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

Multiple Choice Questions

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

2. What was the name of Clarissa Roche's husband of whom Sylvia had less than kind things to say about?
(a) Mark.
(b) Jim.
(c) Paul.
(d) Frank.

3. What memoir did Trevor Thomas write that described Sylvia Plath?
(a) Her Husband: Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath--A Marriage.
(b) Sylvia Plath: Last Encounters.
(c) Your Own, Sylvia: A Verse Portrait of Sylvia Plath.
(d) Sylvia Plath: Method and Madness: A Biography.

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

5. A. Alvarez claimed that Olwyn and Ted Hughes probably chose Anne Stevenson to write a biography on Sylvia because they could ______________.
(a) Believe in her.
(b) Feel good about themselves.
(c) Manipulate her.
(d) Profit from her.

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

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

8. Elizabeth Sigmund was friends with Sylvia Plath for how long?
(a) One year.
(b) Six years.
(c) Two years.
(d) Ten years.

9. Sylvia resigned from teaching when she and Ted decided to make a living on __________.
(a) Her inheritance.
(b) Their publishing company.
(c) Their writing.
(d) His investments.

10. Sylvia wrote in her journal that the fight at the end of the school year had caused her to lose faith in Ted. She asked why the wife was the last to see the husband's ___________.
(a) "Hemorrhoid."
(b) "Ulcer."
(c) "Wounds."
(d) "Warts."

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

12. What poem written by Sylvia Plath, originally collected in the posthumously published volume Ariel, describes the speaker's oppression with the use of World War II Nazi Germany allusions and images?
(a) Poppies in October.
(b) Lady Lazarus.
(c) Sheep in Fog.
(d) The Night Dances.

13. To A. Alvarez, Anne Stevenson was a minor writer writing about a major writer and thus there was natural ____________.
(a) Jealousy.
(b) Admiration.
(c) Cautiousness.
(d) Envy.

14. Sylvia Plath's extremism and ________ were things that Anne Stevenson deplored.
(a) Beauty.
(b) Arrogance.
(c) Agreeability.
(d) Narcissism.

15. Anne Stevenson wrote that "it took me two unhappy marriages and ____ children to make me reconsider my assumptions."
(a) Five.
(b) Three.
(c) Two.
(d) One.

Short Answer Questions

1. What editor of The Journals of Sylvia Plath was criticized for her own omission of some works?

2. Anne Stevenson claimed that in her early days in England she reached for a drink much as Sylvia reached for ___________.

3. A. Alvarez claimed to have thought that Bitter Fame was an example of ___________.

4. What did Ted Hughes called Alvarez' assertion that there was a professional jealousy between him and Sylvia?

5. Elizabeth Sigmund recounted an incident, soon after Sylvia's death, in which Ted did all except __________.

(see the answer keys)

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