23 pages 46 minutes read

Walt Whitman

I Sit and Look Out

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1860

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Literary Device Questions

1. In the last line, the speaker states that he is “silent” (19), yet the act of stating his observations in the poem suggests otherwise. This contradiction is an example of what literary device? (short answer)

2. What sentence structure does Whitman repeat at the beginning of almost every sentence?

A) I + a verb

B) I + a noun

C) I + adjective + verb

D) I + adjective + noun

3. Which pattern appears in the speaker’s descriptions of the people and groups that he sees?

A) specific, general

B) general, specific

C) general, specific, general, specific

D) specific, general, specific, general

4. The phrase “deeds done” (4) is an example of which literary device?  

A) consonance

B) assonance

C) alliteration

D) inversion