View a FREE sample

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

Short Answer Questions

1. Which word does the Mariner NOT use to describe the object he spots at the Line?

2. What happens at midday while the Ship is being crewed by the dead men?

3. What do the recently evacuated spirits form?

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

5. How is the moon described?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

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

5. What are some of the descriptions of the ship carrying Death and Life-in-Death?

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

7. What are the sounds the Mariner hears towards the end of Part VI, and how are they received by him?

8. For how long does the Mariner suffer? How is this significant?

9. What natural force is described as "roaring" after the Mariner wakes from the Heavenly sleep? What is unusual about it?

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

Write an essay on the theme of sin throughout the poem. Analyze how it is significant to the plot and the meaning. Be sure to include the sins of both the Mariner and the crew, how sin in the natural world relates to the supernatural world, and how those sins effected their fates.

Essay Topic 2

Compare and contrast the presentations of Thomas Burnet in the Epigraph and the text of the poem itself regarding the invisible Natures. Analyze each presentation separately and then show how they are alike and/or unlike one another. Be sure to include specific references to the text.

Essay Topic 3

Analyze the superstition of the characters in the poem. How does superstition become a controlling factor in the lives of those on the Ship? How is superstition portrayed in the story? Is it frivolous and silly, or justified? Why or why not? Be sure to cite specific examples from the text.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 818 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample