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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 happens in Part V of "The Aliens Arrive"?

2. What does the robot look like in the section of "Plasticene Suite" titled "Little Robot"?

3. In what way is a wolf courteous in "Short Takes on Wolves"?

4. What do the ravens ask the people in "This Fjord Looks Like a Lake"?

5. What does the speaker say humans are in "Fatal Light Awareness"?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does the speaker think about the world in the poem "Walking in the Madman's Wood"?

2. Generally, how do the aliens act towards humans in the poem "The Aliens Arrive"?

3. What does the siren wonder about in the poem "Siren Brooding on Her Eggs"?

4. What can one tell by a wolf's ears in the poem "Short Takes on Wolves"?

5. How does the speaker in the poem "Feather" make sure not to waste?

6. What tense does not exist at the conference in the poem "At the Translation Conference" and why?

7. What is the "bright side" of the modern era in the poem by the same title?

8. In the poem "Fatal Light Awareness," what do we know that the birds do not?

9. What is the relationship between zombies and the past in Atwood's poem "Zombie"?

10. What are some of the speaker's worries in the poem "Oh Children"?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Which poems in this collection could be viewed as a sort of speculative fiction - a genre Atwood is known for - and why? Write an essay explaining your answers.

Essay Topic 2

The first poem in this collection is titled "Late Poems;" how does Atwood use the first poem to set the reader's expectations for the rest of the collection in terms of style, tone, and content? Write an essay explaining your answers.

Essay Topic 3

In the poem "Blizzard" in Part I, Atwood refers to her very elderly mother as "fighting the storm." Write an essay exploring what Atwood likely means with this phrase, analyzing how Atwood uses weather symbolically.

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