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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Since Sylvia's death, Ted had served two masters--the literary artist who wanted her work to be her legacy and ____________.

2. Ted Hughes asked that Anne Stevenson keep Assia's story out of which book?

3. 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 __________.

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

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

Short Essay Questions

1. What did Malcolm write of the unread letter in Part Three: Chapter III?

2. What biographies offended the Hughes family the most? Why?

3. How did Clarissa Roche know Sylvia Plath?

4. How did Anne Stevenson equate her early days in England with Sylvia Plath's?

5. How did Elizabeth Sigmund describe Olwyn Hughes?

6. What public dispute did Alvarez and Ted Hughes have via letters?

7. When and why did Clarissa Roche begin a biography on Sylvia? What was it like?

8. How did Sylvia Plath demonstrate her "not nice" side in her journals?

9. What surprised Malcolm about Anne Stevenson in her similarities to Sylvia?

10. Why was the book The Journals of Sylvia Plath widely criticized?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Describe and discuss the life and career of the author. What led Janet Malcolm to approach this subject and book?

Essay Topic 2

Describe the psychological assessments of Sylvia Plath. What psychiatrist did Plath see during her struggle with depression? For what did Plath show symptoms?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the correlations between Anne Stevenson's life and that of Sylvia Plath. What similarities did these female writers share? What differences?

(see the answer keys)

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