MCQs- WALT WHITMAN

MCQs- LIFE AND WORKS OF WALT WHITMAN

1. When was Walt Whitman born?
A. 1819
B. 1825
C. 1809
D. 1832

2. What is Walt Whitman’s most famous work?
A. Leaves of Grass
B. Song of Myself
C. The Scarlet Letter
D. Moby-Dick

3. Which literary movement is Walt Whitman associated with?
A. Romanticism
B. Realism
C. Transcendentalism
D. Modernism

4. In which year was Leaves of Grass first published?
A. 1845
B. 1855
C. 1865
D. 1875

5. Which famous poem from Leaves of Grass begins with "I celebrate myself, and sing myself"?
A. O Captain! My Captain!
B. Song of the Open Road
C. Song of Myself
D. When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d

6. Whitman worked as a __________ during the American Civil War.
A. Soldier
B. Doctor
C. Nurse
D. General

7. O Captain! My Captain! was written as an elegy for which U.S. president?
A. George Washington
B. Thomas Jefferson
C. Abraham Lincoln
D. Andrew Jackson

8. Which of the following is a major theme in Whitman’s poetry?
A. Nature and democracy
B. War and conquest
C. Religious dogma
D. Social hierarchy

9. Which poetic style is Whitman famous for using?
A. Sonnet form
B. Free verse
C. Haiku
D. Limerick

10. How many editions of Leaves of Grass did Whitman publish?
A. 3
B. 5
C. 7
D. 9

11. Where did Whitman spend the later years of his life?
A. New York
B. Camden, New Jersey
C. Boston
D. Washington, D.C.

12. Which poem did Whitman write after Lincoln’s assassination?
A. The Raven
B. O Captain! My Captain!
C. The Road Not Taken
D. Annabel Lee

13. Which of these poets was heavily influenced by Whitman?
A. Robert Frost
B. Emily Dickinson
C. Allen Ginsberg
D. T.S. Eliot

14. Whitman’s poetry often celebrates ________.
A. The common man
B. Royalty
C. The aristocracy
D. child labour

15. What was the title of Whitman’s poem about his experience with wounded soldiers?
A. The Wound Dresser
B. The Nurse’s Song
C. A Nation Mourns
D. The Battlefield

16. What is the tone of O Captain! My Captain!?
A. Joyful
B. Mournful
C. Angry
D. Indifferent

17. In Song of Myself, the 52 sections are thought to symbolize:

A. The 52 U.S. states at the time
B. The 52 weeks of a year
C. The 52 years of Whitman’s life
D. The 52 poems in the first edition of Leaves of Grass

18. When did Walt Whitman die?
A. 1890
B. 1892
C. 1895
D. 1901

19. Which of these is not a Walt Whitman poem?
A. Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking
B. Song of the Open Road
C. Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening
D. When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d

20. In what year did Walt Whitman publish the final edition of Leaves of Grass?
A. 1872
B. 1881
C. 1891
D. 1895

21. What profession did Whitman’s father have?
A. Farmer
B. Carpenter
C. Blacksmith
D. Merchant

22. In which U.S. state was Walt Whitman born?
A. New York
B. Massachusetts
C. Pennsylvania
D. Virginia

23. Which famous literary figure admired Whitman’s work and wrote him a letter of praise?
A. Ralph Waldo Emerson
B. Henry David Thoreau
C. Mark Twain
D. Edgar Allan Poe

24. How many poems were in the first edition of Leaves of Grass?
A. 10
B. 12
C. 25
D. 30

25. What nickname is often given to Walt Whitman?
A. The Bard of Democracy
B. The Poet of Nature
C. The Father of Free Verse
D. The Voice of the Common Man

26. What job did Whitman hold in Washington, D.C?
A. Lawyer
B. Government Clerk
C. Journalist
D. Soldier

27. Which American poet was heavily influenced by Whitman and wrote the line “I, too, sing America”?
A. Emily Dickinson
B. Robert Frost
C. Langston Hughes
D. Carl Sandburg

