1 When was A. E. Housman born? 1912 1889 1859 1936 2 Where was Housman born? Worcestershire London Shropshire Paris 3 Where did Housman attend university? University College, London Oxford Cambridge Housman did not attend university 4 Which of the following best describes Housman's career as a student? Dazzling Consistently poor Promising but disappointing Unmotivated but brilliant 5 What did Housman do after graduating? Earned a Ph.D. Immediately became a professor Worked as a clerk Married his wife 6 What was Housman's priority during his life? His academic work His poetry His family His political activism 7 What kind of editing did Housman do? Fact-checking things in newspapers Reconstructing classic texts Determining which poems should be published Giving advice to writers 8 Which of the following is true of the poems in A Shropshire Lad? Most feature rural narrators Most are autobiographical Most are about athletes Most employ a flowery style 9 How did Housman see poetry? As a way of better understanding the classics As an expression of feeling As a means of depicting beauty As an intellectual game 10 What is the overarching tone of Housman's poetry? Frustrated Ironic Erotic Melancholic 11 Which two stanzas of "To an Athlete Dying Young" most closely parallel one another? Five and seven One and seven One and two Six and seven 12 Who is the speaker in "To an Athlete"? A member of the community A complete stranger Housman himself A close friend of the runner 13 What is the point of view of "To an Athlete"? Third person distant Third person close First person plural First person singular 14 Which of the following does not contain the motif of "boundaries"? Smart lad, to slip betimes away And hold to the low lintel up The fleet foot on the sill of shade And set you at your threshold down 15 What does the speaker want? For the runner to embrace death For the runner to hold onto life For the runner to defend his title For the runner to come back from the death 16 Which movement does Housman's subject matter most resemble? Modernist Neoclassical Romantic Gothic 17 Which of the following best describes Housman's diction in "To an Athlete"? Descriptive Extensive Minimalist Emotive 18 Which of the following is NOT a similarity between "To an Athlete" and ancient Roman poetry? Use of iambic meter Focus on honor Depiction of the afterlife Stripped-down style 19 What does the laural symbolize? The pointlessness of fame The ephemerality of fame The joy of fame The eternal glory of fame 20 How does "To an Athlete" describe death? As the time when one's good deeds are rewarded As a period of eternal punishment As a closing off from the world of the living As a continuation of life 21 Which text does Housman's depiction of the afterlife likely allude to? The Odyssey The Bible The Aeneiad The Iliad 22 Housman compares the runner to a girl in the last line. What does this most plausibly suggest, given the rest of the poem? Masculinity is tragically short-lived Masculinity is inferior to femininity The runner was in touch with his feminine side Death is desirable because it brings androgyny 23 What does Housman's return to the laurel in the final stanza suggest about the athlete's fame amongst the dead? It will diminish his strength of character It will be false It will only come when he is old It will be short-lived 24 To what does Housman most consistently compare death? An architectural space A deep sleep A shady place A lost race 25 How does Housman depict the loss of fame? As a kind of freedom As a kind of death As the runner's fault As a minor problem