Elegy For My Father’s Father Quizzes

Elegy For My Father's Father Quiz

1 Which of the following most accurately describes the speaker of the poem?
The grandson of a man who did not express his emotions

James K. Baxter

An old and dying man

A priest at a funeral
2 What is the likeliest reason that the poem's title is addressed to "my Father's Father"?
The speaker does not want the reader to know his grandfather's real name

The speaker hates his grandfather

To show the emotional distance between speaker and grandfather

The speaker does not know his grandfather's name
3 Which of the following is not true of the grandfather in the poem?
He used to perform difficult manual labor and was very strong

He had a close relationship with his wife, but no one else

He did not express his emotions throughout his life

He had a close relationship with nature
4 Which of the following phrases is not used to describe the grandfather in the poem?
"Tall tower broken"

"Old and blind"

"Wicked old man"

"Bitter veins"
5 What does the grandfather recall at the end of his life?
A tennis match that he lost when he was 17

The day he got his dog

His wife's dying words

His early years spent at a house on the waterside
6 Which of the following is a likely symbolic significance for the inclusion of the flower aaronsrod?
There is no possible symbolic significance for this flower

A reference to the American politician Aaron Burr

A reference to the Biblical Aaron's walking stick

A reference to the grandfather's first name, Aaron
7 Which of the following does the speaker not observe at his grandfather's funeral?
A pastor giving a speech

Flowers and a bagpipe

A stone cairn

The grandfather's family members mourning his death
8 What literary device is used in the following phrase: "On his walking shoulder held / Under the lion sun"?
Malapropism

Metaphor

Alliteration

Irony
9 Why does the speaker likely describe his grandfather's mind as a "burning-glass"?
To show its power even as the grandfather grew old

Because it was dangerous and likely to hurt the people around him

Because his grandfather worked as a glass artist

To ironically call attention to his grandfather's foolishness
10 How does the grandfather feel while facing death at the very end of the poem?
Peaceful and unafraid

Happy

Terrified

Angry
11 Which of the following best describes the grandfather as a young man?
A celebrated athlete

An extremely curious individual

Strong and in touch with nature

Physically weak but very smart
12 How does the grandfather occupy his days as an elderly man?
Reading books

Sitting in the kitchen by a fire imagining the natural world

Playing checkers

Going for walks outdoors
13 Which of the following best encapsulates the speaker's feelings regarding his grandfather?
He wishes he had never met his grandfather

He hates his grandather

He loves his grandfather

Mixed feelings: he simultaneously admires and rejects his grandfather
14 Which of the following does the grandfather not recall of his childhood?
Hearing waves crashing all night

Imagining all the people the sea has killed

Leaves falling off of trees

Playing sports in the sun
15 What does the grandfather realize on his deathbed?
That he is afraid to die

That he never expressed his emotions

That his life was a complete waste

That he wished he had written more poetry in his life
16 Why does the speaker say the grandfather had not expressed himself in "eighty years of days"?
There is no reason for this particular choice

Because this is the most exact way to express his grandfather's age

To emphasize the extreme amount of time that the grandfather spent not expressing himself

To downplay the length of his grandfather's life
17 Which of the following literary devices is important to the meaning of the poem?
Oxymoron

Metonymy

Irony

Repetition
18 What is the meaning of "O" in line 4?
A classic poetic expression of an overflowing of intense emotion

It refers to a secret conversation between grandfather and grandson which the reader is not privy to

It is how the speaker expresses fear

It is how the speaker expresses laughter
19 What are "sods" as used in this poem?
A nonsensical term with no literal meaning

A group of pigs

A vulgar British term

Sections of soil held together by the roots of grass
20 What are "boughs" as used in this poem?
Gifts for a good friend

Branches

Fist fights

A pair of dirty shoes
21 An elegy is a poem that typically does what?
Rhymes

Mourns a dead person or reflects on death in general

Tells a story

Confesses love for someone
22 What is the significance of the speaker saying that his grandfather's "heart had never spoken / In song or bridal bed"?
That the grandfather didn't express his emotions in even these intense moments illustrates his utter reticence

The grandfather was a professional singer who never expressed his emotions in his songs

This explains why the grandfather was divorced

All of the above
23 Why is "memorial denied" in the fifth line?
The grandfather was widely hated in his community

The grandfather requested not to have a funeral ceremony

The grandfather failed to form close connections to the people in his life

The grandfather was dishonorably discharged from the military
24 Which of the following is not a stage of the grandfather's life that we are shown in the poem?
The grandfather as an old and blind man

The grandfather as a strong young man who does manual labor

The grandfather as a loving father to his children

The grandfather as a child at his home by the water
25 Which of the following is not a traditional section of an elegy?
Praise

Consolation

Rage

Lament

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