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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 is the sea awaiting in 'From "The Life and Death of a Severino"'?

2. To what does the poet liken the ocean in "Pleasure Seas"?

3. Where is the poet located as she composes "Night City"?

4. In "The Mountain," what does the mountain want to know?

5. What does the poet explore in "For C.W.B."?

Short Essay Questions

1. How is the character in "The Giant Snail" an exaggerated human figure?

2. What do the hats come to symbolize in "Exchanging Hats"?

3. What is the meaning of the simple, repeated incident in Drummond de Andrade's "In the Middle of the Road"?

4. How does Octavio Paz view the beginning of a new year in "January First"?

5. What is the moral Bishop puts forth in "Thank-You Note"?

6. Which stanza in section XIV of "From 'The Death and Life of a Severino'" seems different from the others?

7. In Carlos Drummond de Andrade's "Infancy," why does the author refer to Robinson Crusoe as "the long story that never comes to an end"?

8. How does the location in "Santarem" parallel the Garden of Eden?

9. Why does the poet begins the section called Geography III with a geography lesson that throws a series of unanswered questions at the reader?

10. Why did Bishop write "The Mountain" in the first person?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Much of Bishop's poetry relates to geography. Citing specific poems, including "The Map," "Over 2,000 Illustrations and a Complete Concordance," "Brazil January 1, 1502," and the introduction to Geography III, discuss the importance of geography in Bishop's work. How does she see it? Why is it so important to her? How does it frame who she is, her subject matter, and her approach?

Essay Topic 2

Death is a common theme among the poems Bishop chose to translate, though rare among the poems she penned herself. Why do you think this is? Given what you know about Bishop as a writer based on the rest of the book, do you think this was a coincidence, or do you think she was attracted to poetry that dealt with death? What type of language does Bishop use when referring to death; does it vary from poem to poem? Does this section offer us any insight into her own thoughts about death, or only into the original poets' views on death?

Essay Topic 3

Bishop shows a special fondness for water in her poetry. Does it have one symbolic meaning, or many? What are the allegorical and metaphorical connections she draws relating to water? Cite a variety of different poems to support your claim. For example, in "Pleasure Seas," how does she view natural bodies of water as opposed to man-made swimming pools?

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