Climbing My Grandfather Quizzes

Climbing My Grandfather Quiz

1 What is the name of the poet who wrote "Climbing My Grandfather"?
Owen Sheers

Colin Tudge

Andrew Waterhouse

Simon Armitage
2 What collection was this poem originally published in? What year?
In (2000)

2nd (2001)

In (2001)

2nd (2000)
3 What prize did the collection win?
Pulitzer Prize

James Laughlin Award

Forward Prize for Best First Collection

Nobel Prize
4 What kind of work did the poet do professionally for most of his career?
Environmental lecturer at a college

Environmental field worker and researcher

Manager at a gas and oil company

Poetry professor
5 What is the poem's meter?
Iambic tetrameter

Blank verse

Iambic pentameter

Free verse
6 What kind of climbing does the speaker decide to do?
Free soloing

Bouldering

Free climbing

Aid climbing
7 What are brogues?
A type of pants designed for any weather.

A new pair of pants.

A fancy type of shoe worn at cocktail parties.

A type of shoe originally designed to be worn outdoors by farmers.
8 What is suggested by the description of the grandfather's shoes as "dusty and cracked"?
The grandfather waits for his wife to clean the shoes.

The grandfather should not wear shoes.

The grandfather kicks his grandson.

The grandfather wears and uses things until they completely fall apart.
9 Which of the following devices is not used in the poem?
Assonance

Metaphors

Rhyme

Enjambment
10 What does it mean to traverse?
Move sideways

Summit

Move upward diagonally

Descend
11 What is suggested by the grandfather's earth-stained hand?
The grandfather wants to move to the city.

The grandfather is sloppy and expects his wife to clean him.

The grandfather works outdoors in the natural world.

The grandfather hates the environment where he lives.
12 Which is an example of an oxymoron?
Gasping for breath

Smiling mouth

Brown eye

Warm ice
13 What might the grandfather's scar represent?
His status as a veteran of World War I

His ability to defend himself

His time in prison

All of the hurt and wounds he has sustained in his lifetime
14 Why does the speaker not look down while resting at his grandfather's shoulder?
Because he wants to go back to being a child again

Because climbing has its dangers

Because he will jump

Because he hates looking back in time
15 Which details make evident that the grandfather's body has not broken down with age, at least in the speaker's reckoning in this poem?
The clouds and birds circling above and the speaker's tiredness

His "still firm shoulder," the teeth in his smiling mouth, and his thick hair

His splintered nails and his smiling mouth

The old stitches of his scar and his earth-stained hand
16 What is suggested by the fact that the speaker "gently" places his feet in the old stitches of his grandfather's scar?
He wants to quickly finish the climb

He doesn't care about his grandfather's past

He wants to hurt his grandfather

He treats his grandfather with care, respect, and reverence
17 How many stanzas are in this poem?
Two

Five

Three

One
18 Which of the following is not a symbol in the poem?
The scar

Brown pants

The brogues

Climbing
19 What does climbing symbolize?
Moving upwards in life

The tenacity of the human body and spirit

Failure

Descent into madness
20 Does the terrain of the grandfather represent the whole world in the poem?
No—the speaker jumps off while at his grandfather's shoulder and goes paragliding

No—there are birds and clouds circling above

Yes

No—the speaker looks down and sees other climbers below in the grass
21 Which of the following is an example of assonance?
the slow pulse of his good heart.

to an earth-stained hand. The nails

I cross the screed cheek,

the forehead, the wrinkles well-spaced
22 What is assonance?
The use of words with the same beginning sound

The repetition of syllables, typically at the end of a verse line

An object in, or the subject of, a poem is described as being the same as another otherwise unrelated object

The repetition of vowel sounds in words that are close together in a sentence or verse
23 What does "knowing" suggest at the end of the poem?
The grandfather's wisdom

The speaker's faith in God

The speaker's ardent intellectualism

A deep communal relationship between the speaker and his grandfather
24 In which quote does the speaker explicitly refer to his grandfather's character?
the slow pulse of his good heart.

the skin of his finger is smooth and thick like warm ice

to a smiling mouth to drink among teeth.

his thick hair (soft and white at this altitude)
25 Is there a distance created between the speaker and his grandfather (and thus the environment)?
No—the speaker interacts with and discovers more about his grandfather as he climbs

Yes—it is an abusive relationship, which mirrors the way rocks can be unforgiving

Yes—the speaker only gazes upon the landscape of his grandfather from a distance

No—the speaker explicitly states throughout the poem how much he loves his grandfather

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