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

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

3. What color is the water in the poem, "In Cabin'd Ships at Sea," as it moves around the boat?
(a) Gray.
(b) Black.
(c) Blue.
(d) Green.

4. Whitman ponders where he actually knows anything of his own ________ as he thinks about the biography of another.
(a) History.
(b) Needs.
(c) Message.
(d) Life.

5. What is flying aloft as the ship begins to go out into the sea in "The Ship Starting"?
(a) Pennants.
(b) Ribbons.
(c) Hands.
(d) Hopes.

Short Answer Questions

1. Where does Whitman say there are beautiful hills which should be recognized as such?

2. To what does Whitman say he is near at hand with a throat to inflate itself and sing joyfully?

3. Who does Whitman not want to shut their proud doors to him, as stated in a poem of that same idea?

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

5. Whitman believes there is terrible doubt in _____________, there is uncertainty and the possibility of being deluded.

Short Essay Questions

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

2. What are some of the features of the Paumanok area of Long Island which makes the area special to Whitman?

3. What is so strange about the idea that Whitman is so fervently patriotic in the poems he has written? When was Whitman born in relation to the 'birth' of the United States?

4. What is Whitman's stance on how he views individual people and who they are, an opinion which is repeated frequently?

5. How does Whitman describe the touches of the lover as they are making love in the grass with each other?

6. Where was Whitman born, and how does that place affect him?

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

8. What parts of the United States structure does Whitman have a lot of respect for?

9. What does the author feel about the idea of being present in the here and in the now?

10. Why does Whitman warn the readers about the dangers of religion and those who are enamored of it?

(see the answer keys)

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