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

3. What is the antecedent of "it" in the phrase "it was ourselves" (line 9)?

4. The repetition of the word "deed" in line 13 is an example of which technique?

5. In line 15, what is the speaker calling "unstoried, artless, unenhanced"?

Short Essay Questions

1. Explain the poem's title.

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

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

4. 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)?

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

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What is the theme of "The Gift Outright"? What is the poem's subject matter, and what claim about Americans and the land does it advance? What is the poem's tone, and how is it created? How do the poem's diction and its use of chiasmus, parallelism, and repetition contribute to its meaning? How does line 13 impact the poem's overall meaning? To what extent does "The Gift Outright" either acknowledge or elide the violence integral to the nation's foundation and expansion? Write an essay that makes and defends a claim about the theme of this poem. 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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