I Started Early — Took My Dog — Quizzes

I Started Early — Took My Dog — Quiz

1 What is the first image the speaker encounters?

Mermaids

Whales

Krakens

Frigates
2 Which of the following lines does NOT contain alliteration?

"Went past my simple Shoe –"

"But no Man moved Me – till the Tide"

"Until We met the Solid Town –"

"Extended Hempen Hands –"
3 What kind of ship does the speaker see in the second stanza of the poem?

Rowboats

Luxury liners

Frigates

Submarines
4 What words best describe the emotional shift of the poem?

Anxiety to comfort

Anger to panic

Happiness to despair

Wonder to fear
5 What is the setting of the poem?

A harbor

A coral reef

The deck of a ship

The beach
6 Which of the following things is personified as man in the poem?

Mermaids

A whaling ship

Seagulls

The ocean
7 Who is the poem's protagonist?

The frigates

The speaker

The mermaids

The speaker's dog
8 What is the most famous story about mermaids?

"The Sea Lady"

"Undine"

"The Little Mermaid"

"Creature from the Black Lagoon"
9 How many stanzas does the poem have?

12

6

2

3
10 Which of the following is the Scottish iteration of the mermaid myth?

Selkies

Salamanders

Sirens

Sea nymphs
11 What is the poem's rhyme scheme?

ABBA

ABCB

None

ABAB
12 Who wrote the The Little Mermaid?

Hans Christian Anderson

Emily Dickinson

Herman Melville

H.G. Wells
13 What grabs the speaker?

Ropes from a frigate

The hands of a mermaid

The arms of a man

The tide of the ocean
14 What word best describes the tone of the poem?

Serene

Insecure

Confident

Uneasy
15 To what does the speaker compare being devoured by the ocean?

A dewdrop on a dandelion sleeve

A bee in a hive

A needle in a haystack

A grain of a sand in the desert
16 What effect does personification NOT have in the poem?

Articulates the fears women had about their safety and wellbeing

Describes the way the light bounces off of the surface of a wave

Showcases the range of emotions the ocean can elicit

Captures the volatility and danger of the water
17 What is the climax of the poem?

The speaker feeling like a mouse

The arrival of the speaker's dog

The speaker seeing the mermaids

The speaker's attempt to escape the water
18 The lines "And Frigates – in the Upper Floor / Extended Hempen Hands" contain which of the following?

Onomatopoeia

Irony

Personification

Understatment
19 When was the poem published?

1861

1891

1955

1981
20 Who is the antagonist of the poem?

The speaker's dog

The hempen hands

The mermaids

The masculine ocean
21 What best describes the poem's genre?

Light verse

Limerick

Nature poetry

Romantic poetry
22 How does the line "I felt his Silver Heel" function in the poem's fourth stanza?

It connotes danger and panic

It reveals the speaker as an unreliable narrator

It shows the creature that has been hiding the waves

It underscores class
23 How does the poem end?

With the speaker's demise

With the departure of a ship

With the swimming of mermaids

With the speaker's narrow escape
24 What does Dickinson refer to with the phrase "hempen hands"?

The hands of sea creature

Rock on the beach

Ropes aboard a ship

The pull of the waves
25 What mythological creature does the poem allude to?

Sea serpents

Leviathan

The Loch Ness Monster

Mermaids

I Started Early — Took My Dog — Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for I Started Early — Took My Dog — is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

Ask Your Own Question

Study Guide for I Started Early — Took My Dog —

I Started Early — Took My Dog — study guide contains a biography of Emily Dickinson, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

Read the Study Guide for I Started Early — Took My Dog —…