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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 mistake does Noah say depressives make in "Matins" (#1)?

2. Who is the speaker in "April"?

3. What sound is described at the beginning of "End of Winter"?

4. The poet in "Matins" (#3) feels she has seen no proof of what?

5. What does the speaker in "Retreating Wind" say he feels for his audience in the first lines?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Noah say about depressives in "Matins" (#1)?

2. What does God say humanity truly wants in "Spring Snow"?

3. What pain does the iris describe in "Wild Iris"?

4. Why does the hawthorn tree say it does not have to follow the couple to know what they are going through in "Hawthorn Tree"?

5. Why is God frustrated in "Clear Morning"?

6. In "April," what does God say to the man and woman in the garden regarding their grief?

7. What does the poet struggle with and search for in many of the poems in which she address God?

8. How do the violets refer to the gardener in "Violets"?

9. What does God tell humanity is the only thing they will hear in the final lines of "End of Summer"?

10. In "Scilla," what does the scilla say to its human audience that reflects its feeling toward humanity?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Choosing several of the poems written from the voice of the poet to God, write an essay analyzing the poet's changing thoughts on God's existence. Analyze the poems for tone and imagery, comparing and contrasting these aspects of the poem in a minimum of 4 poems.

Essay Topic 2

Choose a minimum of 4 poems written from the perspective of a plant or flower and write an essay comparing and contrasting the plant or flowers tone toward the poet/ gardener or humanity as a whole. Note the imagery used to convey tone.

Essay Topic 3

God's absence, silence, or potential non-existence is discussed in several of the poems. Choose a minimum of 3 poems and analyze the words, images, and metaphors the poet uses to discuss these themes.

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