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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who lies dead on the Ship at the beginning of Part IV?

2. How many times does the Woman whistle?

3. When the Mariner awakes after the Heavenly sleep, what does he "almost" think happens?

4. How many passengers are on the ship that arrives?

5. The Mariner's heart is as:

Short Essay Questions

1. How is Life-in-Death described? What is the significance of Life-in-Death's description?

2. After regaining consciousness from fainting, what does the Mariner again feel the effects of? What are those effects?

3. What does the Mariner mean when he says, "O let me be awake, my God! / Or let me sleep alway," in the middle of Part VI?

4. What do the two spirits discuss at the end of Part V?

5. How does Coleridge use colors in Part IV of the poem? What are some of the colors he uses?

6. What two things is the Mariner thankful for at the beginning of Part V, and to whom are these things attributed?

7. Why are the souls of the crew compared to the cross-bow?

8. Why does the Guest interrupt the Mariner in Part V? How does the Mariner respond?

9. What two body parts are most strongly emphasized in Part III? How?

10. What is the Mariner's initial reaction to his surroundings in Part IV? Why is this significant?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The Line, the name used for the equator in the poem, is a location where many events of significance occur in the poem. Examine these events and analyze the particular importance of them occurring at the world's equator. In particular, analyze how the Line acts as a physical nexus for all kinds of action, natural and supernatural.

Essay Topic 2

Present an analysis of the poem's reversal. How does the Mariner move from despair to hope? Is it primarily a change in his external conditions, or his internal disposition? What impact do the natural and/or supernatural world have on the change in the Mariner?

Essay Topic 3

Analyze the poem's presentation of contrition, redemption, and penance. Explain how each follows upon the other in the Mariner's story; how does he achieve each? How do these three things relate to human nature, guilt?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 863 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample