Choose ONE set of questions to answer. You will answer each part of each question in a complete sentence with a thorough response. This is for a double grade. This is due at the beginning of the period on Tuesday, January 31st.

“Kubla Khan” Theme of Versions of Reality

Coleridge makes this one easy for us since the subtitle of the poem is "a Vision in a Dream." This poem is meant to make us feel like we are in an alternate reality. We recognize all the objects he describes, but the images he creates move in ways we don't expect. People appear and disappear strangely, just like in a dream or a hallucination. Think of it as a scary Alice in Wonderland.

Questions About Versions of Reality

1.  Which moments in "Kubla Khan" that seem particularly dream-like? Describe and explain.

2.  Coleridge wanted people to know that this was "a vision in a dream." Does knowing that change your view of this poem? Does it make you like it more or less? What if it was just called "Kubla Khan?"

3.  Coleridge also claims his memory of the dream was interrupted. What sense do you have of where it was going? Which things in this poem do you want to know more about? Does this poem feel complete the way it is? Why or why not?

4.  What are we supposed to learn something from this dream? What message is there for us? If you do not find a message, then what do you find? Be specific.

Kubla Khan Theme of Man and the Natural World

The interaction between man and nature is a major theme for Coleridge. It's painted all over "Kubla Khan," as we go from the dome to the river, and then from the gardens to the sea. Sometimes he's focused on human characters, sometimes on natural forces. In fact, it's difficult to get away from this theme in this poem. Think of this tension as a tug-of war between humans and their temporary constructions (buildings) and the seeming permanence of nature.

Questions About Man and the Natural World

1.  Describe a time you have been amazed and/or terrified by nature. What do you find in the descriptions of the River Alph?

2.  Do you have a sense that Coleridge is more drawn to the caverns and the river or to the pleasure dome? Explain your answer.

3.  How do you feel about Kubla Khan as a character? Does he seem like a character in a book? Or like a ghost or an evil spirit? Does he belong to the world of men or to the natural world? Explain.

4.  Why do you think Coleridge created these different natural scenes? Why a river and a fountain and a cave and an ocean? Would just one of these have done the trick? Why or why not?

Kubla Khan Theme of Time

There's some strange stuff going on with time in "Kubla Khan." When exactly does this poem take place? The Kubla Khan who actually lived belongs to the past, but is Coleridge recalling the Kubla Khan of the past, or someone who transcends our linear notion of time? If you are having a vision, are you looking backward or forward? Are you outside time? Whether or not these questions have answers, it's evident that different understandings of time is a major theme of the poem.

Questions About Time

1.  Where in time are we in this vision? Are we in the past with the ancient Mongols? Are we in the present with Coleridge? Are we reading a prophecy of the future? Is it some combination of all of these things? Explain your answer thoroughly.

2.  Do you think all the characters here exist at the same time? Is this poem like a film, where one thing happens one after another, or more like a painting, where everything exists at once? Explain reasons for your answer.

3.  In lines 37-38 the speaker says: "A damsel with a dulcimer/ In a vision once I saw." When was this? Why not make this a part of the same dream? Does this seem interesting or confusing? What do you think it means?

4.  Why do we keep coming back to the caves? Does that make it feel like time is passing, or like it's standing still? Be specific about your answer.

Kubla Khan Theme of Art and Culture

Coleridge helps orient the reader by specifically mentioning music in a few places in "Kubla Khan." Even when he explicitly references music, we think it's underscoring every line. Do you hear music in this poem? We definitely do, and we think he wanted his readers to as well. Whether the sound you hear is monks chanting in a cave, or the swelling of a symphony, we think music is all over this poem in the sounds it makes and in the way it moves.

Questions About Art and Culture

1.  What parts of this poem seem particularly musical? Which ones? Be specific and explain what you find musical and why.

2.  Imagine telling this same story in another form. Could you make a movie of "Kubla Khan?" How about a cartoon? Or a painting? How would changing the medium make it a different experience? Explain thoroughly.

3.  Why does that damsel have a dulcimer in line 37? Does thinking about music make that image any easier to figure out?

4.  What does Coleridge mean when he talks about building a dome with music? (lines 45-46) Is this the sort of thing that could only happen in a poem? Or only in a dream? Explain your reasoning.