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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 did the speaker in the poem "Blessings" ask forgiveness from?

2. Where was liquor made to flow from? (Poem 13- "Village Tapes")

3. What, according to the fifteenth poem in the "Village Tapes" section, would happen if "the writer can write & the farmer can sow"?

4. In the fifth poem, from the section "Village Tapes", what was claimed to be real?

5. According to the first poem in "Jamaica", who drove through the suburbs?

Short Essay Questions

1. What did the poem that began "Silver shaken in the gloom" speak about?

2. Morrison described the appearance of the the inhabitants of the island. How did Morrison describe the appearance of the men and women? ("Jamaica")

3. What message did Morrison claim was being sent at the end of the fourth poem in the "Drywater" section?

4. Why did Morrison claim that "I deserve this" at the end of the final poem from the "Drywater" section?

5. In the fourth poem of the "Drywater" section, what did Morrison claim he was not?

6. Why did Morrison ask for forgiveness from Blacks? (Poem 3- "Villages Tapes")

7. In the fourth poem from the "Drywater" section, how did Morrison bring religious imagery into the poem?

8. In the poem that began "Blessings", what is Morrison asking readers to do?

9. In the poem "Science of Night", whom is Morrison addressing?

10. What did Morrison say mated? ("Drywater")

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

At the end of Morrison's self-interview, he stated that he wanted his poetry to "deliver people from the limited ways in which they see and feel". Do you think that he succeeded in his hopes? How did his poetry make you see and feel differently? Where did it fail to make you do this? Do you continue to be "limited"? How?

Essay Topic 2

Address you feelings for Morrison. How do you feel about him as a man? Can you relate to the problems that he claimed to face? Where did you feel sorry for him? Where did you think that he may have been seen as distant and untruthful? Do you think his poetry created an honest portrayal of him as a person? Or did he always maintain a level that you could not relate to? Explain. Use textual evidence to answer the questions to support your answers.

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the separation of poetry throughout the book. How did the editor chose to section off the book? Was this consequential to the understanding of the book?

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