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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 does the first part of Three Valentines depict?

2. Where might the visitor go next in "The House Guest"?

3. Who visits the poet in "House Guest"?

4. For what was Fannie Farmer, as portrayed in "Lines Written in the Fannie Farmer Cookbook," most famous?

5. Why is the character's name so common in 'From "The Life and Death of a Severino'"?

Short Essay Questions

1. What was the political situation that inspired "The Hanging of the Mouse"?

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

3. What does the porch symbolize in "Sunday at Key West"?

4. What is the double meaning of the phrase "family travelling through the flesh" in Drummond de Andrade's "Family Portrait"?

5. What does the poet mean by the line "We are too innocent and wise" in "The Wave"?

6. How is the character in "The Giant Toad" an exaggerated human figure?

7. What is the effect on the reader of the surprise ending in Vinicius de Moraes' "Sonnet of Intimacy"?

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

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. What do the various animals symbolize in "A Word with You"?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

Love is a theme that is explored in several of Bishop's poems. Citing specific texts, analyze the place of love in Bishop's writings. What does she say about love? Does her perspective change or remain the same over time? Do you think these poems are more autobiographical or more universal in nature, and why?

Essay Topic 3

Bishop's writing was not immune to the politics of the day. "The Hanging of the Mouse" and "Lullaby for the Cat" deal to some extent with the political times in which they were written. Discuss Bishop's unique approach to politics and its effectiveness. How can the reader tell that these are political poems? How does Bishop try to mask this fact? What is her ultimate goal in writing these poems--are they merely art, or an attempt to effect political change?

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