(1) Contrast Bogan’s “Evening in the Sanitarium” with Sylvia Plath’s autobiographical recall in The Bell Jar or Anne Sexton’s self-study in The Death Notebooks.
(2) Compare the naturalism of Bogan’s “Night” with that of Robert Frost’s “Come In” or Stave V of Hart Crane’s Voyages.
(3) Explain how Bogan’s “Women” implies that the more “provident” woman should reach out for “wilderness” and widened horizons. Contrast the poem’s impetus with that of “The Sleeping Fury,” which blames “false love” and “the kissed-out lie” for robbing women of contentment.
(4) Compare the stunted women in Bogan’s “Evening in the Sanitarium” with the futureless athlete in John Updike’s “The Ex-Basketball Player.”
(5) Discuss water imagery in “The Roman Fountain.” What does water symbolize in the poem?
