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When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer

Authored by Jaimee Duncan

English

10th Grade

CCSS covered

Used 388+ times

When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer
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This quiz focuses on Walt Whitman's poem "When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer" and is designed for 10th grade students studying American literature and poetry analysis. The questions assess students' ability to identify literary elements including genre, authorship, literary devices like alliteration and repetition, and their understanding of tone, theme, and poetic structure. Students need strong reading comprehension skills to analyze the speaker's attitude and emotional journey from sitting in a scientific lecture to experiencing nature directly. The quiz requires students to interpret figurative language, understand how rhythm and structure contribute to meaning, and identify the central conflict between scientific explanation and personal experience of the natural world. Students must demonstrate their ability to make inferences about character motivation, recognize literary devices in context, and synthesize textual evidence to determine the poem's overarching theme about the relationship between academic learning and direct experience. Created by Jaimee Duncan, an English teacher in the US who teaches grade 10. This quiz serves as an excellent formative assessment tool to gauge students' comprehension of Whitman's poem and their ability to analyze poetry at the high school level. Teachers can use this as a reading check after students have studied the poem, as a review activity before a larger unit test on American Romanticism, or as guided practice during close reading instruction. The quiz works well for homework assignments to reinforce classroom discussions about Whitman's themes and poetic techniques, and it can function as a warm-up activity to activate prior knowledge before deeper analytical writing tasks. This assessment aligns with Common Core standards CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.1 for citing textual evidence, CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.4 for determining the meaning of words and phrases including figurative language, and CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.2 for determining theme and analyzing its development throughout the text.

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8 questions

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1.

MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTION

2 mins • 1 pt

This writing is

an essay

a speech

a poem

a short story

Tags

CCSS.RL.9-10.9

CCSS.RL.9-10.10

CCSS.RL.8.10

CCSS.RL.8.5

CCSS.RL.11-12.8

2.

MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTION

2 mins • 1 pt

The author is

Walt Whitman

Jane Austen

Jane Goodall

Jimmy Buffett

Tags

CCSS.RL.9-10.9

CCSS.RI.11-12.9

CCSS.RI.9-10.9

CCSS.RI.K.6

CCSS.RL.11-12.9

3.

MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTION

2 mins • 1 pt

The repetition in the beginning of the poem helps the reader sense that the "learn'd astronomer" is

thorough

boring

entertaining

smart

Tags

CCSS.RL.9-10.9

CCSS.RL.9-10.10

CCSS.RL.8.5

CCSS.RL.8.4

CCSS.RL.11-12.11

4.

MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTION

2 mins • 1 pt

When the author says in line 5, "I became tired and sick," the implication is that he...

felt bored and frustrated with the scientific explanation of the stars.

was physically tired and actually sick.

was sick from being so exhausted.

needed fresh air

Tags

CCSS.RL.11-12.2

CCSS.RL.9-10.2

CCSS.RI. 9-10.1

CCSS.RI.11-12.1

CCSS.RI.8.1

5.

MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTION

2 mins • 1 pt

The change in rhythm at the end of the poem helps convey

a sense of wonder at experiencing nature

movement

a change in the audience

a change in the speaker

Tags

CCSS.RL.9-10.9

CCSS.RL.9-10.10

CCSS.RL.8.10

CCSS.RL.8.5

CCSS.RL.8.4

6.

MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTION

2 mins • 1 pt

"Mystical moist," and "silence at the stars," are both examples of

personification

similes

metaphors

alliteration

Tags

CCSS.RL.9-10.9

CCSS.RL.9-10.10

CCSS.RL.8.10

CCSS.RL.11-12.8

CCSS.RL.8.4

7.

MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTION

2 mins • 1 pt

What tone (or attitude) does the author have towards the others who are listening to the "learn'd astronomer, " who is met with "much applause?"

He agrees and approves of all; we know this because he applauds with the audience.

He disagrees and disapproves; we know this because he leaves the lecture.

Tags

CCSS.RL.9-10.9

CCSS.RL.9-10.10

CCSS.RL.8.10

CCSS.RL.8.5

CCSS.RL.11-12.8

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