ross and the blessing of the water
snakes are the most important events of all.

How does the author impress us with the importance of the Mariner's
crime?

Which events in the story are caused by the Mariner? which by the
supernatural beings?

Show how the author makes improbable events, like the coming of the
spectre-bark, seem probable.

CHARACTERS.--Show why the Mariner is the only important human character.

In what respect are the supernatural characters important?

How are they like mortals? how unlike?

Describe the Mariner's appearance. Trace carefully the changes in the
development of his character.

What do we know of his companions? Why were they punished?

INTERPRETATION.--What idea or truth does the author bring out in the
poem?

Show how the Mariner in his development illustrates it.

METHOD OF NARRATION.--Who begins the narrative? Who else soon takes it
up? What part does each tell? Does the Mariner tell anything beyond what
he himself saw or heard?

Compare this narrative with some other with respect to the rapidity with
which the story moves.

Note some places where the movement is most rapid, and try to discover
how the poet makes it so.

FORM.--Why do you suppose this poem is divided into seven parts?

Do the stanzas correspond to thought divisions as they do in _The Lady
of the Lake_?

What is a ballad? Select three stanzas in different parts of the poem
and mark the scansion. Compare these to see whether they are alike, and,
if not, what variations there are.

Compare this poem with some other ballad, for example, "Alice Brand"
(_The Lady of the Lake_, Canto IV), to find what is the normal ballad
stanza.

STYLE.--Did Coleridge use language of a time other than his own? Select
several words that he would not have used in writing a letter. Do they
seem appropriate here? Why? Are the sentences simple or involved?

Are the words common or unusual? Are the most effective words concrete
or abstract? figurative or literal? Find examples of alliteration, of
onomatopoeia, of all the figures of speech that you can find here.

Do the figures of speech make the idea clearer? more beautiful? more
impressive? Make a list of five or six of the most effective scenes and
decide whether they are effective because of their beauty, their pathos,
their horror, or for some other reason.

THE LIFE AND CHARACTER OF THE AUTHOR.--What do we know of Coleridge's
childhood? his school days? his coll