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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 does God say he "cannot go on restricting [himself] to" (8) in "Clear Morning"?

2. Where does the speaker of "Retreating Wind" tell his audience they will not find what they are looking for?

3. What does the speaker in "Love in Moonlight" say people sometimes force on one another?

4. The poet in "Matins" (#2) says humanity "took turns working the garden" (3) and never thought of who or what?

5. To whom is the speaker of "Wild Iris" speaking?

Short Essay Questions

1. In "Witchgrass," the witchgrass tells the gardener that it will remain for how long?

2. What does the poet struggle with and search for in many of the poems in which she address God?

3. What does the speaker of "Matins" (#4) wonder if she is better of addressing instead of God?

4. What does God tell humans they will not hear "in the other world" (10) in "End of Summer"?

5. How do the violets refer to the gardener in "Violets"?

6. What does the witchgrass tell the gardener she must accept in regards to the flower it is accused of kllling in "Witchgrass"?

7. How does God feel about humanity in "Retreating Wind"?

8. What does God say humanity truly wants in "Spring Snow"?

9. In "Love in Moonlight," how does the speaker describe how humans sometimes force their despair on others?

10. What does the lamium flower say in regards to the light and sun in "Lamium"?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay analyzing how depression is portrayed in Wild Iris. Choose a minimum of 3 poems which show that the poet is depressed. What words, phrases or images are used to show this? Are they effective? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 2

Choose a minimum of 3 poems and analyze the poet's use of metaphor. Explain the comparison the poet makes and whether you feel it is an apt comparison in light of the poem's theme.

Essay Topic 3

Choose a minimum of 4 poems written from the perspective of a plant or flower and write an essay comparing and contrasting the plant or flowers tone toward the poet/ gardener or humanity as a whole. Note the imagery used to convey tone.

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