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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 7 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.
Short Answer Questions
1. What technique is used in the phrase "unstoried, artless, unenhanced" (line 15)?
2. Who is the author of "The Gift Outright"?
3. What techniques are used in the lines "She was ours/ In Massachusetts, in Virginia" (lines 3-4)?
4. What is the antecedent of "it" in the phrase "it was ourselves" (line 9)?
5. What does line 12 make clear is the "Gift" in the title "The Gift Outright"?
Short Essay Questions
1. To whom is it implied the pronouns "our" and "we" refer in this poem?
2. Explain the poem's title.
3. What does the speaker mean by "the land vaguely realizing westward" (line 14)?
4. Explain the synecdoche in line 4, "In Massachusetts, in Virginia."
5. 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)?
6. Describe the form of "The Gift Outright."
7. What does the speaker claim makes the colonists "weak," and what is the solution to this weakness (line 8)?
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
Alabama poet laureate Ashley M. Jones begins her poem "Friendly Skies, or, Black Woman Speaks Herself into God" with the following verse paragraph:
"—we’re taxiing at an airport named after american president ronald reagan. people tell me he was an american hero. sometimes, labels are jumbled in the big dark bag we call manifest destiny. sometimes, things get lost in its velvet mouth."
What do you suppose Jones means when she refers to the "velvet mouth" of manifest destiny? How does skillful rhetoric--evocative diction, rhythmic language, carefully chosen detail, etc.--help to create that "velvet mouth"? Write an essay in which you analyze the "velvet mouth" of "The Gift Outright," demonstrating how Frost's skillful use of language creates an emotional appeal that obscures some of the less appealing facts of American history. Support your assertions with evidence from "The Gift Outright." Cite any borrowed language in MLA format.
Essay Topic 2
What does diction with legal connotations add to "The Gift Outright"? How does diction with religious or sexual overtones add layers of meaning to the poem? How do these three types of diction interact with one another? What else do you observe about this poem's diction: is it formal or informal, abstract or concrete? How does the general diction of the poem create a framework for understanding the legal, sexual, and religious diction? How does the general diction itself help to create meaning? Write an essay in which you make and defend a claim about diction in "The Gift Outright." Support your assertions with both quoted and paraphrased evidence from the poem; cite all borrowed language in MLA format.
Essay Topic 3
How is Amanda Gorman's poem similar to and different from "The Gift Outright"? How do the poems' similarities reflect the cultural significance of presidential inaugurations? How do their differences reflect changing times? Write an essay in which you analyze what the similarities and differences in the meaning and tone of these poems convey about what changes and what remains the same in the meaning and tone of presidential inaugurations. Support your assertions with evidence drawn from both poems; cite all sources in MLA format.
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This section contains 835 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) |
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