Afternoon With Irish Cows Quizzes

Afternoon With Irish Cows Quiz

1 How many cows are in the poem?
One

A few dozen

About one hundred

It is not specified
2 What color is the speaker's front door?
Blue

Black

Green

Gray
3 Where is the poem set?
New York

Scotland

Ireland

America
4 Which of the following is NOT an action the cows are depicted as doing in the poem?
Eating

Mooing

Resting

Giving milk
5 In which Billy Collins' collection was "Afternoon With Irish Cows" first published in?
The Trouble with Poetry

Picnic, Lightning

Nine Horses

Horoscopes from the Dead
6 What does the speaker use his knife for?
Cutting an apple

Cooking dinner

Killing a wolf who attempts to attack a calf

Cutting the gate latch to allow the cows to escape
7 What separates the speaker from the cows?
A road and a stone wall

An inlet and a mountain

Limestone hills

A bike path and a brick wall
8 What does “laboring” best mean in the context of Line 25?
exerting the power of movement, especially with effort

giving birth

working at an unskilled manual occupation

working on a specific task with a high level of detail
9 “Afternoon with Irish Cows” can most strongly be considered an example of which genre?
Verse epistle

Pastoral poetry

Elegy

Prose poetry
10 Which of the following is NOT a word used to describe the noisy cow?
Wild

Anchored

Shocking

Solemn
11 Collins compares the cows to ____.
Foxes

Wolves

Birds

Grass
12 What is the speaker doing when he is interrupted by the noisy cow?
Cleaning the house and listening to music

Washing the dishes and reading a book

Cutting an apple with a knife and reading the newspaper

Staring out the window and writing poetry
13 What metaphor does Collins use to describe the cows as they are lying down?
Maps

Black-and-white movies

Birds

Knives
14 What does the speaker think when he first hears the cow’s loud noise?
That the cows are leaving the field

That the cow is announcing the "ancient apologia of its kind"

That the cow is in pain, such as being torched or stabbed

That the cows are sick
15 Which of the following is NOT an adjective used to describe the group of cows?
Mysterious

Dumbfounded

Angry

Patient
16 What perspective is the poem in?
Second-person

First-person

Third-person

First-person plural
17 Which of the following is NOT a major theme of the poem?
Perception and observation

Self-expression and identity

The horrors of war

Nature
18 Which is the rhyme structure of the poem?
ABCB ABCB

ABCD ABCD

Free verse

ABDD ACDD
19 How long is each stanza?
4 lines

6 lines

7 lines

5 lines
20 Which of the following contains an example of alliteration?
facing in all directions, waiting for rain (Line 12)

ancient apologia of her kind (Line 31)

they appear in the long quiet of the afternoon (Line 14)

rising, full-bodied cry (Line 26)
21 As used in Line 30, which of the following is the best definition of "unadulterated?"
longstanding; traditional

pure and untainted by any chemicals or defects

a formal defense of one's position

pure, complete, and not changed by any other or additional elements
22 Which of the following best describes the author of the poem?
A former U.S. poet laureate

A British poet

A nineteenth-century Irish Romantic poet

An Irish folk artist and poet
23 Which of the following is an example of personification?
Then I knew that she was only announcing / the large, unadulterated cowness of herself (Lines 29-30)

and again the field would be full of their munching / or they would be lying down (Lines 9-10)

though I would sometimes pass a window / and look out to see the field suddenly empty (Lines 5-6)

to see which one of them was being torched / or pierced through the side with a long spear. (Lines 20-21)
24 What do the cows appear to be waiting for?
To be torched

Rain

The ancient apologia

Food
25 Which of the following is NOT an element of the surroundings as described in the poem?
Fields

Desert

Hills

Bay

Afternoon With Irish Cows Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for Afternoon With Irish Cows is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

Ask Your Own Question

Study Guide for Afternoon With Irish Cows

Afternoon With Irish Cows study guide contains a biography of Billy Collins, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

Read the Study Guide for Afternoon With Irish Cows…

Essays for Afternoon With Irish Cows

Afternoon With Irish Cows essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of Afternoon With Irish Cows by Billy Collins.

“Afternoon with Irish Cows”: When is a Cow More Than Just a Cow?