Adam’s Curse Quizzes

Adam's Curse Quiz

1 Which of the following best describes the poem's tone?

Aloof

Gleeful

Aggressive

Regretful
2 What does "thereupon" mean?

Right after

On top of

Therefore

Supposedly
3 What is the poem's central allusion?

The parables of Jesus

Irish folklore

The Book of Genesis

Paradise Lost
4 How is the addressee's friend characterized?

As sluggish and weary

As clever and critical

As fiery and opinionated

As beautiful and kind
5 What does the word "precedents" mean?

Underlying principles

Prior examples

People in charge of institutions

Comforting narratives
6 What is the poem's stanzaic arrangement?

It consists of two fourteen-line sonnets in a row

It consists of twenty couplets

It consists of a longer, 27-line stanza, a sestet, and a quatrain

It consists of a single forty-line stanza
7 The poem's addressee is probably based on whom?

Maud Gonne

W.B. Yeats

Georgiana Hyde-Lees

Augusta Gregory
8 What is the poem's rhyme scheme?

ABBACDDCEFFE

It does not follow a consistent rhyme scheme

AABBCCDD

ABABCDCD
9 Which of the following appears to be true of the speaker?

The speaker is a poet

The speaker is a mother

The speaker is a banker

The speaker is a soldier
10 What is the poem's meter?

Trochaic pentameter

Iambic pentameter

Iambic hexameter

Dactylic trimeter
11 Which of the following does the speaker want?

To return to prelapsarian paradise

To love the addressee in a lofty, effortful way

To become a banker or schoolteacher

To be recognized as a hardworking poet and lover
12 In which poetry collection did this first appear?

The Tower

In the Seven Woods

The Wanderings of Oisin

The Winding Stair
13 What does the word "pauper" mean?

A person who works in a kitchen

A poor person

A poet

A very old person
14 What does the word "idler" mean?

A member of the clergy

An artist

A sick person

A lazy person
15 When was this poem published?

1921

1903

1900

1914
16 When does the work take place?

A summer evening

Christmas afternoon

Early spring

The middle of the night
17 What does the word "high," as used in this poem, mean?

Intoxicated

Elevated

Physically far from the ground

Wealthy
18 Which of the following, according to the poem, is not taught in schools?

The art of understanding nature

The art of following norms of feminine beauty

The art of writing poetry

The art of reading the Bible
19 The line "I had a thought for no one’s but your ears" contains which device?

Personification

Metonymy

Understatement

Synecdoche
20 What does Yeats compare the fading daylight to?

A dream that has been forgotten

The embers of a fire

Drops of water from a fountain

Coins in a pocket
21 Which character does not speak out loud in this poem?

The addressee

The friend

The speaker

All of the above—the characters sit in silent reflection
22 The speaker compares poetry to which of the following?

Childbearing

Farming

Hunting

Sewing
23 Which of the following is true of the poem?

It switches speakers several times

It expresses skepticism about biblical stories

It is written in the second person

It is a sonnet
24 Which of the following is not described as a casualty or victim of Adam's curse?

Childhood

Physical beauty

Love

Poetry
25 What does the moon symbolize?

The light and redemption found in dark times

The omnipresence of the divine

The eternal beauty of nature

The speaker's cynicism about love

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Study Guide for Adam’s Curse

Adam's Curse study guide contains a biography of William Butler Yeats, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

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