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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What is the title of the book Vivian published?
(a) Made Cunningly.
(b) A Biography of John Donne.
(c) Death Be Not Proud.
(d) Donne and Death: a Comprehensive Text.

2. What overwhelms the meaning of the sonnet in the translation Vivian used?
(a) Adverbs.
(b) The translator's religiosity.
(c) Meter.
(d) Punctuation.

3. How does Vivian think her colleagues would honor her memory?
(a) A collection of her essays on John Donne.
(b) A portrait in the hall of the department.
(c) A memorial service during which they read the Holy Sonnets.
(d) A collection of their essays on John Donne.

4. What word does Kelekian use to refer to Vivian's cancer?
(a) Unstable.
(b) Rare.
(c) Insidious.
(d) Treacherous.

5. What is the definition of the word Vivian struggles with as she reads on her birthday?
(a) Aged.
(b) Having the properties of blood.
(c) A type of flower.
(d) Makes you sleepy.

6. What author does Vivian quote at the end of Scene 1?
(a) William Shakespeare.
(b) William Wordsworth.
(c) John Keats.
(d) John Donne.

7. Why does Kelekian wear a mask when he checks on Vivian?
(a) He has a cold.
(b) She is in isolation.
(c) She is in the operating room.
(d) He forgot to take it off when he entered her room.

8. What is Vivian's first appointment in Scene 4?
(a) Blood work.
(b) Physical exam.
(c) Chest x-ray.
(d) GI series.

9. What sonnet is Vivian's paper about that must be done over?
(a) Holy Sonnet Five.
(b) Holy Sonnet Six.
(c) Holy Sonnet Ten.
(d) Lady Lazarus.

10. How would Vivian tell her students to think of her situation?
(a) As allusion.
(b) As a puzzle.
(c) As wit.
(d) As irony.

11. What percentage of the chemotherapy dose does Vivian have to take?
(a) 25%.
(b) 85%.
(c) 100%.
(d) It will vary based on the cycle number.

12. What does Vivian consider her life's work?
(a) Words.
(b) Poetry.
(c) Donne.
(d) Education.

13. Who did Vivian study Donne under?
(a) Ashford.
(b) Bearing.
(c) Posner.
(d) Kelekian.

14. What about Vivian's condition does she think Donne would revel in?
(a) The closeness to death.
(b) Her vulnerability.
(c) The possibility for a sonnet.
(d) The paradox of it.

15. Which of the following is one of the “red herrings” Vivian experiences during chemotherapy?
(a) Hypertension.
(b) Liver poison.
(c) Pneumonia.
(d) Jaundice.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Vivian say she is learning to do during her course of chemotherapy treatment?

2. How much does Vivian vomit in Scene 5?

3. Why is Vivian's treatment aggressive?

4. Where will Vivian stay during each cycle of treatment?

5. What does Susie take with her when she leaves Vivian's room at the end of Scene 5?

(see the answer keys)

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