- 1. The 'Collected Works of Edna St. Vincent Millay' is a comprehensive anthology that encapsulates the literary genius of one of America’s most celebrated poets and playwrights of the early 20th century. Known for her breathtaking lyricism and passionate themes, Millay's works traverse a wide array of emotions and experiences, delving into love, loss, nature, and the complexities of human relationships. This collection not only features her renowned poetry, such as her iconic sonnets and evocative free verse, but also showcases her less familiar works, revealing the depth of her creative spirit across various forms, including prose and drama. Millay's voice, characterized by its boldness and musicality, often challenges societal norms, reflecting her feminist ideals and advocacy for women's rights during a period marked by rigid gender roles. Readers of the 'Collected Works' are treated to a journey through Millay's life and evolution as an artist, capturing the essence of her contributions to modernist literature while celebrating her unique perspective on the world around her. This anthology serves not just as a testament to her literary accomplishments, but also as an invitation to explore the enduring relevance of her themes in contemporary discourse.
Which of these is the title of Millay's Pulitzer Prize-winning collection from 1923?
A) "Second April"
B) "A Few Figs from Thistles"
C) "The Harp-Weaver and Other Poems"
D) "Renascence and Other Poems"
- 2. Millay's early fame was established by which long poem published in 1912?
A) "Renascence"
B) "Dirge Without Music"
C) "Elegy Before Death"
D) "The Ballad of the Harp-Weaver"
- 3. What was Millay's pen name, used for prose works?
A) George Eliot
B) Michael Strange
C) Nancy Boyd
D) Sara Teasdale
- 4. Which prestigious women's college did Millay attend?
A) Smith College
B) Wellesley College
C) Bryn Mawr College
D) Vassar College
- 5. The line "My candle burns at both ends" opens which famous Millay poem?
A) "Second Fig"
B) "First Fig"
C) "Love is not all"
D) "Recuerdo"
- 6. What is the name of the poetic drama Millay wrote for the Provincetown Players?
A) "The Lamp and the Bell"
B) "The King's Henchman"
C) "Conversation at Midnight"
D) "Aria da Capo"
- 7. Which opera features a libretto written by Millay?
A) "The Ballad of Baby Doe"
B) "Vanessa"
C) "The King's Henchman"
D) "Porgy and Bess"
- 8. In "Love is not all: it is not meat nor drink," what is the speaker's ultimate conclusion about love?
A) Love is a fleeting illusion
B) Love is worthless compared to food
C) Love is a physical necessity
D) She would not trade love for survival
- 9. Which of these poets was a contemporary and friend of Millay?
A) Sylvia Plath
B) Emily Dickinson
C) Elinor Wylie
D) Anne Sexton
- 10. Millay's "The Ballad of the Harp-Weaver" is a poem primarily about what relationship?
A) Two lovers
B) A king and his servant
C) Two sisters
D) A mother and son
- 11. Which literary award did Millay win in 1923, making her the third woman to do so?
A) Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
B) National Book Award
C) Nobel Prize in Literature
D) Bollingen Prize
- 12. Which of these is a posthumously published collection of Millay's poems?
A) "Second April"
B) "Mine the Harvest"
C) "The Buck in the Snow"
D) "Wine from These Grapes"
- 13. The sonnet "I, being born a woman and distressed" explores tensions between what?
A) Youth and old age
B) Urban and rural life
C) Wealth and poverty
D) Physical desire and intellectual independence
- 14. Which war is a central subject of Millay's collection "The Murder of Lidice"?
A) World War II
B) The Vietnam War
C) The American Civil War
D) World War I
- 15. Millay's writing style is often characterized by its what?
A) Intentional obscurity and difficulty
B) Lengthy, prosaic lines
C) Technical precision and emotional intensity
D) Use of slang and colloquialism
- 16. Which of the following is a famous sonnet sequence by Edna St. Vincent Millay?
A) Spoon River Anthology
B) The Waste Land
C) Fatal Interview
D) North of Boston
- 17. What was Millay's preferred poetic form, for which she was particularly renowned?
A) Haiku
B) Free Verse
C) Sonnet
D) Villanelle
- 18. What was the name of the bohemian New York City neighborhood where Millay lived after college?
A) Harlem
B) SoHo
C) Brooklyn Heights
D) Greenwich Village
- 19. The sonnet sequence 'Fatal Interview' is loosely modeled on the works of which poet?
A) Shakespeare
B) Elizabeth Barrett Browning
C) John Donne
D) Petrarch
- 20. Which literary figure was a close friend and correspondent of Millay's?
A) F. Scott Fitzgerald
B) Gertrude Stein
C) Edmund Wilson
D) Ernest Hemingway
- 21. Millay's work was particularly celebrated for its mastery of:
A) Traditional forms with modern themes
B) Collaborative creation
C) Experimental typography
D) Epic narrative poetry
- 22. The line 'I am not resigned to the shutting away of loving hearts in the hard ground' is from which elegy?
A) Dirge Without Music
B) Lament
C) Elegy Before Death
D) Memorial to D.C.
- 23. Which literary figure was a key patron who helped Millay attend Vassar College?
A) Edith Wharton
B) Caroline B. Dow
C) Robert Frost
D) Ezra Pound
- 24. What is the name of the farm in New York where Millay lived for many years and wrote much of her work?
A) Green Gables
B) The Mount
C) Walden
D) Steepletop
- 25. In which year was Millay's celebrated collection 'A Few Figs from Thistles' first published?
A) 1925
B) 1917
C) 1922
D) 1920
- 26. The poem 'Recuerdo' is about a memory of a joyful night spent traveling on a:
A) Bus
B) Ferry
C) Train
D) Streetcar
- 27. What is the title of Millay's 1920 poetry collection known for its rebellious tone?
A) Wine from These Grapes
B) A Few Figs from Thistles
C) Fatal Interview
D) The Ballad of the Harp-Weaver
- 28. What is the title of Millay's 1921 poetry collection?
A) Third May
B) Second April
C) Final December
D) First August
- 29. What is the meter commonly used in Millay's sonnets?
A) Anapestic trimeter
B) Dactylic hexameter
C) Iambic pentameter
D) Trochaic tetrameter
|