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MA English Literature Whitman — practice questions

Explore 18 free Whitman questions in MA English Literature English Literature. Open each question or exercise to read its content, reference answers and available explanation.

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Whitman questions and exercises with answers

Showing questions 1–18 of 18.

'Song of Myself' opens with which line?Read the answer and worked solution →Whitman's symbol of democratic equality across America is:Read the answer and worked solution →Whitman declares his being 'Divine am I':Read the answer and worked solution →Whitman characterises 'The Form complete' as:Read the answer and worked solution →Whitman's democratic vision embraces being 'of old and young, of the foolish':Read the answer and worked solution →Whitman's metrical innovation in Leaves of Grass is:Read the answer and worked solution →Leaves of Grass redefined American poetry chiefly by validating:Read the answer and worked solution →In 'Song of Myself,' the child's question 'What is the grass?' prompts a reply emphasising:Read the answer and worked solution →'I celebrate myself, and sing myself' establishes a focus on:Read the answer and worked solution →Whitman's long sentences without traditional meter ALLOW thought to:Read the answer and worked solution →Whitman's poetic vision treats 'the body' as:Read the answer and worked solution →Whitman's all-embracing 'I' speaks 'of':Read the answer and worked solution →Whitman's formal commitment 'to boundless individual expression' is mirrored thematically in his commitment to:Read the answer and worked solution →'I celebrate myself, and sing myself' opens which work?Read the answer and worked solution →Whitman wrote in:Read the answer and worked solution →Whitman's grass symbolises:Read the answer and worked solution →Whitman calls 'The Form complete':Read the answer and worked solution →Whitman declares 'Divine am I':Read the answer and worked solution →

Worked practice questions

'Song of Myself' opens with which line?

  1. Whose woods these are I think I know
  2. I wandered lonely as a cloud
  3. I celebrate myself, and sing myself
  4. Two roads diverged in a yellow wood
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Correct answer: C. I celebrate myself, and sing myself

1. The opening line is among the most famous in American poetry. 2. The verb pair 'celebrate'/'sing' announces the self-reflexive method. 3. It establishes individual consciousness as the poem's centre. _Source: Project Gutenberg #1322 — Whitman's Leaves of Grass — "I celebrate myself, and sing myself"_

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Whitman's symbol of democratic equality across America is:

  1. Stars
  2. Eagles
  3. Rivers
  4. Grass
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Correct answer: D. Grass

1. The 'What is the grass?' question is central to Song of Myself. 2. The grass sprouts 'alike in broad zones and narrow zones.' 3. It grows 'among black folks as among white,' figuring egalitarian shared earth. _Source: Project Gutenberg #1322 — Whitman's Leaves of Grass — "Sprouting alike in broad zones and narrow zones, / Growing among black folks as among white"_

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Whitman declares his being 'Divine am I':

  1. Above and below
  2. Inside and out
  3. Front and back
  4. Now and forever
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Correct answer: B. Inside and out

1. The phrase comes from Whitman's celebration of embodied existence. 2. It treats the body as a site of sacred meaning, not opposed to soul. 3. The line is part of the radical theology of Leaves of Grass. _Source: Project Gutenberg #1322 — Whitman's Leaves of Grass — "Divine am I inside and out"_

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