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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. The narrator says in Section 20, “Having pried through the strata, analyzed to a hair, counsel'd with doctors and calculated close, I find no sweeter fat than sticks to my own” what?

2. The “lunatic” described in Section 15 “will never sleep any more as he did in the cot” where?

3. The narrator compares months to what in Section 20?

4. Where does the narrator say the “sharp-hoof’d moose” comes from in Section 14?

5. The narrator claims in Section 7, “I pass death with the dying and birth with the new-wash’d babe, and am not contain’d between my” what?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Walt Whitman praise and celebrate in Section 23 of the poem?

2. What comparison of women and men is made by the poet in Section 21?

3. What is Whitman’s “advice” to the reader in Section 11 of the poem?

4. What is the metaphorical meaning in the following lines from Section 7: “Has any one supposed it lucky to be born? / I hasten to inform him or her it is just as lucky to die, and I know it.”?

5. How have critics and scholars interpreted the following sexually implicit lines in Section 5: “How you settled your head athwart my hips and gently turn'd over upon me”?

6. What new journey does the poet embark upon beginning in Section 8 of the poem?

7. What imagery is the focus of Section 11 of the poem?

8. Over what elements does the poet describe Earth reigning in Section 21?

9. For whom does Whitman describe playing victory marches in Section 18?

10. What foreshadowing is exhibited in Section 1 of the poem? How is the universal “I” set up in this section?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss Walt Whitman’s comparisons of those things that appear minute and/or mundane with those that appear vast and overshadowing. What is the poet’s point in these illustrations in Section 31? What conclusions does the poet reach?

Essay Topic 2

Describe and discuss the marriage of the trapper to the “red girl” in Section 10. What is the implied cultural history of the bride and her family? How does the poet describe the customs of the Native Americans in this section of the poem?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the War of 1812 as illustrated through the imagery from Sections 35 and 36 of “Song of Myself.” What characters does the poet describe? What is the setting? How does the poet describe the aftermath of the battle? Do you believe this is a realistic depiction of warfare?

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