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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 game does the speaker play with God in "The Rowing Endeth"?
(a) Pictionary.
(b) Chess.
(c) Poker.
(d) Go Fish.

2. What are the maiden's replacement hands made of in "The Maiden Without Hands"?
(a) Silver.
(b) Bronze.
(c) Gold.
(d) Wood.

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

4. Who interferes with the speaker's prayers in "Praying on a 707"?
(a) The pilot.
(b) A flight attendant.
(c) Her mother.
(d) The passenger seated next to her.

5. How many poems are in the collection "O Ye Tongues"?
(a) Nine.
(b) Five.
(c) Fifteen.
(d) Ten.

Short Answer Questions

1. How many parts is The Book of Folly divided into?

2. Who releases Iron Hans from his cage in "Iron Hans"?

3. What is particularly depicted in "God's Backside"?

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

5. How many poems make up "The Jesus Papers"?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. How does Sexton inject herself into the final poem of "The Jesus Papers?" Why does she do this?

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

4. Explain the premise of Transformations, and explain the title.

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

6. Explain Sexton's retelling of the Biblical story of Jonah and the whale in "Making a Living".

7. When was The Death Notebooks published? How does this affect the poems in the collection?

8. What is the source material for "The Jesus Papers?" How does Sexton use this source material?

9. How is The Book of Folly set up?

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

(see the answer keys)

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