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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 poet surprised to learn?

2. What does the title character in "Manuelzinho" wear that is oddly painted?

3. What does the tone of "Letter to N.Y." reveal about the friendship portrayed?

4. What is involved in the resolution of Four Poems?

5. What is described in "View of the Capitol from the Library of Congress"?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does the character in "The Gentleman of Shalott" think half of him would be enough?

2. What is the relationship between the fisherman and the fishhouse in "At the Fishhouses"?

3. How does Bishop portray water in the poems in North and South?

4. How would you characterize the speaker's relationship to the title character in "Manuelzinho"?

5. How do the poet's descriptions in "Arrival at Santos" reflect her dual state of mind?

6. How does Bishop feel about winter in "The Colder the Air"?

7. In "Electrical Storm," why are the pearls twice described as dead?

8. Why does Bishop chose the word "flying" in "Invitation to Miss Marianne Moore"?

9. Why does Bishop use the structure of building each line upon the last in "Visits to St. Elizabeth's"?

10. Why does "Arrival at Santos" end with the tour group heading toward the interior of Brazil?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss Bishop's use of personification in the three poems in Rainy Season; Sub Tropics. What does each animal tell us about the speaker's view of humanity? Why do you think Bishop chose the specific animals she did? How would the poem have been different if she had used exaggerated human characters?

Essay Topic 2

What is Bishop's attitude toward the characters in "Exchanging Hats"? Is it objective or judgmental? Support your claim with specific quotations from the poem. Does her attitude seem out of character for Bishop, considering the sense of humor she displays in other poems? Do you think her attitude has to do with the fact that the trend she witnesses is started by an "unfunny uncle"? Might she view things differently if the trend had been started by someone she admired?

Essay Topic 3

The New Poems section is comprised of four poems written shortly before Bishop's death. Do you see any connections among them? Do they differ in any way from the other poems in the text? Compare and contrast these poems with the poems in Poems Written in Youth. In what ways did the poet remain consistent, and in what ways did she change as a writer as she matured?

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