View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Whose full name is included in "Sweeney"?

2. In "The Earth Falls Down," what is the speaker trying to place blame for?

3. Whose death does the author recount in "The Death Baby"?

4. "The Hex" describes the connection between the speaker's inability to appreciate happiness and her relationship to who?

5. Who is the miller's wife having an affair with in "The Little Peasant"?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

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

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

6. Where does Sexton search for God in The Awful Rowing Toward God? Does she find him?

7. When was The Awful Rowing Toward God published, and how does that affect the poems in it?

8. Explain "The Death Baby." What does this poem say about Sexton's view of death?

9. Explain the premise of Transformations, and explain the title.

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 The Awful Rowing Toward God can be considered Sexton's suicide note.

Essay Topic 2

Compare and contrast Sexton's relationships with Sylvia Plath and John Holmes.

Essay Topic 3

What is the purpose of Sexton's poetry? What message does she want to send with her poems?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 884 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample