Death of a Naturalist Quizzes

Death of a Naturalist Quiz

1 What does the speaker take from the flax-dam?

Bluebottle larvae

Several of the frogs

Frogspawn

A clump of rotting flax
2 What does the character Miss Walls do in the poem?

She pushes the speaker into the flax-dam.

She describes the life of the frogs.

She rescues the speaker from the bullfrogs.

She punishes the speaker for bringing frog tadpoles to class.
3 What does the speaker take from the flax-dam?

Several of the frogs

A clump of rotting flax

Bluebottle larvae

Frogspawn
4 Who or what invades the flax-dam?

The British army

The frogs

The tadpoles

The dragonflies
5 Who are "the great slime kings?"

The speaker and his friends

The speaker's parents

The frogs

The teachers at school
6 The frogspawn turns green in the sun and brown in the rain.

True

False
7 What does "the thick warm slobber" refer to?

The jam the speaker eats at school

The rotting flax

The saliva of the speaker's childhood dog

The frogspawn
8 What does the speaker compare to sails?

The skirts of his teacher Miss Walls

The window's curtains

Gauze

The frogs' dewlaps
9 When in the speaker's life does this poem take place?

In the speaker's projected future

In the present moment

In the speaker's imagination

In the speaker's childhood
10 The title of this poem refers to the death of someone the speaker cares deeply about.

False

True
11 Where does the speaker keep the frogspawn?

In jampots

At home

At school

All of the above
12 What does the speaker compare to gauze in the poem?

The screen in the window next to the frogspawn.

The sound of the croaking frogs.

The texture of the frogspawn.

The sound of the bluebottles.
13 How is the word "rank" used in this poem?

To describe the foul smell of the fertilizer in the fields.

To compare the frogs to an army.

To describe how the speaker chooses his favorite creatures in the flax-dam.

To describe how Miss Walls's class is organized.
14 How old is the speaker of the poem currently (at the time of writing this poem)?

The speaker's current age is not specified

Thirty-five

Seventy-five

Thirteen
15 What is described as "[growing]...In the shade of the banks"?

The flax

The tadpoles

The hedges

The frogspawn
16 During which season does this poem most likely occur?

Summer

Spring

Winter

Fall
17 What happens at the end of the poem?

The speaker flees the flax-dam.

The speaker dips his hand into the frogspawn, and it clutches him.

The speaker returns the tadpoles to the flax-dam.

The speaker is attacked by the frogs.
18 How does the speaker feel at the end of the poem?

Shaken and exhausted

Ecstatic and invigorated

Apprehensive and curious

Disgusted and afraid
19 Which of the following is NOT a word used to describe the frogspawn?

Slime

Specks

Dots

Slobber
20 This poem is in iambic pentameter.

False

True
21 What produces the "bass chorus" that the speaker mentions?

The bullfrogs

The frogspawn

The bluebottles

The schoolchildren
22 What sorts of bugs does the speaker see in the flax-dam?

Moths, butterflies, and water spiders

Water spiders, dragonflies, and beetles

Bluebottles, mosquitoes, and beetles

Bluebottles, dragonflies, and butterflies
23 Where is the cow dung that the speaker mentions in the second stanza?

The speaker's backyard at home

The flax-dam

In the schoolyard

The fields
24 What in this poem "sweltered in the punishing sun"?

The frogs

Miss Walls

The flax-dam

The speaker
25 What does the speaker make "jampotfuls" of?

Clotted water

Frogspawn

Jam

Bluebottle larvae

Study Guide for Death of a Naturalist

Death of a Naturalist study guide contains a biography of Seamus Heaney, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

Read the Study Guide for Death of a Naturalist…

Death of a Naturalist

by Seamus Heaney

Death of a Naturalist Quiz

Death of a Naturalist Questions and Answers

Study Guide for Death of a Naturalist

Lesson Plan for Death of a Naturalist