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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. In Part Three: Chapter IV, Malcolm had another run-in with Olwyn, who felt she took Sylvia's side when a former boyfriend she interviewed felt Sylvia had __________.
(a) Psychological issues.
(b) Suicidal thoughts.
(c) Borderline personality.
(d) Excessive emotion.

2. What did Elizabeth Sigmund portray Olwyn Hughes as being envious of in her interview with Malcolm?
(a) Sylvia's money.
(b) Sylvia's compassion and depth.
(c) Sylvia's love from Ted.
(d) Sylvia's talent and beauty.

3. Where was Sylvia Plath's father from?
(a) Romania.
(b) Russia.
(c) Poland.
(d) Germany.

4. Ted felt that Sylvia's work lacked what element?
(a) Emotion.
(b) Truth.
(c) Proofreading.
(d) Perspective.

5. When The Journals of Sylvia Plath were published, they were met with derision--first because of Ted's admission that he had done what?
(a) Taken out parts that offended him.
(b) Never read them.
(c) Made up several passages.
(d) Lost a journal.

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

7. When was Ariel published?
(a) 1965.
(b) 1963.
(c) 1968.
(d) 1962.

8. In her journals, Sylvia demonstrated her violent nature when she characterized her rude behavior in a confrontation she had with young girls doing what in a public park while she was doing the same thing?
(a) Smoking.
(b) Yelling.
(c) Cutting flowers.
(d) Littering.

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

10. 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) Engaging the reader.
(c) Living up to their potential.
(d) Telling the truth.

11. Anne Stevenson's early days in England were much like Sylvia's because neither woman was prepared for __________.
(a) The weather.
(b) The culture shock.
(c) The accents.
(d) The food.

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

13. There was always a close association between Sylvia's work and what?
(a) Her love of Shakespeare.
(b) Her personal life.
(c) Her love of Greek literature.
(d) Her spirituality.

14. What editor of The Journals of Sylvia Plath was criticized for her own omission of some works?
(a) Roberta Jefferies.
(b) Helen Barry.
(c) Amanda Reynolds.
(d) Frances McCullough.

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

Short Answer Questions

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

2. Malcolm was surprised that Anne Stevenson confessed to having had a problem with what addiction?

3. The author writes that biographers love letters since they are the fossils of ___________.

4. What caused Trevor Thomas to sleep until 5 p.m. the day after Sylvia Plath killed herself?

5. Where did Malcolm ask her taxi driver to detour on the way to interview Clarissa Roche?

(see the answer keys)

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