View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What did Whitman used to pull up from the water when he lived in his hometown during the summer months?

2. Whitman proposes that grass is the ___________ of the Lord, when he contemplates it as a child.

3. What rose before Whitman when he was pondering his poetry in silence in this book?

4. Whitman hears that some people believe that he is trying to destroy ____________, which confuses him.

5. Whitman points out that it is not on the reader that they alone have ___________ which fall on them

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Whitman reveal about a lover who spoke of acceptance within one of his poems?

2. What does Whitman have to say about the pain of loving a man or a woman in great excess?

3. What is the main reason why Whitman says that he enjoys Manhattan so much during his travels there?

4. Who are some of the groups for which Whitman seems to have a particular affection in his poems?

5. What is the city which Whitman admires, though not for the pageantry and the wealth that exists in this city?

6. What does Whitman think about seeing the world through someone else's eyes, even if it is through the eyes of a poet?

7. What are some of the poet's feelings about the idea of mortality, according to the poems he writes?

8. Where was Whitman born, and how does that place affect him?

9. What does the author feel about the idea of being present in the here and in the now?

10. What is one of the main criticisms of Whitman's poetry, as these graphic images come up in the poems quite frequently?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The body is something which Whitman seems to worship as a part of his experience as being human.

Part 1: Why do you think Whitman is so fascinated with the human body?

Part 2: What are your feelings about the human body and whether it should be celebrated?

Part 3: Do you think that the human body is something which could be described as divine?

Essay Topic 2

Whitman seems to have a very strong sense of patriotism and allegiance to the United States.

Part 1: Did you find it surprising that Whitman was so patriotic? Why or why not?

Part 2: Do you think it's important to have a strong sense of patriotism as a creative person?

Part 3: Why do you think Whitman felt so strongly about the United States that he had to include poems about patriotism?

Essay Topic 3

While Whitman also addresses a number of metaphysical issues, he also talks about God and Jesus.

Part 1: Do you think that metaphysical and Christian ideas can coexist?

Part 2: How do you think Whitman feels about the idea of religion in general?

Part 3: How do you you feel about faith, spirituality, and religion? Are they all connected in some way? Do they have to be?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 729 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample