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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 award was given to the author for Live or Die?

2. How many poems are in Part 2 of the author's first book of poetry?

3. How many parts is "The Double Image" divided into?

4. Part I of the author's first book of poetry deals with the trauma of what?

5. What kind of accident is the subject of "Pain for a Daughter"?

Short Essay Questions

1. Explain the poem "Eighteen Days Without You."

2. What does the preface of Live or Die reveal about the poems in it?

3. What makes To Bedlam and Part Way Back autobiographical?

4. How do the poems in Live or Die reflect Sexton's mental and emotional health?

5. What is the significance of ending Part 1 of To Bedlam and Part Way Back with the poem "A Story For Rose On the Midnight Flight To Boston"?

6. What is the significance of "For John, Who Begs Me Not To Enquire Further"?

7. What is the significance of the title Live or Die?

8. How does Sexton's poetry put the reader in the middle of her life?

9. Explain how Sexton expresses love in All the Pretty Ones.

10. In All My Pretty Ones, Sexton uses more of a third person narrative approach with some of the poems. Why would this be difficult in confessional poetry?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Explain Sexton's experience with love, particularly as it relates to her poetry.

Essay Topic 2

Explain how the arrangement of the poems in Sexton's collections contributes to the reader's experience.

Essay Topic 3

Explain the style of Anne Sexton's poetry using specific examples to support your claims.

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