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?
James K. Baxter

A priest at a funeral

The grandson of a man who did not express his emotions

An old and dying man
2 What is the likeliest reason that the poem's title is addressed to "my Father's Father"?
The speaker does not know his grandfather's name

The speaker hates his grandfather

To show the emotional distance between speaker and grandfather

The speaker does not want the reader to know his grandfather's real 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 did not express his emotions throughout his life

He had a close relationship with nature

He had a close relationship with his wife, but no one else
4 Which of the following phrases is not used to describe the grandfather in the poem?
"Wicked old man"

"Old and blind"

"Bitter veins"

"Tall tower broken"
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?
A reference to the American politician Aaron Burr

A reference to the grandfather's first name, Aaron

A reference to the Biblical Aaron's walking stick

There is no possible symbolic significance for this flower
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"?
Metaphor

Irony

Malapropism

Alliteration
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

To ironically call attention to his grandfather's foolishness

Because his grandfather worked as a glass artist

Because it was dangerous and likely to hurt the people around him
10 How does the grandfather feel while facing death at the very end of the poem?
Terrified

Angry

Peaceful and unafraid

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

Physically weak but very smart

Strong and in touch with nature

An extremely curious individual
12 How does the grandfather occupy his days as an elderly man?
Sitting in the kitchen by a fire imagining the natural world

Playing checkers

Reading books

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 loves his grandfather

He hates his grandather

Mixed feelings: he simultaneously admires and rejects his grandfather
14 Which of the following does the grandfather not recall of his childhood?
Playing sports in the sun

Leaves falling off of trees

Imagining all the people the sea has killed

Hearing waves crashing all night
15 What does the grandfather realize on his deathbed?
That he wished he had written more poetry in his life

That he is afraid to die

That his life was a complete waste

That he never expressed his emotions
16 Why does the speaker say the grandfather had not expressed himself in "eighty years of days"?
To downplay the length of his grandfather's life

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
17 Which of the following literary devices is important to the meaning of the poem?
Metonymy

Irony

Oxymoron

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

It is how the speaker expresses laughter

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

It is how the speaker expresses fear
19 What are "sods" as used in this poem?
A vulgar British term

A nonsensical term with no literal meaning

A group of pigs

Sections of soil held together by the roots of grass
20 What are "boughs" as used in this poem?
Fist fights

A pair of dirty shoes

Gifts for a good friend

Branches
21 An elegy is a poem that typically does what?
Tells a story

Rhymes

Mourns a dead person or reflects on death in general

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

That the grandfather didn't express his emotions in even these intense moments illustrates his utter reticence

This explains why the grandfather was divorced

All of the above
23 Why is "memorial denied" in the fifth line?
The grandfather was dishonorably discharged from the military

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 widely hated in his community
24 Which of the following is not a stage of the grandfather's life that we are shown in the poem?
The grandfather as a loving father to his children

The grandfather as an old and blind man

The grandfather as a strong young man who does manual labor

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

Rage

Praise

Lament

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Elegy For My Father's Father study guide contains a biography of James K. Baxter, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

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