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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Who was the consulting editor on The Journals of Sylvia Plath?
(a) Ted Hughes.
(b) Frances McCullough.
(c) Anne Stevenson.
(d) Assia Wevill.

2. What literary genre emphasizes the intimate, and sometimes unflattering, information about details of the poet's personal life, such as in poems about mental illness, sexuality, and despondence?
(a) Truthful poetry.
(b) Sinful poetry.
(c) Confessional poetry.
(d) Realistic poetry.

3. A. Alvarez's remarks placed Sylvia's suicide in what type of scenario?
(a) "As if."
(b) "If only."
(c) "No go."
(d) "Look at me."

4. Who wrote The Haunting of Sylvia Plath?
(a) Aurelia Plath.
(b) Jacqueline Rose.
(c) Janet Malcolm.
(d) A. Alvarez.

5. Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath were separated by the fall of what year?
(a) 1962.
(b) 1960.
(c) 1959.
(d) 1964.

6. A. Alvarez claimed that Sylvia Plath did not intend __________.
(a) To write a best seller.
(b) To get divorced.
(c) To be famous.
(d) To kill herself.

7. Where did Janet Malcolm travel to meet with Anne Stevenson in Part Two: Chapter I?
(a) Beaconsfield, England.
(b) Durham, England.
(c) Shirebrook, England.
(d) Helmsley, England.

8. How old was Ted Hughes when Sylvia Plath died?
(a) 29.
(b) 32.
(c) 39.
(d) 41.

9. When was Bitter Fame published?
(a) 1991.
(b) 1992.
(c) 1993.
(d) 1989.

10. Linda Wagner-Martin wrote a biography of Sylvia Plath. Upon what did her relationship with the Hughes family deteriorate in Part One: Chapter IV?
(a) Choosing a cover for the book.
(b) The publishing of the book.
(c) Completion of the manuscript.
(d) Reviews of the book being published.

11. When was the book The Colossus and Other Poems first published?
(a) 1950.
(b) 1965.
(c) 1955.
(d) 1960.

12. The long and confused letter Janet Malcolm received from Olwyn in response in Part One: Chapter IV only reiterated her disdain for ____________.
(a) The Hughes family.
(b) The Sylvia Plath myth.
(c) Ted Hughes.
(d) The postal service.

13. With whom was Ted Hughes having an affair at the time of Sylvia Plath's death?
(a) Charles Stevenson.
(b) Frances McCullough.
(c) Janet Malcolm.
(d) Assia Wevill.

14. Whose memoir depicting Sylvia Plath did Olwyn Hughes criticize relentlessly?
(a) A. Alvarez's.
(b) Ted Hughes'.
(c) Anne Stevenson's.
(d) Janet Malcolm's.

15. In what year had a literary critic declared that what stood out about Plath's works was that Plath's "not nice" quality was what set her apart from her contemporaries?
(a) 1963.
(b) 1968.
(c) 1955.
(d) 1971.

Short Answer Questions

1. What university had Sylvia Plath attended?

2. Anne Stevenson tried to defend herself in her speech in Part Two: Chapter I by explaining that some of her work was tainted by the controlling hands of whom?

3. Dealing with Olwyn for three years, Malcolm saw none of the expected ________ in her character?

4. When was Anne Stevenson born?

5. Sylvia had told her mother about the dismal kitchens and ____________ in England.

(see the answer keys)

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