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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. How does Whitman spell Canada when he uses the name in the poem, "On Journeys through the States"?
(a) Kanada.
(b) Kanuda.
(c) Canada.
(d) Kunada.

2. It is the engineer's joy to go with the _____________ in his days.
(a) Coal.
(b) Cars.
(c) Track.
(d) Locomotive.

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

4. Whitman says he will make a true ________ which will earn for the body and mind whatever sticks and does not droop in death.
(a) Song.
(b) Book.
(c) Poem.
(d) Belief.

5. Whitman says it is a painful thing to ___________ someone to excess, yet the rewards are great.
(a) Honor.
(b) Love.
(c) Believe in.
(d) Hate.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who does Whitman profess to folding in every leaf of his poetry in order to celebrate the sea?

2. Whitman believes that all heroic deeds were conceived in __________, as are all free poems.

3. Which sort of bird caused Whitman to stop and open listen to it opening its throat and joyfully singing?

4. From Whitman's breast, he says that he has concealed confession drops. What color are these drops?

5. Who does Whitman point out are subordinated at their tasks during "Calamus"?

Short Essay Questions

1. 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?

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

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

4. What are some of the poet's feelings about the idea of mortality, according to the poems he writes?

5. What does Whitman reveal about a lover who spoke of acceptance within one of his poems?

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

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

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

9. What does Whitman have to say about the pain of loving a man or a woman in great excess?

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

(see the answer keys)

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