In the Waiting Room Quizzes

In the Waiting Room Quiz

By Eleanor Stern · Edited by James Cooper · Last reviewed August 02, 2023

1 What is a pith helmet associated with?

Hockey

Outdoor adventuring and safaris

Horseback riding

Concussion recovery
2 What is the poem's rhyme scheme?

It does not have a rhyme scheme

ABBA CDDC

ABABCDCD

ABACDCEFE
3 Who is the poem's speaker?

A dentist

Martin Johnson

A young girl

An old man
4 Which image does the speaker NOT encounter in the magazine?

Naked women

A volcano

A dead man

A lion chasing its prey
5 What are arctics, in the poem's context?

People from the arctic circle

A type of winter shoe

A type of cold-weather bird

Explorers of the North Pole
6 Fill in the blank : "But I felt: you are an ____"

I

Individual

Infant

Orphan
7 Fill in the blank: "How--I didn't know any word for it--how____"

Grand

Unlikely

Ridiculous

Obnoxious
8 In which year does this poem take place?

1976

1918

1848

2004
9 Which of the following prompts the speaker to feel panicked?

The lamps turning on

Her aunt's cry of pain

The snowfall outside

The picture of the volcano
10 How many stanzas are in this poem?

5

3

4

7
11 Which image metaphorically describes the speaker's fear and panic?

Lightning and thunder

Black waves

Rushing wind

A hole opening in the ground
12 What does the word "timid" most closely mean?

Insistent

Fearful

Undecided

Delicious
13 Which of the following phrases contains assonance prominently?

"dressed in riding breeches,"

"trousers and skirts and boots"

"black, and full of ashes;"

"The War was on. Outside,"
14 Which magazine does the speaker read?

Life

The New Yorker

National Geographic

Time
15 Which of the following is a major theme of the poem?

Technology

Individual identity

Friendship

Class inequality
16 What types of stanzas are in this poem?

Sestets

There is no standard stanza length

Quintets

Quatrains
17 How old is the speaker?

Fourteen

Seventy-eight

Almost seven

Middle aged
18 What does the word "rivulet" mean?

Hair ribbon

Stream

Toothbrush

Reverie
19 What were Osa and Martin Johnson known for?

Sailing around the world

Exploring and photography

Field linguistics

Writing novels
20 Fill in the blank: "I read it right straight through. / I was too ____ to stop."

Shy

Tired

Entranced

Polite
21 In which city does the poem take place?

Montreal, Canada

San Francisco, California

Worcester, Massachusetts

Manchester, England
22 Who is the speaker with?

Her aunt

Her mother

Her twin

Her imaginary friend
23 What sound produces alliteration in the phrase "while I waited I read"?

T

E

R

W
24 Which war is Bishop most likely referencing at the end of the poem?

The U.S. Civil War

World War 2

The Spanish-American War

World War 1
25 Where is the speaker?

God's waiting room

A dentist's waiting room

A therapist's waiting room

A doctor's waiting room

Essays for In the Waiting Room

In the Waiting Room essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of In the Waiting Room by Elizabeth Bishop.

Waiting for Adulthood: Aging in “In the Waiting Room” and “At the Fishhouses”