The Yellowhammer’s Nest Quizzes

The Yellowhammer's Nest "The Yellowhammer's Nest"

1 During what century did John Clare write the majority of his poems?

Twentieth

Seventeenth

Eighteenth

Nineteenth
2 What literary movement was John Clare a part of?

Classical

Gothic

Modernist

Romantic
3 Which of the following is Clare's poetry NOT known for?

Simplicity of style

Melancholy tone

Fantasy elements

Attention to detail
4 Who were John Clare's parents?

Poor farmers

Factory workers

Middle-class professionals

Aristocrats
5 "The Yellowhammer's Nest" is a representative of what era of Clare's career?

Mid-career

Late career

Early career

Childhood writings
6 In what collection did Clare publish "The Yellowhammer's Nest"?

His second collection

His final collection

He never published the poem

His first collection
7 What is a yellowhammer?

A brightly colored tool

Slang for any singing bird

Another word for yellowjacket

A type of songbird
8 Which of the following best characterizes the relationship between speaker and reader in "The Yellowhammer's Nest"?

Distant

Tense

Rivalry

Intimate
9 What is the tense at the beginning of the poem?

Present tense

Past tense

Unclear

Future tense
10 What is ecology?

The study of the importance of environmental factors

The study of biological relationships

The classification of biological creatures

The study of biological creatures
11 Which of the following best characterizes Clare's portrayal of natural creatures?

He portrays them as intrinsically better than humans

He instills them with the same emotional depth as humans

He portrays them as pests who steal the harvest

He portrays them as beautiful decorations in the countryside
12 Which of the following is NOT an example of Clare paying unusual attention to detail?

'Tis scarcely deep enough a bee to drown,

Five eggs, pen-scribbled o'er with ink their shells

Its husk seeds tall and high—'tis rudely planned

A happy home of sunshine, flowers and streams.
13 What is ironic about the beginning of the poem?

The yellowhammer flies off to protect itself from the cowboy, which actually allows the snake to destroy its nest

The speaker characterizes the stream as harmless by saying what it could harm

The speaker invites his companion to see the nest, even though his companion only wants to harvest berries

The speaker feels close to the yellowhammer, even though he ends up destroying its nest
14 Which of the following is NOT a central theme of "The Yellowhammer's Nest"?

The importance of little things

The inescapability of death

Nature's capacity as a poet

The importance of friendship
15 How does Clare depict the snake's attack on the nest?

As a tragedy

As just part of the circle of life

As an example of the yellowhammer's weakness

As a victory for the snake
16 What is Castalay?

A spring frequented by nymphs in Greek mythology

Clare's childhood home

A famous forest in Britain

The home of the muses in Greek mythology
17 What does Clare's allusion to Parnassus imply?

The yellowhammer's partner is a fantasy

The yellowhammer's partner is a poor singer

The yellowhammer's partner is the real poet

The yellowhammer's partner is her muse
18 Which of the following best characterizes the relationship between the speaker and the yellowhammer?

The speaker admires the yellowhammer's beauty but scorns her weakness

The speaker sees himself as better than the yellowhammer, even though she is really more wise

The speaker stoops to the yellowhammer's level and sees the world from her perspective

The speaker sees himself and the yellowhammer as having different but complimentary strengths
19 Which line most closely parallels "A happy home of sunshine, flowers and streams"?

Leaving a houseless home, a ruined nest—

And mournful hath the little warblers sung

Most poet-like where brooks and flowery weeds

Yet in the sweetest places cometh ill,
20 Which of the following is NOT true of the snake attack as Clare describes it?

It is a possibility

It has already happened

It is all-consuming

It is a tragedy
21 Thinking about "The Yellowhammer's Nest" as a whole, which of the following best describes its mood?

Bittersweet

Disinterested

Tragic

Cheerful
22 What is the meter of "The Yellowhammer's Nest"?

Iambic tetrameter (each line is made up of four pairs of one unstressed and one stressed syllable)

Trochaic tetrameter (each line is made up of four pairs of one stressed and one unstressed syllable)

Trochaic pentameter (each line is made up of five pairs of one stressed and one unstressed syllable)

Iambic pentameter (each line is made up of five pairs of one unstressed and one stressed syllable)
23 What is the rhyme scheme of "The Yellowhammer's Nest?"

ABAB

No fixed rhyme scheme

ABACBCDD

ABABCDCC
24 Which of the following contains a metaphor?

And like as though the plague became a guest,

And that old molehill like as Parnass' hill

Five eggs, pen-scribbled o'er with ink their shells

When such like woes hath rent its little breast.
25 Which of the following is an example of allusion?

Leaving a houseless home, a ruined nest—

And that old molehill like as Parnass' hill

'Tis scarcely deep enough a bee to drown,

And like as though the plague became a guest,

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