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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. Michael S. Harper created his work by combining autobiography and ____.

2. Which poet wrote the poem titled, "Mock Orange?"

3. Robert Haas earned his Ph.D. from which university?

4. Heather McHugh's work is often compared to the work of ______.

5. Philip Levine held which of the following jobs?

Short Essay Questions

1. Examine Yusef Komunyakaa's background and influences regarding his work.

2. Examine Kay Ryan's opinion on inevitable change. What point is Ryan attempting to make?

3. What prompted Anne Sexton to begin writing poetry? What was Sexton's style? What are some characteristics of Sexton's style?

4. What unique gift is expressed in Philip Levine's work? What prompted this style and choice of theme? What are some of Levine's poems included in his section?

5. Dave Smith's work has been compared to which famous poets? Discuss Smith's earlier poems and the evolution of his work.

6. What is Mary Oliver's style? How does Mary Oliver incorporate nature into her work? What unique gift does Oliver have as a poet?

7. Discuss Michael S. Palmer's poem "H." what is the main theme of the poem? Does the reader get a clear vision of Palmer's insight? What might the poem mean?

8. Examine the theme of acceptance and the passing of time as it appears in Jorie Graham's work.

9. Heather McHugh's poem, "The Typewriter's the Kind," tells the story of a writer sitting in front of a type writer. Discuss the meaning of the poem and which passage best describes what McHugh is feeling about her work.

10. Discuss Louise Gluck's poems that use a garden as the main theme. Which poems reflect this theme? Analyze at least one of the poems. Did Gluck write similar poems that are not included in this book?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Allen Ginsberg was a leading force in the poetic movement of the 1950s. Ginsberg, along with fellow poets Jack Kerouac, William Carlos Williams and Neal Cassady, formed the iconic Beat Generation. Write a 1,000 word essay on Ginsberg's ground breaking work and the formation of the Beat Generation. Also cite the change in the poetic movement due to the Beat Generation and how it evolved in the 1960s.

Essay Topic 2

Jay Wright, Michael S. Harper and Allen Ginsberg are just three of the poets that used their work to support a particular culture. Wright and Harper wrote poems dedicated to black culture, while Ginsberg was focused on being part of the counterculture of America during the 1950s and beyond. Write a 750 word essay on how using poetry to reveal and/or celebrate cultural differences may be an effective way to teach the general public about that specific culture. Also discuss how using poetry in this way might have a negative effect.

Essay Topic 3

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?

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