The Applicant Quizzes

The Applicant Quiz

1 Fill in the blank: "Rubber breasts or a _____ crotch"
Rubber

Plastic

Vinyl

Wooden
2 Which character does not appear in the poem?
The priest

The interviewer

The woman

The applicant
3 What is meant by the word "poultice?"
A textbook or encyclopedia

A type of concrete popular for midcentury homes

A love potion

An object used to soothe injuries
4 Which of the following is NOT true about this poem?
It suggests that men are sheltered and unhappy in marriage

It argues that women generally have an easy time in marriage

It proposes that the marriage process commodifies women

It claims that wives are expected to do a great deal of difficult work
5 Fill in the blank: "How can we give you a _____? Stop crying."
Chance

Wife

Prize

Thing
6 In general, what effect does figurative language have in this poem?
It recalls unexpected settings, telling us that the applicant's mind is elsewhere

It alerts us to the interviewer's imagination, hinting that he isn't suited to corporate work

It advances the idea that all people and things are connected in a critique of monogamy

It dehumanizes the people referred to through comparisons to objects
7 Why does the interviewer ask the applicant whether something is "missing"?
He has noticed that the applicant is upset and is searching for the reason

He is only willing to accept perfect applicants who lack nothing

He knows that the applicant is "missing" things, but wants the applicant to confess first

He believes that the wife's role is to compensate for anything the applicant lacks
8 Fill in the blank: "To bring _____ and roll away headaches"
Dinner

Laughter

Teacups

Children
9 How are new wives made, according to the interviewer?
By growing them in a greenhouse

By reusing material from the old ones

By transforming animals into women

Through byproducts of husbands' bodies
10 What do prosthetics symbolize?
Unmet male needs

Wartime trauma

The social safety net

Artificiality under consumerism
11 Fill in the blank: "To thumb shut your eyes at the _____"
End

Last

Night

Close
12 What does the suit symbolize?
Workplace norms

The changing class system

Luxury

Men and masculinity
13 What is the primary effect of the poem's interview setting?
It stresses the essential similarity between domestic and commercial life

It allows the reader to fully hear both the interview questions and the applicant's answers

It makes real-life marriage and romance feel calm and pleasant by comparison

It mimics the fast-paced excitement of the urban corporate world
14 Which of these real-life historical developments is Plath likely responding to?
The post-World War II backlash against changing gender norms

The Victorian development of "separate spheres" for men and women

The medieval tradition of early engagements for very young nobles

The late-twentieth century expectation of women's corporate succes
15 Fill in the blank: "It is waterproof, _____"
Fireproof

Shatterproof

Heatproof

Childproof
16 What is the speaker's likely identity?
A priest or minister

A parent or grandparent

A teacher or professor

A salesperson or businessperson
17 How many stanzas are in this poem?
3

4

2

8
18 Fill in the blank: "Naked as _____ to start"
Dirt

Sin

Paper

Thin air
19 What type of stanzas make up this poem?
Octaves

Tercets

Quatrains

Quintains
20 What is the poem's meter?
Trochaic hexameter

It is free-verse

Iambic pentameter

Anapestic trimeter
21 Fill in the blank: "It can _____, _____, _____."
Pose, pose, pose

Clean, clean, clean

Dance, dance, dance

Talk, talk, talk
22 What is the poem's rhyme scheme?
ABBA ABBA CDCCDC

ABB CDD ACCA ABBA

It has no regular rhyme scheme

ABAB ABAB ABAB
23 What does Plath allude to with the phrase "But in twenty-five years she'll be silver, / In fifty, gold."
Traditional wedding anniversary gifts

A popular 1950s love song

Shakespeare's "The Tempest"

The story of Adam and Eve
24 Which of the following is NOT used as a metaphor or simile for the wife?
A doll

A needle

A poultice

A hand
25 Fill in the blank: "You have an eye, it's _____."
A color

An image

Sunglasses

An eyelash

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Study Guide for The Applicant

The Applicant study guide contains a biography of Sylvia Plath, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

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Essays for The Applicant

The Applicant essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of The Applicant by Sylvia Plath.

Defamiliarization of “The Applicant:” Marriage and Gender