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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. What is forever and ever, longer than soil is brown and solid, longer than water ebbs and flows?
(a) Family.
(b) Faith.
(c) Religion.
(d) Soul.

2. What shape is Paumanok, according to the way that Whitman describes it in his poetry?
(a) Square.
(b) Fish.
(c) Bean.
(d) Spiral.

3. To what state does Whitman promise to know very well after traveling to it?
(a) California.
(b) Florida.
(c) Ohio.
(d) Illinois.

4. The __________ has joy in inflating the chest, rolling the thunder of the voice, making the people rage, and leading America.
(a) Orator.
(b) President.
(c) Congressman.
(d) Lawyer.

5. Whose self does Whitman sing when he begins his collection of poems in this particular book?
(a) Her.
(b) Him.
(c) Those.
(d) One's.

Short Answer Questions

1. How does Whitman spell Canada when he uses the name in the poem, "On Journeys through the States"?

2. What is NOT a word which is used to describe the poets Whitman says are still to come in the world?

3. Underneath all of the mysticism, what does Whitman say that he sees in the man for his comrade?

4. Whitman says that he was offering too long to feed his soul with __________, which was clearly not a good idea..

5. What does Whitman say goes to and fro, seeking a livelihood, chattering, and chaffering?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Whitman describe his understanding of Adam's first experience when walking in the Garden of Eden?

2. What is one of the main criticisms of Whitman's poetry, as these graphic images come up in the poems quite frequently?

3. What is the main reason why Whitman says that he enjoys Manhattan so much during his travels there?

4. What is the city which Whitman admires, though not for the pageantry and the wealth that exists in this city?

5. What does Whitman state about the idea of what happens after death, though he is still unsure?

6. What does Whitman describe when he is talking about the experiences of his body in relation to another's body?

7. What does Whitman proclaim about nature when he is talking about nature in this first section ?

8. What are some of the similar points of religions which Whitman points out for the reader?

9. Who are some of the groups for which Whitman seems to have a particular affection in his poems?

10. What does Whitman think about seeing the world through someone else's eyes, even if it is through the eyes of a poet?

(see the answer keys)

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