Death of a Naturalist Quizzes

Death of a Naturalist Quiz

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

Frogspawn

Bluebottle larvae

Several of the frogs

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 rescues the speaker from the bullfrogs.

She punishes the speaker for bringing frog tadpoles to class.

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

Frogspawn

Bluebottle larvae

A clump of rotting flax

Several of the frogs
4 Who or what invades the flax-dam?

The frogs

The British army

The dragonflies

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

The frogs

The teachers at school

The speaker and his friends

The speaker's parents
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 saliva of the speaker's childhood dog

The rotting flax

The jam the speaker eats at school

The frogspawn
8 What does the speaker compare to sails?

The window's curtains

Gauze

The skirts of his teacher Miss Walls

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

In the speaker's imagination

In the present moment

In the speaker's projected future

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?

At school

At home

In jampots

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

The sound of the bluebottles.

The texture of the frogspawn.

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 how Miss Walls's class is organized.

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.
14 How old is the speaker of the poem currently (at the time of writing this poem)?

Thirty-five

Seventy-five

Thirteen

The speaker's current age is not specified
15 What is described as "[growing]...In the shade of the banks"?

The hedges

The tadpoles

The flax

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

Winter

Fall

Summer

Spring
17 What happens at the end of the poem?

The speaker flees the flax-dam.

The speaker is attacked by the frogs.

The speaker returns the tadpoles to the flax-dam.

The speaker dips his hand into the frogspawn, and it clutches him.
18 How does the speaker feel at the end of the poem?

Shaken and exhausted

Apprehensive and curious

Ecstatic and invigorated

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

Dots

Slobber

Slime

Specks
20 This poem is in iambic pentameter.

True

False
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?

Water spiders, dragonflies, and beetles

Bluebottles, mosquitoes, and beetles

Bluebottles, dragonflies, and butterflies

Moths, butterflies, and water spiders
23 Where is the cow dung that the speaker mentions in the second stanza?

The fields

In the schoolyard

The speaker's backyard at home

The flax-dam
24 What in this poem "sweltered in the punishing sun"?

The frogs

Miss Walls

The speaker

The flax-dam
25 What does the speaker make "jampotfuls" of?

Frogspawn

Jam

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.

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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

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