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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 are two poems by Carlos Drummond de Andrade?

2. What does the devil remind the living in "Patience of an Angel"?

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

4. What are on the porch in "Sunday at Key West"?

5. What is the undertone in "From 'The Life and Death of a Severino'"?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. Why do you think Bishop chooses animals to symbolize the players in "The Hanging of the Mouse"?

3. Do you think "Lullaby for the Cat" is simply an innocent rhyme, or do you think it has a deeper meaning?

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

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

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

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

8. How is the character in "The Strayed Crab" an exaggerated human figure?

9. In what style is Bandeira's poem "Brazilian Tragedy" composed?

10. Why is Bandeira so concerned about the specifics of his last poem in "My Last Poem"?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How are the poems composed in Bishop's youth unique in the collection? Do you see a difference in maturity between these and the later poems? Are there any clues in the earlier poems that predict what kind of poet Bishop will become? What differences do you see in terms of subject matter and approach? Do you think it was appropriate that the editors included poetry composed in Bishop's teen years, before she gained recognition? How would the reader's appreciation of Bishop as a writer be different if these poems had been omitted from the book?

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

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?

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