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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 make up "The Jesus Papers"?

2. What building is in "Riding the Elevator Into the Sky"?

3. How many messiahs is Mary pregnant with in "Mary's Song"?

4. What myth is retold in "The Fire Thief"?

5. Where is the speaker headed in "Rowing"?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

4. How does Sexton inject herself into the final poem of "The Jesus Papers?" Why does she do this?

5. How is The Book of Folly set up?

6. When was The Death Notebooks published? How does this affect the poems in the collection?

7. Compare and contrast "The Death of Fathers" with "Angels of the Love Affair."

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

9. How does Sexton deal with Christianity in "The Jesus Papers"?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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

Essay Topic 2

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

Essay Topic 3

Explain how Sexton weaves her personal and poetic lives together. Explain how they are set against each other.

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