View a FREE sample

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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In "For Mr. Death Who Stands With His Door Open", the speaker personifies ______ and ______.
(a) Faith and doubt.
(b) Time and death.
(c) Death and life.
(d) Time and tide.

2. "The Silence" explains the motivation to write as an attempt to remain occupied so that what remains at bay?
(a) Reminders of dreams forgotten.
(b) Reminders of responsibilities.
(c) Reminders of a lost love.
(d) Reminders of death.

3. Who casts doubt on Jesus' miracles in "The Jesus Papers"?
(a) The Virgin Mary.
(b) The author.
(c) John the Baptist.
(d) Judas.

4. What kind of poems are the collection "O Ye Tongues"?
(a) Haiku.
(b) Odes.
(c) Psalms.
(d) Epitaphs.

5. What is personified in "The Assassin"?
(a) Sex.
(b) Marriage.
(c) Parenthood.
(d) Death.

6. How many poems are in the first part of The Book of Folly?
(a) Ten.
(b) Twenty.
(c) Thirty.
(d) Forty.

7. How many sections are in "The Furies"?
(a) Two.
(b) Fifteen.
(c) Four.
(d) Seven.

8. Whose death does the author recount in "The Death Baby"?
(a) Her own.
(b) Her grandmother's.
(c) Her mother's.
(d) Her father's.

9. "Words" is a poem about the ______ of language.
(a) Power.
(b) Inappropriateness.
(c) Beauty.
(d) Inadequacy.

10. What ability is given to the person who eats a magical snake in "The White Snake"?
(a) The ability to transform others into a white snake.
(b) The ability to speak to snakes.
(c) The ability to transform into a white snake.
(d) The ability to communicate with animals.

11. What does "Doctors" criticize?
(a) Bedside manner.
(b) Psychiatric care.
(c) Modern medicine.
(d) Medication.

12. Who visits the speaker in "Sweeney"?
(a) The speaker's sister.
(b) A newspaper reporter.
(c) The speaker's cousin.
(d) A press agent.

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

14. Who is The Book of Folly dedicated to?
(a) Linda.
(b) Joy.
(c) Phillip.
(d) Gregor.

15. In "The Earth Falls Down," what is the speaker trying to place blame for?
(a) The world's problems.
(b) Her mental illness.
(c) Her mother's death.
(d) Her sister's death.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who saves the fiddler in "The Wonderful Musician"?

2. Whose Biblical story is retold in "Making a Living"?

3. When was The Awful Rowing Toward God published?

4. What is the focus of the author's version of "Red Riding Hood"?

5. Who is an outcast in "One Eye, Two Eyes, Three Eyes"?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 415 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample