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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Janet Malcolm wrote to Olwyn Hughes in an effort to get an interview with whom in Part One: Chapter IV?
(a) Assia Wevill.
(b) A. Alvarez.
(c) Anne Stevenson.
(d) Ted Hughes.

2. When Anne Stevenson wrote her biography of Sylvia Plath, she found that she and Sylvia had gone through the same teen-aged angst and sexual frustrations of the American youth of what era?
(a) 1930's.
(b) 1950s.
(c) 1920's.
(d) 1940's.

3. In the second version of The Journals of Sylvia Plath, Hughes indicated that he might be able to get his hands on what?
(a) The original manuscript.
(b) Additional material.
(c) A lost journal.
(d) Love letters.

4. A. Alvarez was initially much more impressed with Ted--thinking of Sylvia as __________.
(a) The perfect woman.
(b) A dowdy little housewife.
(c) A trophy wife.
(d) A literary genious.

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

Short Answer Questions

1. Ronald Hayman wrote in The Independent that whose biography was vindictive?

2. Who was named the literary agent for the writings of Sylvia Plath after her death?

3. With whom was Ted Hughes having an affair at the time of Sylvia Plath's death?

4. When was Sylvia Plath born?

5. Who wrote the biography Bitter Fame?

Short Essay Questions

1. What was Sylvia Plath's response to her mother's criticism of her dark works?

2. What did Ted Hughes write in the second edition introduction of The Journals of Sylvia Plath? When was it published?

3. What qualities of Sylvia Plath's work made her appealing to feminists?

4. What did Aurelia Plath have published regarding Sylvia after her death? Why?

5. How did Janet Malcolm know Anne Stevenson in their youth? What was Malcolm's opinion of her?

6. What correspondence did Malcolm have with Olwyn Hughes in Part One: Chapter IV? What was illustrated through the letters?

7. What struggle did Ted face after the death of Sylvia Plath?

8. What lecture did Malcolm read of Anne Stevenson's defense of her biography in Part Two: Chapter I?

9. What is Plath's book The Bell Jar about? What was Sylvia's mother's reaction to the work?

10. What was Anne Stevenson's response at a meeting of the University Women's Club in London where she was being taken to task for her portrayal of Sylvia in her book?

(see the answer keys)

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