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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 does the building represent in "Riding the Elevator Into the Sky"?
(a) Human struggles.
(b) Human consciousness.
(c) Faith.
(d) Reincarnation.

2. Where is the speaker headed in "Rowing"?
(a) Hell.
(b) Heaven.
(c) An island called God.
(d) Purgatory.

3. What is the first poem in the first part of The Book of Folly?
(a) "The Ambition Bird."
(b) "The Jesus Papers."
(c) "The First Poem."
(d) "The Assassin."

4. "Rats Live On No Evil Star" is a revision of what Biblical story?
(a) Daniel in the lions' den.
(b) The story of Job.
(c) Joseph and his coat of colors.
(d) Adam and Eve.

5. How is Jesus depicted in "The Jesus Papers"?
(a) Humble.
(b) Smug.
(c) Headstrong.
(d) Two-faced.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who visits the speaker in "Sweeney"?

2. Where do the poems come from in Transformations?

3. In what year was The Death Notebooks published?

4. How many poems are in the collection "O Ye Tongues"?

5. What ability is given to the person who eats a magical snake in "The White Snake"?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does The Awful Rowing Toward God begin with the poem "Rowing"?

2. Why might Sexton's poem "Sleeping Beauty (Briar Rose)" have special significance for her?

3. How does Sexton deal with feminism in Transformations?

4. What inspired The Awful Rowing Toward God?

5. What is the purpose of the poem "The Gold Key"?

6. Where does Sexton search for God in The Awful Rowing Toward God? Does she find him?

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

8. What is the focus of Sexton's version of "Cinderella"?

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

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

(see the answer keys)

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