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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Almost every writer, Anne Stevenson concluded, has some form of depression which stems from the internal nagging that the writer was not _____________.
(a) Pleasing their editor.
(b) Telling the truth.
(c) Living up to their potential.
(d) Engaging the reader.

2. Clarissa Roche first knew Sylvia Plath from when she was teaching at what school?
(a) Ohio State University.
(b) University of Minnesota.
(c) Yale University.
(d) Smith College.

3. How long had Anne Stevenson worked on her biography of Sylvia Plath before it was published?
(a) Four years.
(b) Five years.
(c) One year.
(d) Two years.

4. What is the name of the protagonist in The Bell Jar?
(a) Carol Thompson.
(b) Anne Swanson.
(c) Linda Rollins.
(d) Esther Greenwood.

5. On the eve of her death, Sylvia Plath insisted on paying for what which she got from Trevor Thomas?
(a) Stamps.
(b) Food.
(c) Gas.
(d) Books.

6. How did Trevor Thomas know Sylvia Plath?
(a) They worked together at one time.
(b) He lived below her.
(c) He worked at her favorite restraunt.
(d) They went to school together.

7. Sylvia wrote in her journals that she was certain she had the ability to commit suicide, murder a woman, and ____________.
(a) Outsmart a fox.
(b) Wound a man.
(c) Wrestle a lion.
(d) Strangle a cat.

8. What did Malcolm feel like upon arriving at Sylvia's former home in Part Two: Chapter IX?
(a) A schoolgirl.
(b) A paparazzi.
(c) A tourist.
(d) A stalker.

9. In Part Two: Chapter IV, Malcolm hadn't been able to interview Alvarez or Ted because who basically disallowed it?
(a) Clarissa Roche.
(b) Aurelia Plath.
(c) Olwyn Hughes.
(d) Frances McCullough.

10. In Part Two: Chapters VIII, Elizabeth Sigmund mentioned that Ted and Carol no longer speak to whom?
(a) A. Alvarez.
(b) Olwyn Hughes.
(c) Clarissa Roche.
(d) Aurelia Plath.

11. Malcolm drew a parallel between Anne Stevenson's failed relationship and her guilt-ridden past to the subservient role she took on with whom?
(a) Ted Hughes.
(b) Phillip Hobsbaum.
(c) Owlyn Hughes.
(d) Dido Merwin.

12. What American poet was the Poet Laureate of the United States from 1949 to 1950?
(a) Elizabeth Bishop.
(b) Louise Bogan.
(c) Leonie Adams.
(d) Randall Jarrell.

13. How did Assia Wevill die?
(a) Cancer.
(b) She was hit by a car.
(c) A heart attack.
(d) She gassed herself.

14. In what year did Anne Stevenson write to Olwyn about never contacting her again?
(a) 1985.
(b) 1983.
(c) 1988.
(d) 1986.

15. What was Ted seen as in Sylvia's life, according to her therapist?
(a) A best friend.
(b) A brother.
(c) A father figure.
(d) A teacher.

Short Answer Questions

1. What was the name of the man Sylvia was involved with when she met Ted Hughes?

2. Who currently lived at the home Malcolm detoured past on her way to interview Clarissa Roche in Part Two: Chapter IX?

3. When The Journals of Sylvia Plath were published, they were met with derision--first because of Ted's admission that he had done what?

4. What was the title of Ted Hughes' last work?

5. How many years of hell did Ted Hughes go through after Sylvia's death, according to Anne Stevenson in Part Two: Chapter IV?

(see the answer keys)

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