I Started Early — Took My Dog — Quizzes

I Started Early — Took My Dog — Quiz

1 What is the first image the speaker encounters?

Frigates

Whales

Krakens

Mermaids
2 Which of the following lines does NOT contain alliteration?

"Went past my simple Shoe –"

"But no Man moved Me – till the Tide"

"Until We met the Solid Town –"

"Extended Hempen Hands –"
3 What kind of ship does the speaker see in the second stanza of the poem?

Submarines

Rowboats

Frigates

Luxury liners
4 What words best describe the emotional shift of the poem?

Anger to panic

Happiness to despair

Wonder to fear

Anxiety to comfort
5 What is the setting of the poem?

The deck of a ship

A coral reef

A harbor

The beach
6 Which of the following things is personified as man in the poem?

Seagulls

Mermaids

A whaling ship

The ocean
7 Who is the poem's protagonist?

The speaker

The speaker's dog

The mermaids

The frigates
8 What is the most famous story about mermaids?

"Undine"

"The Little Mermaid"

"The Sea Lady"

"Creature from the Black Lagoon"
9 How many stanzas does the poem have?

2

6

3

12
10 Which of the following is the Scottish iteration of the mermaid myth?

Sirens

Sea nymphs

Selkies

Salamanders
11 What is the poem's rhyme scheme?

ABBA

ABAB

ABCB

None
12 Who wrote the The Little Mermaid?

Herman Melville

H.G. Wells

Hans Christian Anderson

Emily Dickinson
13 What grabs the speaker?

Ropes from a frigate

The arms of a man

The hands of a mermaid

The tide of the ocean
14 What word best describes the tone of the poem?

Serene

Uneasy

Confident

Insecure
15 To what does the speaker compare being devoured by the ocean?

A needle in a haystack

A grain of a sand in the desert

A bee in a hive

A dewdrop on a dandelion sleeve
16 What effect does personification NOT have in the poem?

Describes the way the light bounces off of the surface of a wave

Captures the volatility and danger of the water

Showcases the range of emotions the ocean can elicit

Articulates the fears women had about their safety and wellbeing
17 What is the climax of the poem?

The speaker feeling like a mouse

The speaker's attempt to escape the water

The arrival of the speaker's dog

The speaker seeing the mermaids
18 The lines "And Frigates – in the Upper Floor / Extended Hempen Hands" contain which of the following?

Understatment

Irony

Onomatopoeia

Personification
19 When was the poem published?

1891

1861

1981

1955
20 Who is the antagonist of the poem?

The mermaids

The speaker's dog

The masculine ocean

The hempen hands
21 What best describes the poem's genre?

Nature poetry

Romantic poetry

Light verse

Limerick
22 How does the line "I felt his Silver Heel" function in the poem's fourth stanza?

It underscores class

It reveals the speaker as an unreliable narrator

It connotes danger and panic

It shows the creature that has been hiding the waves
23 How does the poem end?

With the speaker's narrow escape

With the departure of a ship

With the swimming of mermaids

With the speaker's demise
24 What does Dickinson refer to with the phrase "hempen hands"?

The pull of the waves

Ropes aboard a ship

The hands of sea creature

Rock on the beach
25 What mythological creature does the poem allude to?

Mermaids

Sea serpents

Leviathan

The Loch Ness Monster

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I Started Early — Took My Dog — study guide contains a biography of Emily Dickinson, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

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