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

Short Answer Questions

1. In lines 2-3, "in his riding/ Of the rolling level underneath him steady air," which word tells what the bird is "riding"?

2. What is the bird the "dauphin" of (line 2)?

3. What type of rhyme is seen in the poem's "B" lines"?

4. Who is being referred to in line 10's "thee"?

5. What type of rhyme is seen in the poem's "A" lines?

Short Essay Questions

1. What makes a creature like the windhover an appropriate symbol for Christ?

2. How do the images in the last three lines support the idea that there is "no wonder" in the kestrel's fight (line 9)?

3. What is a "windhover," and what characteristic of its flight is focused on in this poem?

4. Describe the relationship of the content in the poem's final six lines to the content in lines 1-8.

5. In "The Windhover," who is speaking, and what moves him to speak?

6. What Christian paradox is expressed when the speaker refers to the bird as both a "minion" and a "dauphin" (lines 1-2)?

7. What are the literal and figurative meanings of the poem's references to a "dauphin" and a "chevalier"?

8. Describe the poetic form of "The Windhover."

9. What is the meaning of the simile contained in lines 6 and 7: " As a skate's heel sweeps smooth on a bow-bend: the hurl and gliding/ Rebuffed the big wind"?

10. What is the relationship of the expression "in his riding/ Of the rolling level underneath him steady air" (lines 2-3) to the later reference to "the rein of a wimpling wing" (line 4)?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay that analyzes how Hopkins's ideas about "inscape" and "instress" are reflected in "The Windhover." Define these terms clearly and then make a clear claim about how the poem exemplifies the poet's concern with both ideas. Support your observations with both quoted and paraphrased evidence from "The Windhover." If you consult outside sources, be sure to credit these in MLA format.

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay that explicates the various techniques that "The Windhover" uses to convey motion. Support your observations with both quoted and paraphrased evidence from "The Windhover." If you consult outside sources, be sure to credit these in MLA format.

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay in which you make and defend a claim about the purpose of the repetitions of sound in "The Windhover." Consider how rhyme, alliteration, and assonance are all forms of repeated sound, and that these may aid Hopkins in creating both effects and meanings. Support your observations with both quoted and paraphrased evidence from "The Windhover." If you consult outside sources, be sure to credit these in MLA format.

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