I Started Early — Took My Dog — Quizzes

I Started Early — Took My Dog — Quiz

1 What is the first image the speaker encounters?

Whales

Krakens

Frigates

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

"Went past my simple Shoe –"

"Extended Hempen Hands –"

"But no Man moved Me – till the Tide"

"Until We met the Solid Town –"
3 What kind of ship does the speaker see in the second stanza of the poem?

Submarines

Frigates

Luxury liners

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

Wonder to fear

Happiness to despair

Anxiety to comfort

Anger to panic
5 What is the setting of the poem?

A coral reef

The deck of a ship

A harbor

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

A whaling ship

The ocean

Seagulls

Mermaids
7 Who is the poem's protagonist?

The speaker

The speaker's dog

The frigates

The mermaids
8 What is the most famous story about mermaids?

"The Sea Lady"

"Creature from the Black Lagoon"

"The Little Mermaid"

"Undine"
9 How many stanzas does the poem have?

6

3

2

12
10 Which of the following is the Scottish iteration of the mermaid myth?

Selkies

Sea nymphs

Salamanders

Sirens
11 What is the poem's rhyme scheme?

ABBA

None

ABCB

ABAB
12 Who wrote the The Little Mermaid?

H.G. Wells

Emily Dickinson

Hans Christian Anderson

Herman Melville
13 What grabs the speaker?

The tide of the ocean

The arms of a man

Ropes from a frigate

The hands of a mermaid
14 What word best describes the tone of the poem?

Insecure

Confident

Uneasy

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

A bee in a hive

A dewdrop on a dandelion sleeve

A needle in a haystack

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

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

Articulates the fears women had about their safety and wellbeing

Captures the volatility and danger of the water

Showcases the range of emotions the ocean can elicit
17 What is the climax of the poem?

The speaker's attempt to escape the water

The speaker seeing the mermaids

The arrival of the speaker's dog

The speaker feeling like a mouse
18 The lines "And Frigates – in the Upper Floor / Extended Hempen Hands" contain which of the following?

Understatment

Irony

Onomatopoeia

Personification
19 When was the poem published?

1891

1861

1955

1981
20 Who is the antagonist of the poem?

The mermaids

The speaker's dog

The masculine ocean

The hempen hands
21 What best describes the poem's genre?

Light verse

Romantic poetry

Nature poetry

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

It shows the creature that has been hiding the waves

It connotes danger and panic

It reveals the speaker as an unreliable narrator

It underscores class
23 How does the poem end?

With the speaker's demise

With the speaker's narrow escape

With the departure of a ship

With the swimming of mermaids
24 What does Dickinson refer to with the phrase "hempen hands"?

Rock on the beach

Ropes aboard a ship

The hands of sea creature

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

The Loch Ness Monster

Mermaids

Leviathan

Sea serpents

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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.

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