I Started Early — Took My Dog — Quizzes

I Started Early — Took My Dog — Quiz

1 What is the first image the speaker encounters?

Frigates

Krakens

Whales

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

"Went past my simple Shoe –"

"But no Man moved Me – till the Tide"

"Extended Hempen Hands –"

"Until We met the Solid Town –"
3 What kind of ship does the speaker see in the second stanza of the poem?

Frigates

Submarines

Luxury liners

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

Happiness to despair

Anxiety to comfort

Wonder to fear

Anger to panic
5 What is the setting of the poem?

A coral reef

The deck of a ship

The beach

A harbor
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 mermaids

The speaker

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

"Creature from the Black Lagoon"

"Undine"

"The Sea Lady"

"The Little Mermaid"
9 How many stanzas does the poem have?

3

2

6

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

Salamanders

Sea nymphs

Selkies

Sirens
11 What is the poem's rhyme scheme?

ABAB

ABCB

ABBA

None
12 Who wrote the The Little Mermaid?

H.G. Wells

Emily Dickinson

Herman Melville

Hans Christian Anderson
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?

Insecure

Serene

Uneasy

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

A dewdrop on a dandelion sleeve

A bee in a hive

A grain of a sand in the desert

A needle in a haystack
16 What effect does personification NOT have in the poem?

Captures the volatility and danger of the water

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

Articulates the fears women had about their safety and wellbeing

Showcases the range of emotions the ocean can elicit
17 What is the climax of the poem?

The speaker's attempt to escape the water

The arrival of the speaker's dog

The speaker seeing the mermaids

The speaker feeling like a mouse
18 The lines "And Frigates – in the Upper Floor / Extended Hempen Hands" contain which of the following?

Personification

Onomatopoeia

Irony

Understatment
19 When was the poem published?

1861

1891

1981

1955
20 Who is the antagonist of the poem?

The masculine ocean

The speaker's dog

The hempen hands

The mermaids
21 What best describes the poem's genre?

Nature poetry

Romantic poetry

Limerick

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

It shows the creature that has been hiding the waves

It reveals the speaker as an unreliable narrator

It underscores class

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

With the departure of a ship

With the swimming of mermaids

With the speaker's demise

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

Ropes aboard a ship

Rock on the beach

The hands of sea creature

The pull of the waves
25 What mythological creature does the poem allude to?

Sea serpents

Mermaids

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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