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

2. What is personified in "The Assassin"?

3. How many sections is "The Death Baby" divided into?

4. What is the first poem in the first part of The Book of Folly?

5. What is the title of the poem "Rats Live On No Evil Star" based on?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. What does "Mary's Song" say about Sexton?

4. What is the main theme of The Book of Folly? Is the theme of The Book of Folly treated the same as in her other work?

5. How does Sexton view her poetry in relation to her faith?

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

7. Why does Sexton end The Awful Rowing Toward God with the poem "The Rowing Endeth"?

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

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

10. Other than showing Sexton's emotional and mental instability, how is The Death Notebooks different in the arc of her work? Give at least two examples.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Explain how Sexton uses her poetry as a form of therapy. Use specific examples to illustrate your explanation.

Essay Topic 2

What role did family play in Anne Sexton's life and work?

Essay Topic 3

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?

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