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. The narrator claims in Section 73, “Not a youngster is taken for” what, “but I go up too, and am tried and sentenced”?

2. By whom does the narrator say he has been “given up” in Section 28?

3. What does the narrator call those on guard when he tells them to “Look to your arms!” in Section 37?

4. The poet says in Section 31, “In vain the buzzard houses herself with” what?

5. What is referred to as “a chef-d’oeuvre for the highest” in Section 31?

Short Essay Questions

1. What sense and expression is discussed in the opening of Section 25?

2. Why and how does Whitman turn to the sense of sound in Section 26?

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

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

5. What is the purpose of the religious allusion in Sections 41 and 42 of the poem?

6. What have the “sentries” done, according to the narrator in Section 28?

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

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

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the elements of “realism” in lines such as the following from Section 15: “The lunatic is carried at last to the asylum a confirm'd case, (He will never sleep any more as he did in the cot in his mother's bedroom).” How and why do lines such as these stand out amongst popular poetry of the 1850s? What does this line signify metaphorically?

Essay Topic 2

Define the following literary terms: rhyme, meter, and form. Using an excerpt from the poem, identify the lines and stanzas as well as analyzing its rhyme and meter (or lack thereof). How does this poem compare to traditional, lyrical poetry? Why do you think Walt Whitman chose to write in this style?

Essay Topic 3

Describe, analyze, and discuss the sense of “self” and the omniscient “I” presented in “Song of Myself.” How did Whitman’s perception of self in this poem relate to common public perception of the self at this time historically and culturally? How does Whitman’s “self” compare with the Holy Trinity, for example?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 935 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample