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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 5 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. How many sentences does the poem contain?

2. How are the lines of the poem arranged?

3. According to the poem, what "depends" on the red wheelbarrow?

4. How many lines does "The Red Wheelbarrow" have?

5. What similarity is shared by every second line of the poem?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the most reasonable interpretation of this poem's setting, and why?

2. What are the images presented in this poem?

3. What is the surface meaning of this poem?

4. Describe the diction of this poem.

5. Describe the poem's form.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Can you change the placement of anything in "The Red Wheelbarrow" and still convey the same feelings and ideas? Can you substitute language or details? Write an essay in which you explicate the necessity of the specific construction that Williams has chosen. Show how each word, each detail, each space, and each linebreak adds something to the poem's tone or theme. Be sure to cite quoted evidence in MLA format.

Essay Topic 2

Compare Ezra Pound's poem "In a Station of the Metro" to William Carlos Williams's poem "The Red Wheelbarrow," focusing on the poems' relationships to Imagism and Objectivism. Are both poems clear examples of both literary philosophies? Why or why not? Support your arguments with both quoted and paraphrased evidence drawn from each poem, and be sure to cite your evidence in MLA format.

Essay Topic 3

Read William Carlos Williams's poem "Between Walls." Write an essay that compares and contrasts the way Williams uses enjambment in this poem with the way he uses it in "The Red Wheelbarrow." Use both quoted and paraphrased evidence from both poems to support your claims, and be sure to cite your evidence in MLA format.

(see the answer keys)

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