I Am! (John Clare poem) Quizzes

I Am! (John Clare poem) I Am!

1 When was John Clare born?

The mid nineteenth century

The early nineteenth century

The mid eighteenth century

The late eighteenth century
2 Which of the following is NOT true of Clare's parents?

They were from London

They became estranged from Clare later in life

They were barely literate

They were laborers
3 Who was Clare's first love?

Susan Smith

John Keats

Mary Joyce

Patty Turner
4 What was Clare's first book?

Poems Descriptive of Rural Life and Scenery

The Rural Muse

The Shepherd's Calendar

The Village Minstrel and Other Poems
5 Which of the following best describes Clare's poetic career during his life?

He never published his poetry during his life

His first book was highly successful, but then he faded into obscurity

His first book was a failure, but he gradually earned respect with his subsequent volumes

He published many volumes, but remained largely unknown
6 Where was Clare when he wrote "I Am!"?

Northampton Lunatic Asylum

Helpston

London

High Beech asylum
7 Which of the following is NOT a primary theme of "I Am!"?

The uncertainty of existence

The instability of the individual

The beauty of the countryside

The evils of social isolation
8 What is the rhyme scheme of "I Am!"?

aabbcc

ababab

abcabc

abababab
9 What is the meter of "I Am"?

Free verse (no fixed meter)

Iambic tetrameter (three pairs of one unstressed and then one stressed syllable)

Iambic pentameter (five pairs of one unstressed and then one stressed syllable)

Trochaic pentameter (five pairs of one stressed and then one unstressed syllable)
10 How does Clare define the self in the first stanza of "I Am!"?

As dependent on the perception of other people

As entirely non-existent

As the one thing independent of other people's opinions

As the exclusive attribute of poets
11 Which of the following BEST replaces the word vapours in line 6?

Odors

Specters

Mists

Ghosts
12 Which of the following is NOT an example of simile?

My friends forsake me like a memory lost

And yet I am, and live—like vapours tossed

Like shadows in love’s frenzied stifled throes

Into the living sea of waking dreams
13 What characteristic of the sea is MOST relevant to Clare's use of it as a symbol in stanza 2?

Its capacity to drown him

Its lack of landmarks

Its turbulence

Its vastness
14 Which of the following BEST replaces the word "esteems" in line 10?

Delusions

Worships

Respects

Goals
15 Which of the following BEST replaces the word "strange" in line 12?

Alien

Weird

Distant

Gross
16 What literary device does NOT appear in the second stanza?

Simile

Repetition

Metaphor

Parallelism
17 What does the speaker desire in the third stanza?

Death

Sleep

The apocalypse

A return to childhood
18 What problem does the speaker hope to solve in the third stanza?

The destruction of the countryside

The speaker's feelings of woe

The speaker's failure to achieve his goals

Existence without a sense of self
19 Which line of "I Am!" recalls the themes of Clare's early work?

The grass below—above the vaulted sky.

Like shadows in love’s frenzied stifled throes

But the vast shipwreck of my life’s esteems

I am the self-consumer of my woes
20 Which of the following BEST replaces the word "abide" in line 15?

Grieve

Pray

Play

Live
21 What is the tone of "I Am!"?

Cheerful and hopeful

Resentful and frustrated

Mournful and reflective

Overwhelmed and emotional
22 How does the speaker see grief?

As an inevitable part of life

As a problem

As something that brings him closer to God

As something that makes him stronger
23 Which images in "I Am!' suggest impermanence?

Memory, vapours, the sea

Memory, the grass, vapours

The grass, the sea, vapours

Memory, vapours, dreams
24 How does the third stanza differ from the first two?

The speaker's tone becomes mournful and yearning

The speaker believes his life can improve

The speaker entirely abandons hope

The speaker comes up with a solution to his problem
25 In which line does Clare NOT use syntax to question the role of the individual?

There to abide with my Creator, God

But the vast shipwreck of my life’s esteems

I am—yet what I am none cares or knows

I am the self-consumer of my woes

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Study Guide for I Am! (John Clare poem)

I Am! (John Clare poem) study guide contains a biography of John Clare, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

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