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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. According to line 7, where are the chickens located relative to the wheelbarrow?

2. In line 5, which word is used to describe the rainwater on the wheelbarrow?

3. Who is the author of "The Red Wheelbarrow"?

4. What adjective is used to describe the chickens?

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

Short Essay Questions

1. What are the images presented in this poem?

2. Describe the diction of this poem.

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

4. What is the surface meaning of this poem?

5. Describe the poem's form.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

William Carlos Williams once said that a poem is a "machine made of words." Do some research into what he meant by this and then explain how this philosophy is clear in his construction of "The Red Wheelbarrow." Explain Williams' meaning and then use the structure of this poem and the effect this structure has on the reader as evidence for the poem as a "machine made of words." Be sure that you cite any evidence drawn from outside sources in MLA format.

Essay Topic 2

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.

Essay Topic 3

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.

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