I Started Early — Took My Dog — Quizzes

I Started Early — Took My Dog — Quiz

1 What is the first image the speaker encounters?

Krakens

Mermaids

Frigates

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

"Extended Hempen Hands –"

"Until We met the Solid Town –"

"But no Man moved Me – till the Tide"

"Went past my simple Shoe –"
3 What kind of ship does the speaker see in the second stanza of the poem?

Submarines

Luxury liners

Rowboats

Frigates
4 What words best describe the emotional shift of the poem?

Happiness to despair

Anger to panic

Anxiety to comfort

Wonder to fear
5 What is the setting of the poem?

The deck of a ship

The beach

A harbor

A coral reef
6 Which of the following things is personified as man in the poem?

The ocean

Seagulls

A whaling ship

Mermaids
7 Who is the poem's protagonist?

The speaker's dog

The frigates

The speaker

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

"The Sea Lady"

"Undine"

"The Little Mermaid"

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

6

12

3

2
10 Which of the following is the Scottish iteration of the mermaid myth?

Sea nymphs

Salamanders

Sirens

Selkies
11 What is the poem's rhyme scheme?

ABBA

None

ABCB

ABAB
12 Who wrote the The Little Mermaid?

H.G. Wells

Herman Melville

Hans Christian Anderson

Emily Dickinson
13 What grabs the speaker?

The hands of a mermaid

The tide of the ocean

The arms of a man

Ropes from a frigate
14 What word best describes the tone of the poem?

Confident

Insecure

Serene

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

A dewdrop on a dandelion sleeve

A grain of a sand in the desert

A needle in a haystack

A bee in a hive
16 What effect does personification NOT have in the poem?

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

Showcases the range of emotions the ocean can elicit

Captures the volatility and danger of the water

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

The speaker seeing the mermaids

The speaker's attempt to escape the water

The speaker feeling like a mouse

The arrival of the speaker's dog
18 The lines "And Frigates – in the Upper Floor / Extended Hempen Hands" contain which of the following?

Irony

Understatment

Onomatopoeia

Personification
19 When was the poem published?

1861

1981

1955

1891
20 Who is the antagonist of the poem?

The mermaids

The hempen hands

The speaker's dog

The masculine ocean
21 What best describes the poem's genre?

Nature poetry

Limerick

Romantic poetry

Light verse
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 shows the creature that has been hiding the waves

It connotes danger and panic
23 How does the poem end?

With the swimming of mermaids

With the speaker's narrow escape

With the departure of a ship

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

Ropes aboard a ship

The hands of sea creature

The pull of the waves

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

Mermaids

Sea serpents

Leviathan

The Loch Ness Monster

I Started Early — Took My Dog — Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for I Started Early — Took My Dog — is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

Ask Your Own Question

Study Guide for I Started Early — Took My Dog —

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.

Read the Study Guide for I Started Early — Took My Dog —…