Climbing My Grandfather Quizzes

Climbing My Grandfather Quiz

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

Simon Armitage

Colin Tudge

Andrew Waterhouse

Owen Sheers
2 What collection was this poem originally published in? What year?

In (2001)

2nd (2001)

2nd (2000)

In (2000)
3 What prize did the collection win?

Pulitzer Prize

Forward Prize for Best First Collection

James Laughlin Award

Nobel Prize
4 What kind of work did the poet do professionally for most of his career?

Manager at a gas and oil company

Poetry professor

Environmental lecturer at a college

Environmental field worker and researcher
5 What is the poem's meter?

Iambic tetrameter

Iambic pentameter

Blank verse

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

Free soloing

Bouldering

Aid climbing

Free climbing
7 What are brogues?

A fancy type of shoe worn at cocktail parties.

A type of pants designed for any weather.

A new pair of pants.

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 kicks his grandson.

The grandfather wears and uses things until they completely fall apart.

The grandfather waits for his wife to clean the shoes.

The grandfather should not wear shoes.
9 Which of the following devices is not used in the poem?

Assonance

Rhyme

Enjambment

Metaphors
10 What does it mean to traverse?

Descend

Move sideways

Summit

Move upward diagonally
11 What is suggested by the grandfather's earth-stained hand?

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

The grandfather works outdoors in the natural world.

The grandfather wants to move to the city.

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

Smiling mouth

Gasping for breath

Warm ice

Brown eye
13 What might the grandfather's scar represent?

All of the hurt and wounds he has sustained in his lifetime

His status as a veteran of World War I

His time in prison

His ability to defend himself
14 Why does the speaker not look down while resting at his grandfather's shoulder?

Because he will jump

Because climbing has its dangers

Because he wants to go back to being a child again

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?

His splintered nails and his smiling mouth

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

The clouds and birds circling above and the speaker's tiredness

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 hurt his grandfather

He doesn't care about his grandfather's past

He treats his grandfather with care, respect, and reverence

He wants to quickly finish the climb
17 How many stanzas are in this poem?

Five

Three

One

Two
18 Which of the following is not a symbol in the poem?

The scar

The brogues

Brown pants

Climbing
19 What does climbing symbolize?

Descent into madness

Failure

Moving upwards in life

The tenacity of the human body and spirit
20 Does the terrain of the grandfather represent the whole world in the poem?

No—there are birds and clouds circling above

Yes

No—the speaker jumps off while at his grandfather's shoulder and goes paragliding

No—the speaker looks down and sees other climbers below in the grass
21 Which of the following is an example of assonance?

to an earth-stained hand. The nails

the forehead, the wrinkles well-spaced

I cross the screed cheek,

the slow pulse of his good heart.
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

The repetition of vowel sounds in words that are close together in a sentence or verse

An object in, or the subject of, a poem is described as being the same as another otherwise unrelated object
23 What does "knowing" suggest at the end of the poem?

The speaker's ardent intellectualism

The grandfather's wisdom

The speaker's faith in God

A deep communal relationship between the speaker and his grandfather
24 In which quote does the speaker explicitly refer to his grandfather's character?

to a smiling mouth to drink among teeth.

his thick hair (soft and white at this altitude)

the slow pulse of his good heart.

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

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

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

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

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