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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 to the flowers at the top of the bush while the one at the bottom blooms dark red in "Song"?

2. What time of year is everything possible according to the speaker in "Heaven and Earth"?

3. Who does the speaker say God created mistrust between in "Vespers" (#6)?

4. What does the speaker in "Matins" (#7) call God?

5. Where does the speaker of "Jacob's Ladder" feel it is trapped?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the gardener in "Matins" (#5) doing while she pretends to weed?

2. What does the jacob's ladder plant think may be the reason for the woman's grief in "Jacob's Ladder"?

3. "In Doorway," how does the poet describe the late spring?

4. In "Daisies," what do the daisies tell the poet will happen is she tries to share her "impressions of the natural world" (39) with others?

5. What does the poppy say about the sun in "The Red Poppy"?

6. What does the poet in "Vespers" (#2) tell God she failed to do at the start of the poem?

7. In "Doorway," what does the poet say the one who waits has the benefit of observing?

8. How does God see humanity in "Midsummer"?

9. What does the clover question in regards to people's view of the four leaf clover in "Clover"?

10. What does the poet say is a way of God revealing Himself in "Vespers" (#5)?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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.

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay analyzing the garden as a place of religious reflection. Choose 3 - 5 poem's in which the garden contemplate religion and discuss how the garden and what happens in it is a reflection of this contemplation.

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay analyzing the couple portrayed in Wild Iris. Do you feel the couple in the poems which mention John is the same couple in poems like "Presque Isle" which do not mention a name? Why or why not? If not, who do you think the other couple is? Explain your answers using direct evidence from the poems.

(see the answer keys)

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