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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 7 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What techniques are used in the lines "She was ours/ In Massachusetts, in Virginia" (lines 3-4)?
(a) Antithesis and synecdoche.
(b) Synecdoche and asyndeton.
(c) Asyndeton and apostrophe.
(d) Apostrophe and antithesis.

2. According to the poem's second sentence, how did "we" find "salvation"?
(a) By finding the courage to fight England.
(b) By realizing our own weakness.
(c) By dedicating ourselves to the Christian God.
(d) By fully surrendering ourselves to the land.

3. To what event does the phrase "more than a hundred years/ Before we were her people" obliquely refer?
(a) The American Civil War.
(b) Columbus's voyage.
(c) The Pilgrims' first landing.
(d) The American Revolution.

4. The repetition of the word "deed" in line 13 is an example of which technique?
(a) Epistrophe.
(b) Antanaclasis.
(c) Epizeuxis.
(d) Anadiplosis.

5. What is the antecedent of "it" in the phrase "it was ourselves" (line 9)?
(a) "What we still were unpossessed by" (line 6).
(b) "What we now no more possessed" (line 7).
(c) "Still colonials" (line 5).
(d) "Something we were withholding" (line 8).

Short Answer Questions

1. What technique is used in the line "Such as she was, such as she would become" (line 16)?

2. What is alluded to in the phrase "the land vaguely realizing westward" (line 14)?

3. What does line 12 make clear is the "Gift" in the title "The Gift Outright"?

4. Which is the primary definition of "still" being used in the expression "still colonials" in line 5?

5. What technique is used in line 10, "We were withholding from our land of living"?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does the speaker mean by "the land vaguely realizing westward" (line 14)?

2. Explain the synecdoche in line 4, "In Massachusetts, in Virginia."

3. Explain the poem's title.

4. What does the speaker claim makes the colonists "weak," and what is the solution to this weakness (line 8)?

5. To whom is it implied the pronouns "our" and "we" refer in this poem?

6. Describe the form of "The Gift Outright."

7. What is implied by the diction the speaker uses to describe the lands yet to be conquered by American settlers: "unstoried, artless, unenhanced" (line 15)?

(see the answer keys)

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