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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. “Words” are described as being as “simple as” what, in Section 39?
(a) “Rocks.”
(b) “Stars.”
(c) “Grass.”
(d) “Flowers.”

2. What is referred to as “a chef-d’oeuvre for the highest” in Section 31?
(a) “The tree-toad.”
(b) “The water bird.”
(c) “The flying fish.”
(d) “The ground squirrel.”

3. The poet tells the dying in Section 40, “I dilate you with” what?
(a) “Tremendous breath.”
(b) “Piercing stare.”
(c) “Lashing words.”
(d) “Extreme scorn.”

4. According to the poet in Section 31, what “would adorn the parlors of heaven”?
(a) “Alpine strawberries.”
(b) “The running blackberry.”
(c) “White roses.”
(d) “Orange tulips.”

5. The narrator says in Section 25, “My voice goes after what my” what “cannot reach”?
(a) “Eyes.”
(b) “Fingertips.”
(c) “Nose.”
(d) “Lips.”

Short Answer Questions

1. What advice does the narrator give to the “dear son” in Section 46?

2. What is described as “the cataract falling like a veil over my countenance” in Section 33?

3. What word does Whitman use in Section 43 to refer to a Mesoamerican pyramid surmounted by a temple?

4. What archaic word in Section 31 refers to an ant?

5. What does the narrator claim “indicates the moment” in Section 44?

Short Essay Questions

1. How are time and eternity defined in Section 44 of the poem?

2. What war is described in Sections 35 and 36? How does the poet describe the aftermath of the battle?

3. With what “characters” does the poet relate in Sections 47 and 48 of the poem?

4. In what way is the concept of “rebirth” illustrated in Section 38?

5. What events take place in the battle described in Section 34 of the poem?

6. What reaction does the poet have to his circumstances in the opening of Section 38?

7. How does Whitman address the vastness of the world in Section 33?

8. What does the poet question and attempt to answer in Section 40 of the poem?

9. How does Whitman address the faults of mankind in Section 32?

10. What is the central message in Section 29 of the poem?

(see the answer keys)

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