1 When was A. E. Housman born? 1936 1889 1912 1859 2 Where was Housman born? Shropshire London Worcestershire Paris 3 Where did Housman attend university? Cambridge Housman did not attend university Oxford University College, London 4 Which of the following best describes Housman's career as a student? Unmotivated but brilliant Promising but disappointing Dazzling Consistently poor 5 What did Housman do after graduating? Immediately became a professor Married his wife Worked as a clerk Earned a Ph.D. 6 What was Housman's priority during his life? His family His political activism His academic work His poetry 7 What kind of editing did Housman do? Determining which poems should be published Giving advice to writers Fact-checking things in newspapers Reconstructing classic texts 8 Which of the following is true of the poems in A Shropshire Lad? Most are autobiographical Most feature rural narrators Most employ a flowery style Most are about athletes 9 How did Housman see poetry? As an expression of feeling As an intellectual game As a means of depicting beauty As a way of better understanding the classics 10 What is the overarching tone of Housman's poetry? Frustrated Ironic Erotic Melancholic 11 Which two stanzas of "To an Athlete Dying Young" most closely parallel one another? Six and seven One and two One and seven Five and seven 12 Who is the speaker in "To an Athlete"? Housman himself A close friend of the runner A member of the community A complete stranger 13 What is the point of view of "To an Athlete"? Third person close First person plural First person singular Third person distant 14 Which of the following does not contain the motif of "boundaries"? And set you at your threshold down And hold to the low lintel up Smart lad, to slip betimes away The fleet foot on the sill of shade 15 What does the speaker want? For the runner to hold onto life For the runner to defend his title For the runner to embrace death For the runner to come back from the death 16 Which movement does Housman's subject matter most resemble? Modernist Gothic Romantic Neoclassical 17 Which of the following best describes Housman's diction in "To an Athlete"? Descriptive Extensive Minimalist Emotive 18 Which of the following is NOT a similarity between "To an Athlete" and ancient Roman poetry? Depiction of the afterlife Stripped-down style Use of iambic meter Focus on honor 19 What does the laural symbolize? The joy of fame The pointlessness of fame The eternal glory of fame The ephemerality of fame 20 How does "To an Athlete" describe death? As a continuation of life As a period of eternal punishment As a closing off from the world of the living As the time when one's good deeds are rewarded 21 Which text does Housman's depiction of the afterlife likely allude to? The Odyssey The Bible The Iliad The Aeneiad 22 Housman compares the runner to a girl in the last line. What does this most plausibly suggest, given the rest of the poem? Death is desirable because it brings androgyny The runner was in touch with his feminine side Masculinity is tragically short-lived Masculinity is inferior to femininity 23 What does Housman's return to the laurel in the final stanza suggest about the athlete's fame amongst the dead? It will diminish his strength of character It will be short-lived It will be false It will only come when he is old 24 To what does Housman most consistently compare death? An architectural space A shady place A deep sleep A lost race 25 How does Housman depict the loss of fame? As a kind of death As a minor problem As a kind of freedom As the runner's fault