Climbing My Grandfather Quizzes

Climbing My Grandfather Quiz

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

Colin Tudge

Owen Sheers

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

2nd (2001)

In (2001)

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

James Laughlin Award

Pulitzer Prize

Forward Prize for Best First Collection
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 pentameter

Blank verse

Iambic tetrameter

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

Bouldering

Free soloing

Aid climbing
7 What are brogues?
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.

A fancy type of shoe worn at cocktail parties.
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 wears and uses things until they completely fall apart.

The grandfather should not wear shoes.

The grandfather kicks his grandson.
9 Which of the following devices is not used in the poem?
Assonance

Metaphors

Enjambment

Rhyme
10 What does it mean to traverse?
Move sideways

Descend

Move upward diagonally

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

The grandfather hates the environment where he lives.

The grandfather works outdoors in the natural world.

The grandfather is sloppy and expects his wife to clean him.
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?
All of the hurt and wounds he has sustained in his lifetime

His status as a veteran of World War I

His ability to defend himself

His time in prison
14 Why does the speaker not look down while resting at his grandfather's shoulder?
Because climbing has its dangers

Because he will jump

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 old stitches of his scar and his earth-stained hand

The clouds and birds circling above and the speaker's tiredness
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 treats his grandfather with care, respect, and reverence

He doesn't care about his grandfather's past

He wants to quickly finish the climb
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

Climbing

The brogues

Brown pants
19 What does climbing symbolize?
The tenacity of the human body and spirit

Failure

Descent into madness

Moving upwards in life
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—the speaker looks down and sees other climbers below in the grass

Yes

No—there are birds and clouds circling above
21 Which of the following is an example of assonance?
the forehead, the wrinkles well-spaced

I cross the screed cheek,

the slow pulse of his good heart.

to an earth-stained hand. The nails
22 What is assonance?
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

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

The use of words with the same beginning sound
23 What does "knowing" suggest at the end of the poem?
A deep communal relationship between the speaker and his grandfather

The grandfather's wisdom

The speaker's faith in God

The speaker's ardent intellectualism
24 In which quote does the speaker explicitly refer to his grandfather's character?
the slow pulse of his good heart.

to a smiling mouth to drink among teeth.

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

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

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

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Climbing My Grandfather study guide contains a biography of Andrew Waterhouse, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

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