The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

how many people were on the ship

201

How long is the Mariner forced to suffer, "all, all alone"?

7 days and 7 nights

Who were the two people shooting crabs?

Death and Life in Death

Who wrote this story?

Samuel Taylor Coleridge

what happened to the mariners ship?

a whirlwind in the water split the ship into two

In Part the Fifth how is the ship manned now that the crew is dead? What spiritual forces are involved?

angels fill the men's body to work the ship; the lonesome spirit is under the boat

Describe the sailors' changing reactions to the albatross.

at first they welcomed the bird, feeding and playing w it for 9 days. after the mariner shoots it, the sailors were mad at him for killing it and hang the dead bird around the mariners neck

a narrative device for presenting a story within another story

frame

What service does the Hermit provide for the Mariner?

he hears his confession and gives him absolution for his sins

What is the Mariner's final doom or sentence? With what strange powers is he endowed?

he must tell his story for the rest of his life. he can recognize people who need to hear his story and can speak any language needed and has a mesmerizing hold over his listener

Why does the Mariner bless the water snakes? What happens as a result?

he realized the beauty in them and then his curse was broken and he was blessed. the albatross fell off his neck and he could pray

After the mariner has dropped the guilty weight of the Albatross, what do the "Two voices in the sir" suggest will happen to the Mariner?

he still has a lot of penance to do

The Mariner is given no particular motivation for shooting the albatross. Why might this be so?

it shows how people just make dumb decisions quick without even thinking about it

The critic Oliver Elton said of this poem, "Coleridge is not...concerned with the prevention of cruelty to albatrosses." What is Coleridge's concern in this poem? What is he communicating about human experience?

life leads everyone from innocence to sin and isolation to a sacrifice for humanity to grace to return to good standing.

What forms of suffering must the Mariner endure as payment for having killed the albatross? How do his shipmates suffer?

mariner- anger from the shipmates, guilt, holding the albatross around his neck, can't pray, can't sleep all- heat, dry throat, baked lips

Who did Death win?

the 200 shipmates

who had a boat and saved the mariner?

the hermit, pilot, and pilots boy

Who did Life in Death win?

the mariner

Explain in your own words how the Mariner starts telling his story to the Wedding Guest.

the mariner grabs the wedding guest with his hand, drops it at the guest requests, but holds him with his glittering eyes. the wedding guest sits like a 3 year old child and listens to the story which the mariner begins with "there was a ship.."

What forces the ship toward the South Pole? What enables it to sail northward again?

the storm; the wind behind the albatross

In Part the Seventh how do the Hermit, Pilot, and the Pilot's boy react to the Mariner and the sight of the ship?

they freak out because they thought he was dead. the pilot has a seizure and the boy starts laughing madly from fear and the hermit was speechless and prays