28. What is Walt Whitman’s legacy in American literature?
A. He introduced traditional poetry forms
B. He established free verse and American identity in poetry
C. He wrote only about political themes
D. He rejected American culture

29. What does Whitman compare a "spider" to in his poem A Noiseless Patient Spider?
A. A soul searching for connection
B. A hardworking laborer
C. A wise old man
D. A soldier in battle

30. What pen name did Walt Whitman use early in his career as a journalist?
A. Americanus
B. Whit
C. Mose Velsor
D. Henry Salt

31. Whitman’s parents were:

A. Wealthy landowners
B. A carpenter father and Quaker mother 
C. University professors
D. Immigrant farmers

32. How did Whitman view death in his poetry?
A. As the end of existence
B. As a tragic loss
C. As a continuation of life’s cycle
D. As punishment

33. Which war deeply influenced Whitman’s writing?
A. The American Revolution
B. The Civil War
C. The Great Depression
D. The Mexican-American War

34. Whitman was influenced by which religious philosophy?
A. Christianity
B. Hinduism
C. Deism
D. Agnosticism

35. Which of the following is NOT true about these poems by Walt Whitman?
i. When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd
ii. O Captain My Captain
iii. Hush'd Be the Camps To-Day
iv. This Dust Was Once the Man
A. All are elegies
B. Central figure is Abraham Lincoln
C. All are written in 1865
D. They are included in Leaves of Grass

36. Walt Whitman is often called the:

A. Father of Haiku
B. Father of Free Verse 
C. King of Sonnets
D. Pioneer of Blank Verse

 

37. Which movement did Whitman use in his writings?

A. Transcendentalism and Realism 
B. Romanticism only
C. Modernism
D. Gothic Literature

 

38. Who called Whitman "America's poet"?

A. Emily Dickinson
B. Ezra Pound 
C. Mark Twain
D. Ralph Waldo Emerson

 

39. Whitman’s nickname "Good Gray Poet" was given by:

A. His mother
B. Contemporary critic W.D. O’Connor 
C. President Lincoln
D. A newspaper editor

 

40. Whitman’s famous line "Who touches this touches a man" refers to:

A. His journalism
B. Leaves of Grass 
C. His Civil War diaries
D. A letter to Emerson

 

41. Why was Whitman fired from the Department of the Interior in 1865?

A. Political activism
B. Alleged indecency of Leaves of Grass 
C. Poor performance
D. Anti-war views

 

42. Which of the following is not true about his first edition of Leaves of Grass (1855):

A. It was self-published by Walt Whitman.

B.  It omitted his name on the title page, instead used a photo
C. It has 12 poems, 95 pages
D. It was an immediate commercial success.

 

43. Which edition of Leaves of Grass is called the "deathbed edition"?

A. Fifth Edition (1871)
B. Ninth Edition (1892) 
C. Seventh Edition (1881)
D. Second Edition (1856)

 

44. Which poem was inspired by the completion of the Suez Canal?

A. Passage to India
B. Beat! Beat! Drums!
C. Democratic Vistas
D. Franklin Evans

 

45. Whitman’s early temperance novel was titled:

A. The Half-Breed
B. Franklin Evans; or The Inebriate
C. Life and Adventures of Jack Engle
D. Democratic Vistas

46. What was the primary cause of Walt Whitman's death in 1892?

A. Tuberculosis
B. Pneumonia
C. Heart attack
D. Drowning

 

47. In which year did Walt Whitman pass away?

A. 1885
B. 1876
C. 1901
D. 1892

Answers: Walt Whitman
1.  A	2.  A	3. C	4. B	5. C	6. C	7. C	8. A	9.  B	10. D
11. B	12. B	13. C	14. A	15. A	16. B	17. B	18. B	19. C	20. C
21. B	22. A	23. A	24. B	25. A	26. B	27. C	28. B	29. A	30. C
31. B	32. C	33. B	34. C	35. C	36. B	37. A	38. B	39. B	40. B
41. B	42. D	43. B	44. A	45. B	46. B	47. D	48.	49.	50.