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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. How did Morrison say that he hoped his friend, who died in the pool, "went out"?

2. How did Morrison describe himself in the woods? (From the poem that began with "Moonshine night")

3. According to the Prologue, what was the purpose of real poetry?

4. Where was Morrison when he described the night as a "moonshine night"? (From the poem that began with "Moonshine night")

5. In the first sentence of the section "Far Arden", what did Morrison say they had an intense visitation of?

Short Essay Questions

1. According to Morrison, what does "real poetry" do?

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

3. What were the musical references that Morrison made in "Ode to LA"?

4. What were the different ways that Morrison referred to Jones in "Ode to LA"?

5. What happened at the beginning of the poem "Ode to LA"?

6. What did Morrison say about the elimination of "space fillers" in an interview?

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

8. Why did Morrison state that poetry meant so much to him?

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

10. What did Morrison state that the "ancient ones" wanted? (In the poem that began "A vast and radiant beach & a cool")

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Based upon Morrison's poetry, what did you learn about the life of rock stars in the 1970's? What were they faced with? How did they live? Can you understand where the stereo-type of girls/sex/excess for musicians began? Why?

Essay Topic 2

"THE PONY EXPRESS" 21st May 1954

The pony express carried the mail

Over hill, over dale.

Over rough rugged trails

And the brave men that carried it

Didn't complain,

For they knew they were helping their good country's name

They rode and rode through

Strong winds and rain just

To carry the mail and build

Up our name

Over Indian country and great sandy plains,

They carried the mail and shared our fame.

"The Pony Express" was Morrison's first poem. Discuss the similarities between his writing as an adult to those of his first poem. What imagery did Morrison still use? How is the theme similar to poetry from his adulthood? What distinct image do you find that Morrison carried with him?

Essay Topic 3

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.

(see the answer keys)

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