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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. Whose dad tipped the boat in "The Father, Who Could Not Swim"?

2. Who wrote "Shedding Skin"?

3. What kind of tree does the author climb in "Leaving the Light On"?

4. Donna Leed's untitled poem talks of how she never saw the road between her house and her grandmother's house why?

5. Who wrote "The Higher Reaches"?

Short Essay Questions

1. How are the people described in the poem "and sometimes i hear this song in my head"?

2. What did the author's mother give her in "The Ants Are Using Sticks For Walls"?

3. What is described in "Dedication"? What simile is used to describe old papers?

4. How is the "beloved" described in the poem "This Isn't Fair"?

5. What is "Almost Evenly Divided" in the poem by this name?

6. What is being searched for in "What We Want"? How are the people described?

7. What question is the author asked in "First Grade"? What is the meaning?

8. What does the author miss in "Song of the Prodigal Son"?

9. Why did the author's mother throw out his underwear in "Emergency Situation"?

10. How does the father feel in "Taking My Son to His First Day of Kindergarten"? What irony is described?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the theme of grief in "On the Suicide of a Young Boy I Did Not Know." How is grief different in this poem than in others in the collection?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the structural elements of the poems "Breath" and "Bittersweet." What elements of repetition can be seen? What is the rhyme and meter of each?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the theme of family in "Leaving the Light On." What does the author wonder about his parents? What conclusions does he find?

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