Walt Whitman and Leaves of Grass: Ten Questions

Test the original 1855 Leaves of Grass, Emerson’s letter, Civil War poetry and Whitman’s long revision history.

Choose one answer per question. There’s no timer. You can skip a question; unanswered questions count as incorrect.

QUESTION 01In which year did Walt Whitman first publish Leaves of Grass?

1855177618651892

QUESTION 02How many poems were in the first edition of Leaves of Grass?

FourTwelveFiftyNearly four hundred

QUESTION 03Which writer sent Whitman an influential letter of praise in July 1855?

Edgar Allan PoeMark TwainRalph Waldo EmersonHenry James

QUESTION 04Where was the 1855 first edition of Leaves of Grass published?

Boston, MassachusettsCamden, New JerseyLondon, EnglandBrooklyn, New York

QUESTION 05Which major collection did Whitman revise across much of his adult life?

Leaves of GrassMoby-DickThe Scarlet LetterLittle Women

QUESTION 06What title is associated with Whitman’s late 1891–1892 edition?

First FolioDeathbed editionPenny editionCentennial songbook

QUESTION 07Which Civil War-era Whitman book appeared in 1865?

The Great GatsbyLeaves of WheatDrum-TapsThe Call of the Wild

QUESTION 08Which president is mourned in Whitman’s O Captain! My Captain!?

Thomas JeffersonTheodore RooseveltWoodrow WilsonAbraham Lincoln

QUESTION 09What did Whitman do while spending time near Civil War hospitals in Washington?

Visited and supported wounded soldiersDesigned the Capitol domeCommanded Union artilleryInvented battlefield photography

QUESTION 10Which type of verse is especially associated with the expansive lines in Leaves of Grass?

Strictly rhymed sonnets onlyFree verseAncient Greek hexameter onlyMedieval ballads only

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