Death of a Naturalist Quizzes

Death of a Naturalist Quiz

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

Frogspawn

Bluebottle larvae

A clump of rotting flax

Several of the frogs
2 What does the character Miss Walls do in the poem?

She rescues the speaker from the bullfrogs.

She punishes the speaker for bringing frog tadpoles to class.

She pushes the speaker into the flax-dam.

She describes the life of the frogs.
3 What does the speaker take from the flax-dam?

Bluebottle larvae

A clump of rotting flax

Several of the frogs

Frogspawn
4 Who or what invades the flax-dam?

The dragonflies

The tadpoles

The frogs

The British army
5 Who are "the great slime kings?"

The frogs

The speaker's parents

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 rotting flax

The frogspawn

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 window's curtains

Gauze

The skirts of his teacher Miss Walls
9 When in the speaker's life does this poem take place?

In the speaker's childhood

In the speaker's imagination

In the speaker's projected future

In the present moment
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 school

At home

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 sound of the croaking frogs.

The screen in the window next to the frogspawn.
13 How is the word "rank" used in this poem?

To compare the frogs to an army.

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

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

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)?

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 flax

The frogspawn

The tadpoles

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

Winter

Spring

Summer

Fall
17 What happens at the end of the poem?

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.

The speaker returns the tadpoles to the flax-dam.
18 How does the speaker feel at the end of the poem?

Shaken and exhausted

Ecstatic and invigorated

Disgusted and afraid

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

Slobber

Dots

Specks

Slime
20 This poem is in iambic pentameter.

False

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

The bluebottles

The bullfrogs

The frogspawn

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, dragonflies, and butterflies

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

In the schoolyard

The flax-dam

The fields

The speaker's backyard at home
24 What in this poem "sweltered in the punishing sun"?

The flax-dam

The speaker

The frogs

Miss Walls
25 What does the speaker make "jampotfuls" of?

Bluebottle larvae

Frogspawn

Clotted water

Jam

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