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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. The protagonist in The Bell Jar is from suburbs outside what city?
(a) Chicago, Illinois.
(b) San Francisco, California.
(c) Boston, Massachusetts.
(d) Miami, Florida.

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

3. When was Anne Stevenson's book Correspondences: A Family History in Letters published?
(a) 1968.
(b) 1974.
(c) 1978.
(d) 1971.

4. What poem from Ariel is written in nine 7-line stanzas, totaling sixty-three lines, and follows no rhyme scheme?
(a) Medusa.
(b) Morning Song.
(c) Tulips.
(d) The Bee Meeting.

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

6. In a letter to her former lover at the end of their relationship, Sylvia told him, "Perhaps when we find ourselves wanting everything it is because we are dangerously near to wanting __________."
(a) Death.
(b) One thing.
(c) Something.
(d) Nothing.

7. When was Jacqueline Rose's biography of Sylvia Plath published?
(a) 1991.
(b) 1994.
(c) 1988.
(d) 1987.

8. When was Jacqueline Rose born?
(a) 1951.
(b) 1954.
(c) 1949.
(d) 1958.

9. Immediately after Sylvia's suicide, whom did Elizabeth Sigmund blame?
(a) Ted Hughes.
(b) Olwyn Hughes.
(c) Sylvia Plath.
(d) Clarissa Roche.

10. Ted Hughes asked that Anne Stevenson keep Assia's story out of which book?
(a) Mask of Treason.
(b) Five Looks at Elizabeth Bishop.
(c) Bitter Fame.
(d) A Game of Statues.

11. Elizabeth Sigmund recounted an incident, soon after Sylvia's death, in which Ted did all except __________.
(a) Show remorse.
(b) Blame Sylvia for all his problems.
(c) Take responsibility for Sylvia's death.
(d) Attack her.

12. Anne Stevenson claimed that in her early days in England she reached for a drink much as Sylvia reached for ___________.
(a) Understanding.
(b) Rescue.
(c) Suicide.
(d) Fame.

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

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

15. When did Assia Wevill die?
(a) 1969.
(b) 1970.
(c) 1964.
(d) 1965.

Short Answer Questions

1. What book did A. Alvarez write on the subject of divorce?

2. What memoir did Trevor Thomas write that described Sylvia Plath?

3. What is the name of the protagonist in The Bell Jar?

4. When was Ariel published?

5. In a letter from Ted Hughes, Alvarez was excoriated for publicly airing the details of what event in his memoirs?

(see the answer keys)

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