Sylvia Plath's Literature Trivia Quiz

Answer: Eight

Indeed, Plath started writing prose from a very young age. It was published in the children's section of "The Boston Herald".

Answer: False

Actually, it was based on Dick Norton, a Yale senior who she had dated in her junior year. She wouldn't meet Hughes until later.

Answer: To symbolise oppression

When she refers to someone else as a 'Nazi', she usually signifies herself as being a Jew, thus suggesting that she feels heavily oppressed by them. Although provoking controversy was probably not a primary aim, it certainly did so. Also, Plath's family weren't Jewish; they were Unitarian.

Answer: Sonnet

The poem takes the form of a sonnet, in that it has fourteen lines and a regular rhyme scheme: a,b,a,b,c,d,c,d,e,f,e,g,f,g. It was written in her undergraduate years at Smith College, but was not published until 2006, in the online journal Blackbird. It may have been initially intended for publication, because her address is typed in the top-right corner, though this may simply have been a case of identifying the poem for her tutor.

Answer: Stillborn

In "Stillborn", Plath likens her poetry to stillborn children. Despite being "proper in shape and number and every part", she does not feel they are alive: "And still the lungs won't inflate and the heart won't start" Though she feels that she put in the effort, she sees her poems as artificial.

It's worth noting that Plath's second pregnancy ended in miscarriage, and perhaps prompted this unorthodox metaphor.

Answer: One

That's right, just one. That poetry collection was entitled "The Colossus and Other Poems", published in 1960. "Ariel" was not published until 1965, two years after her death.

Answer: Victoria Lucas

Esther Greenwood is the persona Sylvia takes in the novel and Freida Hughes is the name of her daughter.

Answer: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

The narrator's mother had checked the feature before letting her go, not realising that a war film would also be shown. The propaganda film featured the Japanese torturing and killing prisoners of war, which disturbs the narrator so much she ends up vomiting.

Although it has never been confirmed, it's likely that this story is at least somewhat autobiographical. In 1941, the year America entered World War II, Sylvia Plath would have been nine years old, which fits well with her horrified reaction to what is being shown.

Answer: Electra on Azalea Path

"Electra on Azalea Path" is based on Plath visiting her father's grave for the first time.

Answer: Carbon monoxide poisoning

More specifically, she stuck her head inside the oven after sealing the room off with wet towels. Her first ever suicide attempt involved an overdose of sleeping pills, and is documented in "The Bell Jar".

Answer: Smith College

However, she did later go to Newnham College after graduating from Smith College with honours.

Answer: February

Three poems that she wrote include 'Poppies in July', 'Poppies in October' and 'Letter in November'.

Answer: Appendectomy

In the poem, she feels that the red tulips are interrupting her calm stay at the hospital: "I didn't want any flowers, I only wanted/ To lie with my hands turned up and be utterly empty".

Answer: True

The villanelle in question is 'To Eva Descending the Stair', pre-1956.

Answer: 1953

At the beginning she refers to the upcoming Rosenbergs' execution, which took place on 19th June 1953.