A very high molecular weight, narrow molecular weight distribution polystyrene, having a molecular weight of 8.42×106, was investigated using a sliding plate rheometer. The solvent was diethyl phthalate. The solution exhibited wall slip during steady shear, even at very low shear rates and exhibited a marked normal‐stress‐driven secondary flow at high shear rates. However, there was no evidence of slip during the oscillatory shear tests. Using fast Fourier transform analysis, the results of the oscillatory shear tests on this solution are presented in terms of response surfaces in a space based on a Pipkin diagram (strain‐rate amplitude versus frequency). These reveal the linear and nonlinear regimes and the approach to a purely elastic regime at high frequencies. Wagner’s constitutive equation predicts the major trends in the experimental data but does not provide quantitative predictions over the entire range of experimental parameters.