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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 type of conflict is present in "The Civil War"?

2. What is the purpose of the first poem in Transformations?

3. Who saves the fiddler in "The Wonderful Musician"?

4. Where does the speaker find the gods in the poem "Gods"?

5. What game does the speaker play with God in "The Rowing Endeth"?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. How does Sexton deal with feminism in Transformations?

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

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

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

7. Why might Sexton's poem "Sleeping Beauty (Briar Rose)" have special significance for her?

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

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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

Essay Topic 2

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

Essay Topic 3

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.

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