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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 can the author remember clearly of the children of his first grade class in "First Grade"?

2. Who wrote "My Father in the Stacks"?

3. For whom is the poem "On the Suicide of a Young Boy I Did Not Know" written?

4. Who does the author tell to write his name on everything that belongs to him in "What the Stones Knew"?

5. Who sits in the top bunk late at night in "Nine"?

Short Essay Questions

1. How is the coat described in "My Father's Coat"?

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

3. What personification and metaphor is used in the poem "Stranded"?

4. How is the author's encounter described in "I, Myself"?

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

6. How are the mother's suicide attempts described in "Lens"?

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

8. What does the author discover in the sculptures in "The New World"?

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

10. How does the author describe his parents in "Leaving the Lights On"?

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

Describe and discuss the theme of death in "Garage Sale" and "Benavides, Texas, 1906." How is the setting of each poem described? How does the setting impact the poem's tone?

Essay Topic 3

Describe and discuss the theme of sorrow in "Sudden" and "Seeing for You." How do these poems relate in terms of symbolism and imagery?

(see the answer keys)

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