Climbing My Grandfather Quizzes

Climbing My Grandfather Quiz

1 What is the name of the poet who wrote "Climbing My Grandfather"?

Colin Tudge

Owen Sheers

Simon Armitage

Andrew Waterhouse
2 What collection was this poem originally published in? What year?

2nd (2001)

2nd (2000)

In (2001)

In (2000)
3 What prize did the collection win?

James Laughlin Award

Pulitzer Prize

Forward Prize for Best First Collection

Nobel Prize
4 What kind of work did the poet do professionally for most of his career?

Environmental field worker and researcher

Manager at a gas and oil company

Poetry professor

Environmental lecturer at a college
5 What is the poem's meter?

Iambic tetrameter

Blank verse

Iambic pentameter

Free verse
6 What kind of climbing does the speaker decide to do?

Free soloing

Aid climbing

Bouldering

Free climbing
7 What are brogues?

A new pair of pants.

A type of shoe originally designed to be worn outdoors by farmers.

A type of pants designed for any weather.

A fancy type of shoe worn at cocktail parties.
8 What is suggested by the description of the grandfather's shoes as "dusty and cracked"?

The grandfather wears and uses things until they completely fall apart.

The grandfather kicks his grandson.

The grandfather should not wear shoes.

The grandfather waits for his wife to clean the shoes.
9 Which of the following devices is not used in the poem?

Assonance

Enjambment

Rhyme

Metaphors
10 What does it mean to traverse?

Move upward diagonally

Descend

Move sideways

Summit
11 What is suggested by the grandfather's earth-stained hand?

The grandfather hates the environment where he lives.

The grandfather works outdoors in the natural world.

The grandfather is sloppy and expects his wife to clean him.

The grandfather wants to move to the city.
12 Which is an example of an oxymoron?

Gasping for breath

Warm ice

Smiling mouth

Brown eye
13 What might the grandfather's scar represent?

All of the hurt and wounds he has sustained in his lifetime

His ability to defend himself

His time in prison

His status as a veteran of World War I
14 Why does the speaker not look down while resting at his grandfather's shoulder?

Because he will jump

Because he hates looking back in time

Because he wants to go back to being a child again

Because climbing has its dangers
15 Which details make evident that the grandfather's body has not broken down with age, at least in the speaker's reckoning in this poem?

The old stitches of his scar and his earth-stained hand

The clouds and birds circling above and the speaker's tiredness

His "still firm shoulder," the teeth in his smiling mouth, and his thick hair

His splintered nails and his smiling mouth
16 What is suggested by the fact that the speaker "gently" places his feet in the old stitches of his grandfather's scar?

He doesn't care about his grandfather's past

He treats his grandfather with care, respect, and reverence

He wants to hurt his grandfather

He wants to quickly finish the climb
17 How many stanzas are in this poem?

Five

Two

One

Three
18 Which of the following is not a symbol in the poem?

The brogues

The scar

Brown pants

Climbing
19 What does climbing symbolize?

Moving upwards in life

Failure

The tenacity of the human body and spirit

Descent into madness
20 Does the terrain of the grandfather represent the whole world in the poem?

No—the speaker looks down and sees other climbers below in the grass

Yes

No—there are birds and clouds circling above

No—the speaker jumps off while at his grandfather's shoulder and goes paragliding
21 Which of the following is an example of assonance?

the slow pulse of his good heart.

the forehead, the wrinkles well-spaced

I cross the screed cheek,

to an earth-stained hand. The nails
22 What is assonance?

An object in, or the subject of, a poem is described as being the same as another otherwise unrelated object

The use of words with the same beginning sound

The repetition of syllables, typically at the end of a verse line

The repetition of vowel sounds in words that are close together in a sentence or verse
23 What does "knowing" suggest at the end of the poem?

The speaker's ardent intellectualism

The speaker's faith in God

The grandfather's wisdom

A deep communal relationship between the speaker and his grandfather
24 In which quote does the speaker explicitly refer to his grandfather's character?

his thick hair (soft and white at this altitude)

the slow pulse of his good heart.

to a smiling mouth to drink among teeth.

the skin of his finger is smooth and thick like warm ice
25 Is there a distance created between the speaker and his grandfather (and thus the environment)?

No—the speaker explicitly states throughout the poem how much he loves his grandfather

Yes—it is an abusive relationship, which mirrors the way rocks can be unforgiving

No—the speaker interacts with and discovers more about his grandfather as he climbs

Yes—the speaker only gazes upon the landscape of his grandfather from a distance

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