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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. Which technique is used in the first line, "The land was ours before we were the land’s"?

2. Who is the author of "The Gift Outright"?

3. What technique is used in the phrase "unstoried, artless, unenhanced" (line 15)?

4. To what event does the phrase "more than a hundred years/ Before we were her people" obliquely refer?

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

Short Essay Questions

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

2. 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)?

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

4. Explain the poem's title.

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

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Is it possible to make the argument that "The Gift Outright" acknowledges that the conquest of the land through war has contributed something unsavory to the American character? Consider the complex construction of line 13 in this light. Then, think about the possible meanings of "Such as we were" in line 12. When Frost ends the poem with "Such as she was, such as she would become," does this imply that "we" would also "become" something new, as human beings? On the other hand, even if this is implied, is the poem really saying that what "we" would become is something negative? Does the land become something negative? Does the idea of finding "salvation" completely negate the possibility that the transformation of the American character has unsavory elements? Write an essay in which you affirm, refute, or qualify the following statement: "Robert Frost's poem "The Gift Outright" celebrates the formation and expansion of the United States while still acknowledging that the violence required to create and expand the nation has left an unpleasant imprint on the American character." Support your assertions with both quoted and paraphrased evidence from the poem; cite all borrowed language in MLA format.

Essay Topic 2

Read Frost's poem "Mending Wall" (widely available online). What is the speaker's attitude toward order, rules, and the uncritical acceptance of tradition? What does his neighbor seem to believe about the possession of land, and how does the speaker react to this belief? What is he really suggesting to his neighbor when he says that it might be elves who have broken the wall? Is the attitude of the speaker of "The Gift Outright" similar or different? What does this speaker's use of legal language convey about his belief in "law and order"? What does he seem to believe about the uncritical acceptance of tradition? What does he seem to believe about the possession of land? How is this related to the poem's hidden premises and the beliefs suggested by the poem's final two lines? Write an essay in which you make and defend a claim about a significant similarity or difference in the attitudes of these two speakers towards traditional notions of order, land ownership, or some other concept central to the argument advanced by "The Gift Outright." Support your assertions with evidence drawn from both poems; cite all sources 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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