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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. To what does the narrator say “the other I am not must not abase itself to you” in Section 5?
(a) “My youth.”
(b) “My intestines.”
(c) “My scalp.”
(d) “My soul.”

2. The narrator claims to wear what as he pleases “indoors or out” in Section 20?
(a) His hat.
(b) His pants.
(c) His pistol.
(d) His boots.

3. Which word from Section 12 means “limber” or “flexible”?
(a) Contralto.
(b) Rigid.
(c) Articulate.
(d) Lithe.

4. What word used in the opening of Section 15 refers to the lowest female voice or voice part, intermediate between soprano and tenor?
(a) Cello.
(b) Contralto.
(c) Pismire.
(d) Tenor.

5. Where does the narrator say the “sharp-hoof’d moose” comes from in Section 14?
(a) The north.
(b) The west.
(c) The east.
(d) The south.

Short Answer Questions

1. In the conclusion of Section 6, the narrator states that “to die is different from what any one supposed, and” what?

2. How old does the narrator of the poem claim to be in Section 1?

3. Section 9 begins with a description of the big doors of what building standing open?

4. How many “young men bathe by the shore,” according to the narrator in Section 11?

5. In the opening of Section 20, the narrator says, “Who goes there? Hankering, gross, mystical” and what?

Short Essay Questions

1. What new journey does the poet embark upon beginning in Section 8 of the poem?

2. What is signified by these lines from Section 1: “I loafe and invite my soul, / I lean and loafe at my ease observing a spear of summer grass”?

3. How does Section 13 begin? What is the focus of this section of the poem?

4. For whom does Whitman describe playing victory marches in Section 18?

5. Whom does the poet invite to eat the meal in Section 19?

6. How have critics and scholars interpreted the following sexually implicit lines in Section 5: “How you settled your head athwart my hips and gently turn'd over upon me”?

7. What motif returns to the narrative in Section 6? How is this motif examined here?

8. What Christian allusion can be seen in the opening of Section 21?

9. How does the poet relate with the “wild gander” in Section 14?

10. What does Walt Whitman praise and celebrate in Section 23 of the poem?

(see the answer keys)

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