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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What ability is given to the person who eats a magical snake in "The White Snake"?
(a) The ability to transform into a white snake.
(b) The ability to communicate with animals.
(c) The ability to transform others into a white snake.
(d) The ability to speak to snakes.

2. Where is the speaker headed in "Rowing"?
(a) Purgatory.
(b) Hell.
(c) Heaven.
(d) An island called God.

3. What poem personifies death as a hurried traveler?
(a) "The Assassin."
(b) "Going Gone."
(c) "The Hex."
(d) "The Other."

4. How is Jesus depicted in "The Jesus Papers"?
(a) Two-faced.
(b) Headstrong.
(c) Smug.
(d) Humble.

5. Whose full name is included in "Sweeney"?
(a) The author's husband's.
(b) The author's daughter's.
(c) The author's mother's.
(d) The author's.

Short Answer Questions

1. In "The Earth Falls Down," what is the speaker trying to place blame for?

2. How many sections are in "The Furies"?

3. What does "Doctors" criticize?

4. What does the building represent in "Riding the Elevator Into the Sky"?

5. What is the first poem in the first part of The Book of Folly?

Short Essay Questions

1. How is The Book of Folly set up?

2. How does Sexton view her poetry in relation to her faith?

3. Why might Sexton's poem "Sleeping Beauty (Briar Rose)" have special significance for her?

4. What is the main theme of The Book of Folly? Is the theme of The Book of Folly treated the same as in her other work?

5. Explain "The Death Baby." What does this poem say about Sexton's view of death?

6. Explain Sexton's revision of "Rapunzel."

7. How does Sexton deal with Christianity in "The Jesus Papers"?

8. Compare and contrast "The Death of Fathers" with "Angels of the Love Affair."

9. Why does Sexton end The Awful Rowing Toward God with the poem "The Rowing Endeth"?

10. Why do so many of the poems in The Death Notebooks deal with spirituality and Christianity?

(see the answer keys)

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