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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. In what point of view is "It Is a Spring Afternoon" written?

2. Part I of the author's first book of poetry deals with the trauma of what?

3. Where is "The Double Image" set?

4. Why is the speaker hospitalized in "The Break"?

5. What is the time frame in which the poems of Live or Die were written?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the significance of "For John, Who Begs Me Not To Enquire Further"?

2. Give at least one example of Sexton's use of humor in Love Poems.

3. What is the focus of Part 2 of To Bedlam and Part Way Back?

4. What does the quote in the preface of All My Pretty Ones suggest about the purpose of art? How does this apply to Sexton's poetry?

5. What makes To Bedlam and Part Way Back autobiographical?

6. How does Sexton use her poetry as a form of therapy in Live or Die?

7. How do the poems in Live or Die reflect Sexton's mental and emotional health?

8. How does the collection Love Poems fit in with Sexton's other work?

9. Compare and contrast "The Interrogation of the Man of Many Hearts" with "For My Lover, Returning to His Wife."

10. Explain the poem "Suicide Note."

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Explain how the arrangement of the poems in Sexton's collections contributes to the reader's experience.

Essay Topic 2

Explain the style of Anne Sexton's poetry using specific examples to support your claims.

Essay Topic 3

Explain Sexton's choice of fairy tales as source material in Transformations as they relate to common themes in her poetry.

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