Name ______Period ______Date ______
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner – Textbook pp. 819-849
1. Like other Romantic writers, Samuel Taylor Coleridge saw literature as a journey ______- deep into the world of the ______. (Poe was of the same mindset)
2. While studying at Cambridge University, he became friends of the poet ______. Together they made plans to establish a utopian settlement in ______.
3. When Coleridge and his wife moved to Somerset, he became friends with the great poet ______. Together they published ______.
4. Throughout his life, he struggled with ______and ______, resorting to stronger and stronger pain killers that dulled his ______.
5. To ensure that the reader of his poem, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, clearly understood the narrative, Coleridge wrote ______which are published beside each verse.
From the Film:
6. Coleridge was one of ______children. He learned to read when he was ______.
7. When he was ______he swam across the Thames River during the winter and became ill. To treat his illness and his pain, he began to take ______.
8. Under an assumed name he joined the ______for six weeks before he returned to school in ______.
9. Coleridge met the poet ______and together they created plans to create a utopian community in ______.
10. The failure of his ______influenced Coleridge to once again take opium.
11. At this time in life he met the poet ______and his sister, Dorothy.
12. The first great landmark of poetry was the joint authoring of ______.
13. On one of the walks taken by Wordsworth and Coleridge, they discussed Coleridge’s idea for writing a poem about an ancient ______.
14. The poem, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, was heavily criticized by Wordsworth, which dispirited Coleridge who never returned to writing poetry. What did he do for a living?
______
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner – Answer from the film and from the textbook.
The rime is a narrative poem that tells the story of a life-changing event that happened at sea. The ancient mariner is so troubled by the event that he wanders the world telling and retelling his story. The poem begins when he corners a guest at a wedding and proceeds to tell him the details.
15. What situation serves as the frame for the story? ______
16. How does the mariner “hold” the guest and force him to listen? (see lines 9-20)
______
17. Where does the ship sail? ______Answer by examining the following lines:
The ice was here, the ice was there,
The ice was all about;
It cracked and growled, and roared and howled,
Like noises in a swound!
18. What literary devices are used in this stanza? ______
19. How did the sailors greet the bird? ______
20. What did the bird do that helped the ship? Refer to these lines: ______And a good South wind sprung up behind;
The Albatross did follow,
And every day for food or play,
Came to the mariner’s hollo.
21. What did the ancient mariner do that caused the sailors to turn against him? ______
22. What reason did he do this? (see lines 75-78) ______
Part II:
23. What happened after the mariner killed the albatross? ______
24. What does “averred” means______
25. Read the following lines and highlight the alliteration:
The fair breeze blew, the white foam flew,
The furrow followed free;
We were the first that ever burst
Into the silent sea
26. Copy the line that has an internal rhyme. ______
27. How do the sailors punish the mariner for killing the bird? ______
Part III: The supernatural element of the story
28. How do the sailors suffer because of the mariner’s actions? (see lines 143-147)
______
29. What did the mariner do to have enough moisture in his mouth to cry out, “A sail! A sail!
______
30. Who (or what) is sailing this ship? ______
31. How many men are on the mariner’s ship? ______What happens to all of them?
______
32. Copy the line at the end of this section that equates the men’s death with that of the albatross.
______
Part IV:
33. The wedding guest interrupts the mariner. What does he say? ______
34. Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds. Highlight the assonance in the following lines:
Alone, alone, all, all alone,
Alone on a wide, wide sea!
And never a saint took pity on
My soul in agony
35. What begins to surround the boat? ______
36. What color does the water become? ______
37. What finally breaks the curse? (copy the line) ______
38. What is the mariner finally able to do AND what became of the albatross? ______
Part V:
39. With the rain comes light. Check the footnote for line 314 and explain the source of this light.
______
40. What begins to happen to the ship AND to the men? ______
41. As the sailors gather round the mast, what passes through them? ______
42. What is remarkable about the ship’s ability to sail? ______
43. After the mariner faints (“fell down in a swound”) what does he hear AND what decision is reached? ______
Part VI:
44. After sailing through the night, where does the ship finally arrive? ______
45. As he approaches the harbor, what lights the way? ______
46. Who is in the boat that comes to great him? ______
47. What does the appearance of the Hermit allow to happen, both literally and figuratively?
______
Part VII:
48. What suddenly happens to the ship? ______
49. What must the mariner do for the rest of his life as penance for killing the albatross? Quote the line: ______( )
50. How does the mariner’s tale affect the wedding guest? Quote the line.
______( )