Death of a Naturalist Quizzes

Death of a Naturalist Quiz

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

Frogspawn

Several of the frogs

Bluebottle larvae

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

She describes the life of the frogs.

She pushes the speaker into the flax-dam.

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?

Bluebottle larvae

Several of the frogs

A clump of rotting flax

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's parents

The frogs

The speaker and his friends

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

False

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

The frogspawn

The rotting flax

The jam the speaker eats at school

The saliva of the speaker's childhood dog
8 What does the speaker compare to sails?

The frogs' dewlaps

The skirts of his teacher Miss Walls

The window's curtains

Gauze
9 When in the speaker's life does this poem take place?

In the speaker's imagination

In the speaker's childhood

In the present moment

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

True

False
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 texture of the frogspawn.

The sound of the bluebottles.

The screen in the window next to the frogspawn.

The sound of the croaking frogs.
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 Miss Walls's class is organized.

To describe how the speaker chooses his favorite creatures in the flax-dam.
14 How old is the speaker of the poem currently (at the time of writing this poem)?

Seventy-five

Thirty-five

The speaker's current age is not specified

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

The hedges

The tadpoles

The frogspawn

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

Fall

Winter

Spring

Summer
17 What happens at the end of the poem?

The speaker returns the tadpoles to the flax-dam.

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

The speaker flees 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

Disgusted and afraid

Ecstatic and invigorated

Apprehensive and curious
19 Which of the following is NOT a word used to describe the frogspawn?

Dots

Specks

Slime

Slobber
20 This poem is in iambic pentameter.

True

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

The frogspawn

The bluebottles

The bullfrogs

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

Bluebottles, mosquitoes, and beetles

Moths, butterflies, and water spiders

Bluebottles, dragonflies, and butterflies

Water spiders, dragonflies, and beetles
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 speaker

Miss Walls

The flax-dam

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

Jam

Frogspawn

Clotted water

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