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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Where does the narrator claim to stand (l. 90)?
(a) Exeter.
(b) Middle-earth.
(c) Asgard.
(d) Númenor.

2. In the phrase “summer’s guardian announces sorrow” (l. 54), which of the following is present?
(a) Cunning.
(b) Künstlerroman.
(c) Curling.
(d) Kenning.

3. In l. 85, “and lived in most lordly fame,” how many relatively stressed / emphasized syllables are present?
(a) 5.
(b) 4.
(c) 3.
(d) 2.

4. What does the narrator note a man will have from his seafaring (l. 42)?
(a) Sorrow.
(b) Sleep.
(c) Solace.
(d) Surprise.

5. What has the fallen noble host lost (l. 86)?
(a) Happiness.
(b) Tacos.
(c) Sadness.
(d) Hunger.

Short Answer Questions

1. The phrase “roams widely over the whale’s home” (l. 60) offers an example of which of the following?

2. Which of the following will "urge the eager-hearted / spirit to travel" (ll. 48-52)?

3. Per the narrator, what "is the best eulogy" (ll. 72-73)?

4. Line 66, “loaned, on land. I will never believe,” offers an example of which of the following?

5. Whence does the narrator's thought fly out (l. 58)?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the strongest pattern of alliteration in line line 42, "that he never has sorrow over his seafaring," and why?

2. Consider ll. 58-102 as a unit. What is the overall tone of the passage, and how is it conveyed?

3. The narrator comments that “He has no thought of the harp or the taking of rings, / nor the pleasures of woman or joy in the world, / nor anything else but the tumbling waves— / he always has longing who hastens to sea” (ll. 44-47). What tone is conveyed in the comment, and how?

4. Consider ll. 64-66, “because hotter to me / are the joys of the Lord than this dead life, / loaned, on land.” Given the physical and historical context of the poem, as well as its content, why might “the joys of the Lord” be described favorably as “hotter” by the narrator?

5. The narrator comments that “He has no thought of the harp or the taking of rings, / nor the pleasures of woman or joy in the world, / nor anything else but the tumbling waves— / he always has longing who hastens to sea” (ll. 44-47). What rhetorical appeal/s does the narrator make in the comment?

6. The narrator asserts that “And so no man on earth is so proud in spirit, / nor so gifted in grace or so keen in youth, / nor so bold in deeds, nor so beloved of his lord, / that he never has sorrow over his seafaring, / when he sees what the Lord might have in store for him” (ll. 39-43). What tone is conveyed in the assertion, and how?

7. In ll. 55-57, the narrator returns to something of a motif in the poem, stating that “He does not know, / the man blessed with ease, what those endure / who walk most widely in the paths of exile.” What tone is conveyed by the motif? What purpose does it serve as it follows the previous few sentences that speak to longing for the sea?

8. Consider the narrator’s comments that “When life fails [a man], his fleshly cloak will neither / taste the sweet nor touch the sore, / nor move a hand nor think with his mind” (ll. 94-96). What is the “fleshly cloak,” and what wears it? How do you know?

9. Consider the comment that “the lone flier cries out, / incites my heart irresistibly to the whale’s path / over the open sea” (ll. 62-64). What is the lone flier? How do you know?

10. The narrator asserts that “And so no man on earth is so proud in spirit, / nor so gifted in grace or so keen in youth, / nor so bold in deeds, nor so beloved of his lord, / that he never has sorrow over his seafaring, / when he sees what the Lord might have in store for him” (ll. 39-43). What rhetorical appeal/s does the narrator make in the assertion?The narrator asserts that “And so no man on earth is so proud in spirit, / nor so gifted in grace or so keen in youth, / nor so bold in deeds, nor so beloved of his lord, / that he never has sorrow over his seafaring, / when he sees what the Lord might have in store for him” (ll. 39-43). What rhetorical appeal/s does the narrator make in the assertion?

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