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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. The narrator compels the reader in Section 2 by stating, “Stop this day and night with me and you shall possess” what?
(a) “Belief in a higher power.”
(b) “The keys to humanity.”
(c) “The origin of all poems.”
(d) “All the secrets of nature.”

2. The narrator describes “Houses and rooms” full of what in the beginning of Section 2?
(a) Paintings.
(b) Rich wood.
(c) Ornate carvings.
(d) Perfumes.

3. What word used in the opening of Section 15 refers to the lowest female voice or voice part, intermediate between soprano and tenor?
(a) Tenor.
(b) Cello.
(c) Contralto.
(d) Pismire.

4. In Section 21, the poet claims, “I am the poet of the Body and I am the poet of the” what?
(a) “Soul.”
(b) “Earth.”
(c) “Animals.”
(d) “Mind.”

5. The narrator claims in Section 7, “I pass death with the dying and birth with the new-wash’d babe, and am not contain’d between my” what?
(a) “Hat and boots.”
(b) “Belt and tie.”
(c) “Socks and belt.”
(d) “Tie and socks.”

Short Answer Questions

1. The narrator says that he sees “the elementary laws never” do what, in Section 20?

2. In describing his body in Section 3, the narrator claims, “Not an inch nor a particle of an inch is” what?

3. The poet claims in Section 24, “Copulation is no more rank to me than” what is?

4. What word from Section 5 refers to a beam fastened to the keel of a vessel for strength?

5. The narrator asserts in Section 20, “In all people I see” what?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does the poet’s delineation of “self” evolve in Section 5 of the poem?

2. What foreshadowing is exhibited in Section 1 of the poem? How is the universal “I” set up in this section?

3. What comparison of women and men is made by the poet in Section 21?

4. What is Whitman’s conclusion regarding “failure” in Section 18?

5. How does Section 13 begin? What is the focus of this section of the poem?

6. What motif returns to the narrative in Section 6? How is this motif examined here?

7. What new journey does the poet embark upon beginning in Section 8 of the poem?

8. What is signified by these lines from Section 1: “I loafe and invite my soul, / I lean and loafe at my ease observing a spear of summer grass”?

9. For whom does Whitman describe playing victory marches in Section 18?

10. What imagery is the focus of Section 11 of the poem?

(see the answer keys)

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