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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 creature “in his tough pimples sleeps by the bayou” in Section 33?

2. The narrator claims in Section 33, “I am the hounded slave, I wince at the bite of” what?

3. The narrator contends that he is the teacher of what, in the opening of Section 47?

4. The poet tells the dying in Section 40, “I dilate you with” what?

5. The narrator states “Now I will do nothing but” what, in the opening of Section 26?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does the poet relate truth and nature in Sections 30 and 31?

2. To what are flames compared in Section 28? Why?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

10. What is implied of “the journey” of life in Section 44?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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?

Essay Topic 2

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 3

Discuss the issues of slavery and race relations in 1855 when the poem was first published. What were Walt Whitman’s political views regarding slavery and the dissention between the North and South at this time? What elements of racial relations have been seen in “Song of Myself”?

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