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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. Who is Morrison's "Ode to LA" dedicated to?

2. How did Morrison describe the night in the poem that started "In that year"?

3. How did Morrison describe the man who died in the pool-in regard to him being a muse?

4. What did Morrison state he was consumed by? (From the poem that started "In that year")

5. What did Morrison say that the man, who died in the pool, never saw?

Short Essay Questions

1. What did Morrison state was the aim of his poetry?

2. In the poem "Power", what did Morrison claim that he could do? (Name three things).

3. What did Morrison state happened to the savages in the poem "Ode to LA"?

4. In the poem that began "An angel runs", what happened when the angel ran?

5. What did Morrison, in the poem "Ode to LA", say existed in "meat heaven"?

6. Why were the notebooks that Morrison kept in high school important?

7. What was happening on the beach in the poem that began "A vast and radiant beach& a cool"?

8. In the poem that began "Well I'll tell you a story of whiskey", what did Morrison say about how the "whole thing began"?

9. How did Morrison state Jones' body looked when the gardener found it?

10. What did Morrison state happened to the angel man in the poem "Ode to LA"?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Morrison claimed in the Self-Interview that he always wanted to write, but he was afraid of not being good at it. Do you think that Morrison succeeded at writing poetry, or that he (as he thought) failed? Why do you believe this? What helped him to succeed? Where did he fail? Support your answers.

Essay Topic 2

Morrison claimed that "real poetry doesn't say anything". Do you agree with his statement after reading his book? Why/Why not? Is Morrison's poetry "real"?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the use of metaphors in Morrison's poetry. Find at least three metaphors that Morrison used in his poetry and explain the comparison that he made. What was Morrison comparing? What did the comparison lead you to believe about Morrison's thoughts on the object he described? Why does the comparison work? How does the comparison create confusion? Why do you think Morrison used the specific comparison?

(see the answer keys)

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