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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 does the speaker pledge in "The Fortress"?

2. How is God portrayed in "For God While Sleeping"?

3. Who is the subject of "Your Face on the Dog's Neck"?

4. What is the time frame in which the poems of Live or Die were written?

5. How is marriage portrayed in "Man and Wife"?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the meaning of the title "The Fortress"?

2. How does Sexton treat her illness in her poetry?

3. 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"?

4. How does the collection Love Poems fit in with Sexton's other work?

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

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

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

8. Why do you think Part 2 of To Bedlam and Part Way Back only contains three poems?

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

10. What is the crossroads Sexton finds herself at in "The Fortress"?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Explain how Sexton uses source material, such as fairy tales and Biblical stories, in her poems. What does her treatment of these stories say about her?

Essay Topic 2

Compare and contrast Sexton's experience of motherhood from her mother with her experience of motherhood as a mother herself, especially as it relates to her poetry.

Essay Topic 3

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

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