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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. What does the Mariner hear after the spirits make their form?

2. What "thousand thousand" things live on?

3. How does the Mariner describe time after the object hangs around his neck?

4. Who is guiding, not steering, the Ship while it is being crewed by the dead men?

5. Who takes pity on the Mariner after he watches the objects in the moonlight?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe what the Mariner sees when he turns his eyes back to the deck of the Ship, after describing the harbor in Part VI.

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

3. How does the Mariner's attitude toward his surroundings in Part IV change? What does this prompt?

4. Describe the death of the crew.

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

6. What happens to the Ship after the Mariner faints? Who relates the action of the story while he is unconscious?

7. In your own words, what is the simile the Mariner constructs after the marginal notes say the curse is expiated?

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

9. At the beginning of Part IV, what is the Mariner's relationship to prayer?

10. Describe the dice game between Death and Life-in-Death.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Analyze the literal and allegorical significance of the Albatross within the story. Include a well-formed explication of what allegory is before demonstrating how the Albatross fulfills this explanation. Feel free to use external sources to fully show how the Albatross is an example of an allegorical object. Also be sure to relate its importance to the events of the poem.

Essay Topic 2

Religion is an important theme in the story. Analyze its presence and influence on the characters and actions throughout the poem. Be sure to include the importance of prayer, the cross, the kirk, and the Hermit.

Essay Topic 3

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?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 811 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample