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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. At what age does Hugo start teaching?

2. What kind of voice does Hugo say that Roethke used in class?

3. Hugo says that Roethke only wanted _____ in his class because you can teach them.

4. When writing a poem, what does Hugo suggest leaves a person more options?

5. What poem does Hugo describe as being "not good Hopkins"?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe the function of assumptions in the triggering town.

2. What are the reasons Hugo gives when he agrees with Auden's view that poets don't take things as seriously as other people do?

3. In the poem "At Stillit's Mouth", what does Hugo say about his own sense of the dramatic?

4. According to Hugo, what can happen to facts when writing a poem?

5. Describe the two outcomes of the annual picnic in the triggering town.

6. Is anybody insane in the triggering town?

7. What does the hermit in one assumption do to fill his days?

8. What happens in the assumption where the outcast returns?

9. What is Buzz Green's description of Lou Garrity's trombone playing and how does it relate to Hugo's idea of writing poetry?

10. How does Hugo think Roethke's teaching would affect modern students (at the time the book was written)?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Compare Hugo's impression of Italy during World War II and Italy when he and his wife visit after the war. What has changed? How does he put closure on his war experience?

Essay Topic 2

When Hugo meets a woman who asks for cigarettes in the field outside Canosa, how does he treat her? Why dose he treat her that way? How does he feel about the way he treats her?

Essay Topic 3

What are Hugo's views on whether or not good writing can actually be taught? What is the role of a good teacher?

(see the answer keys)

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