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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. Who is "For the Year of the Insane" directed to?

2. "Music Swims Back To Me" is a reflection on the speaker's immersion in what?

3. What is the subject of "Barefoot"?

4. Who bathes in the river in "It Is a Spring Afternoon"?

5. How many sections are in "The Operation"?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. Compare and contrast "The Double Image" and "The Division of Parts."

4. What is the focus of Part 2 of To Bedlam and Part Way Back?

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

6. How was Live or Die received after its publication?

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

8. 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?

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Explain Sexton's choice of fairy tales as source material in Transformations as they relate to common themes in her poetry.

Essay Topic 2

What role does feminism and the traditional roles of women play in Sexton's poetry?

Essay Topic 3

Explain how Live or Die is different from Sexton's other collections.

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