) The author's husband.
(d) The author's friend.

11. How is Jesus depicted in "The Jesus Papers"?
(a) Humble.
(b) Two-faced.
(c) Headstrong.
(d) Smug.

12. "Rats Live On No Evil Star" is a revision of what Biblical story?
(a) Adam and Eve.
(b) Joseph and his coat of colors.
(c) Daniel in the lions' den.
(d) The story of Job.

13. Where is the blame assigned in "The Earth Falls Down"?
(a) The speaker's sister.
(b) The speaker herself.
(c) Blame is not assigned.
(d) The speaker's mother.

14. Who interferes with the speaker's prayers in "Praying on a 707"?
(a) The passenger seated next to her.
(b) Her mother.
(c) The pilot.
(d) A flight attendant.

15. What is the first poem in Transformations?
(a) "Once Upon a Time."
(b) "The White Snake."
(c) "The Gold Key."
(d) "Ever After."

Short Answer Questions

1. What Biblical story is retold in "Jesus Walking"?

2. Whose death does the author recount in "The Death Baby"?

3. Who solves the mystery of "Twelve Dancing Princesses?"?

4. Who is killed the same day that the speaker receives a visitor in "Sweeney"?

5. What building is in "Riding the Elevator Into the Sky"?

(see the answer keys)

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