To an Athlete Dying Young Quizzes

To an Athlete Dying Young "To an Athlete Dying Young"

1 When was A. E. Housman born?
1859

1936

1889

1912
2 Where was Housman born?
Shropshire

Paris

Worcestershire

London
3 Where did Housman attend university?
Housman did not attend university

University College, London

Cambridge

Oxford
4 Which of the following best describes Housman's career as a student?
Consistently poor

Dazzling

Unmotivated but brilliant

Promising but disappointing
5 What did Housman do after graduating?
Earned a Ph.D.

Immediately became a professor

Married his wife

Worked as a clerk
6 What was Housman's priority during his life?
His political activism

His poetry

His academic work

His family
7 What kind of editing did Housman do?
Giving advice to writers

Reconstructing classic texts

Determining which poems should be published

Fact-checking things in newspapers
8 Which of the following is true of the poems in A Shropshire Lad?
Most employ a flowery style

Most are about athletes

Most are autobiographical

Most feature rural narrators
9 How did Housman see poetry?
As an expression of feeling

As a means of depicting beauty

As a way of better understanding the classics

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

Six and seven

One and seven

One and two
12 Who is the speaker in "To an Athlete"?
Housman himself

A complete stranger

A close friend of the runner

A member of the community
13 What is the point of view of "To an Athlete"?
First person plural

Third person distant

Third person close

First person singular
14 Which of the following does not contain the motif of "boundaries"?
And set you at your threshold down

Smart lad, to slip betimes away

The fleet foot on the sill of shade

And hold to the low lintel up
15 What does the speaker want?
For the runner to defend his title

For the runner to come back from the death

For the runner to hold onto life

For the runner to embrace death
16 Which movement does Housman's subject matter most resemble?
Gothic

Romantic

Neoclassical

Modernist
17 Which of the following best describes Housman's diction in "To an Athlete"?
Extensive

Descriptive

Emotive

Minimalist
18 Which of the following is NOT a similarity between "To an Athlete" and ancient Roman poetry?
Depiction of the afterlife

Use of iambic meter

Focus on honor

Stripped-down style
19 What does the laural symbolize?
The eternal glory of fame

The pointlessness of fame

The joy of fame

The ephemerality of fame
20 How does "To an Athlete" describe death?
As a closing off from the world of the living

As a period of eternal punishment

As a continuation of life

As the time when one's good deeds are rewarded
21 Which text does Housman's depiction of the afterlife likely allude to?
The Odyssey

The Bible

The Iliad

The Aeneiad
22 Housman compares the runner to a girl in the last line. What does this most plausibly suggest, given the rest of the poem?
Death is desirable because it brings androgyny

Masculinity is inferior to femininity

Masculinity is tragically short-lived

The runner was in touch with his feminine side
23 What does Housman's return to the laurel in the final stanza suggest about the athlete's fame amongst the dead?
It will be false

It will only come when he is old

It will be short-lived

It will diminish his strength of character
24 To what does Housman most consistently compare death?
A deep sleep

A shady place

An architectural space

A lost race
25 How does Housman depict the loss of fame?
As the runner's fault

As a kind of death

As a kind of freedom

As a minor problem

To an Athlete Dying Young Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for To an Athlete Dying Young is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

Ask Your Own Question

Study Guide for To an Athlete Dying Young

To an Athlete Dying Young study guide contains a biography of A. E. Housman, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

Read the Study Guide for To an Athlete Dying Young…