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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. Which of the following describes the rhythm of the poem?
2. In line 5, which word is used to describe the rainwater on the wheelbarrow?
3. How many sentences does the poem contain?
4. What similarity is shared by every second line of the poem?
5. According to line 7, where are the chickens located relative to the wheelbarrow?
Short Essay Questions
1. What is the most reasonable interpretation of this poem's setting, and why?
2. What is the surface meaning of this poem?
3. What are the images presented in 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
What is the significance of water in "The Red Wheelbarrow"? Do some research into the traditional meanings of water in literature and consider whether there is evidence in the poem that this is how Williams is using the rainwater. Consider the importance of the word "glazed" and the element of time that the water introduces into the poem. Write an essay that takes and defends a position on the meaning of the rainwater in "The Red Wheelbarrow." Support your argument with evidence drawn from the poem, and be sure to cite any quoted evidence in MLA format.
Essay Topic 2
William Carlos Williams is quoted in Sergio Rizzo's journal article "Remembering Race: Extra-poetical Contexts and the Racial Other in 'The Red Wheelbarrow'" as having explained that "The Red Wheelbarrow":
sprang from affection for an old Negro named Marshall. He had been a fisherman, caught porgies off Gloucester. He used to tell me how he had to work in the cold in freezing weather, standing ankle deep in cracked ice packing down the fish. He said he didn’t feel cold. He never felt cold in his life until just recently. I liked that man, and his son Milton almost as much. In his back yard I saw the red wheelbarrow surrounded by the white chickens. I suppose my affection for the old man somehow got into the writing.
What do you make of this quote? What does Williams seem to admire about Marshall? Why do you think Williams mentioned the man's race? Why does Williams choose these specific objects to represent Marshall in some way? Do you see evidence of affection in "The Red Wheelbarrow"? Write an essay that analyzes what light this quote sheds on Williams's poem. Support your argument with evidence drawn from the poem, and be sure to cite any quoted or outside evidence in MLA format.
Essay Topic 3
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.
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This section contains 697 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) |
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