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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. In what year was the position established?

2. W.D. Snodgrass served in which branch of the armed forces?

3. Which poet was born in Ohio?

4. John Ashbery lived in which European city?

5. David Wagoner wrote a poem about which activity?

Short Essay Questions

1. Discuss some of Denise Levertov's themes as well as potential influences on her work and her life.

2. What is unusual about W.S. Merwin's choice of career? What are some of the main topics and/or themes often used by Merwin?

3. Discuss the varied activities of James Dickey and the one thing that supposedly changed his life. What are some of the themes involved in Dickey's work?

4. Which major award was won by W. D. Snodgrass? How might Snodgrass' poems be described?

5. Discuss the wide variety of jobs held by Richard Wilbur. Also discuss Wilbur's style and the poems in which the style is exhibited in this collection.

6. Give a brief overview of John Berryman's life. Also note Berryman's influences, style, and common topics covered in his work. How did critics review Berryman's work?

7. What other career did A.R. Ammons have while writing poetry on the side? What were some of Ammon's influences outside the literary realm? What are some styles used by Ammons?

8. What is unique about Charles Olson's work? What did Olson do to prepare to write about a particular place or era? How did Olson believe work should be paced?

9. What contributions did Mona Van Duyn make to the literary world? What was Van Duyn's biggest accomplishment?

10. What was Allen Ginsberg's first major success? What made Ginsberg into an iconic poet?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In several of the works, the poets manage to create characters and evoke emotions through the use of monologue and/or dialogue. As such the poet requires the reader to experience a situation through the eyes of another, effectively creating or using another voice rather than one's own. Explain how this might be done. If you were going to create a poem written in this way, what voice would you choose to use? How would you achieve the transformation? Would it be easier or more difficult to choose a fictional character? Would it be easier or more difficult to write through the eyes of the opposite sex?

Essay Topic 2

Choose one of the following:

1.) What is the poetic form known as the epigram? Name a famous poem written in this form. Detail the form's structure, content, and requirements. What parts of the poem are open for creative license and interpretation? Write at least four distinct examples of an epigram, using four different topics.

2.) What is the poetic form known as the quatrain? In Marilyn Hacker's "The Ballad of Ladies Lost and Found," the poet used this form. Name at least three other famous poems written in this form. Detail the form's structure, content, and requirements. What parts of the poem are open for creative license and interpretation? Write at least one example of a quatrain, with a minimum of 30 lines.

Essay Topic 3

There are several places in the book that refer to having an argument with self or warring with making a decision or opinion about a specific item or event. Choose one of the following:

1. Write a series of poems featuring the two sides of self involved in an ethical dilemma. Be sure to represent each side equally.

2. Write a series of poems from the perspective of a person with a personality or mental disorder, such as the ones suffered by Sylvia Plath and Anne Sexton.

(see the answer keys)

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