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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 “is miracle enough to stagger sextillions of infidels,” in Section 31?

2. The poet says in Section 31 that he believes what “is no less than the journey-work of the stars”?

3. According to the poet in Section 31, what “would adorn the parlors of heaven”?

4. Three of what are “whizzing in a row from three lusty angels with shirts bagg'd out at their waists” in Section 41?

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

Short Essay Questions

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

2. Where does the poet “stand” in Section 44? What conclusion has he reached?

3. How are the Native Americans depicted in Section 39?

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

5. What does the poet tell the world’s “priests” in Section 43?

6. What setting does the narrator take the reader to in Section 34?

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

8. What conclusions does the poet reach in Section 31?

9. How are “youth” and “age” described in Section 45?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Describe and analyze the theme of “life and death” in Song of Myself.” Why does the poet consider the act of dying to be “lucky”? How is Death equated and compared with Life? What metaphors of death and life does the poet use to illustrate his points?

Essay Topic 2

Define “religious allusion” in literature and give examples of religious allusion in the poem. Where does the poet’s wording borderline upon Christian or other religious texts? Why does Whitman choose to incorporate religious allusion in the poem?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the Native American experience, its culture, and its idealization in the poem. How does the poet refer to the American Indians? What viewpoints does he imbue on tribal belief systems? How are their customs depicted?

(see the answer keys)

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