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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In "Nothing," whose recipe is the bread recipe?
(a) The neighbor's.
(b) Peter's grandmother's.
(c) The speaker's mother's.
(d) The speaker's.

2. In "Not Even," what does the speaker decide he wants from now on at the end of the poem?
(a) Heartache.
(b) Joy.
(c) Stillness.
(d) Fame.

3. In "Tell Me Something Good," what does the speaker pack a bag with?
(a) Chips.
(b) Oreos and whiskey.
(c) His favorite book and his mother's .45.
(d) Clothes.

4. In "Reasons for Staying," mercy is small, but what is smaller?
(a) The sun.
(b) The stars.
(c) The moon.
(d) The earth.

5. In "Reasons for Staying," by what light does the speaker read his books?
(a) The light of the moon.
(b) The light of the lightbulb.
(c) The light of "riotfire."
(d) The light of the sun.

6. In "Not Even," what does the speaker say he used to be?
(a) An anomaly.
(b) A drink.
(c) A fag.
(d) A journal.

7. What institution does the speaker visit in "The Punctum"?
(a) The Library of Congress.
(b) The Acquaducts.
(c) The Coliseum.
(d) The Smithsonian.

8. In "Amazon History of a Former Nail Salon Worker," what are some purchases that reveal the worker's pain?
(a) Heating pads, painkilling pills, and painkilling pads.
(b) Illegal drug purchases.
(c) Band-aids.
(d) Alcohol.

9. In "Amazon History of a Former Nail Salon Worker," what painkiller does the worker buy?
(a) Morphine.
(b) Tylenol.
(c) Advil.
(d) Motrin.

10. In "Not Even," what does the speaker remember seeing from an Amtrak train in Iowa?
(a) A rainbow.
(b) An explosion.
(c) A cow.
(d) A man standing still in a field.

11. In "Not Even," what does the speaker say a morgue can also be?
(a) A library.
(b) A community center.
(c) A church.
(d) An omen.

12. In "Künstlerroman," what does the speaker compare cigarettes in the dark to?
(a) Stars.
(b) Hope.
(c) Christmas lights.
(d) Fireflies in a bomb shelter.

13. In "Reasons for Staying," what keeps burning in California?
(a) The hills.
(b) The sea.
(c) The books.
(d) The moors.

14. In "Ars Poetica as the Maker," what does the speaker try to stretch the clay slab into?
(a) Trees.
(b) Five blades of light.
(c) Reason.
(d) Heather.

15. In "Reasons for Staying," what does the speaker's mother apply before heading to chemo?
(a) A coat.
(b) Lipstick.
(c) Blush.
(d) A scarf.

Short Answer Questions

1. In "Nothing," what does the speaker imagine as rising from the bread?

2. In "Scavengers," who does the fisherman become at the end of the poem?

3. In "Not Even," what does the speaker "throw himself" into?

4. In "Ars Poetica as the Maker," what does the speaker dip his fingers back into?

5. In "Nothing," what do ghosts who are family say?

(see the answer keys)

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