I Started Early — Took My Dog — Quizzes

I Started Early — Took My Dog — Quiz

1 What is the first image the speaker encounters?
Krakens

Whales

Mermaids

Frigates
2 Which of the following lines does NOT contain alliteration?
"But no Man moved Me – till the Tide"

"Went past my simple Shoe –"

"Extended Hempen Hands –"

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

Frigates

Submarines

Luxury liners
4 What words best describe the emotional shift of the poem?
Wonder to fear

Happiness to despair

Anger to panic

Anxiety to comfort
5 What is the setting of the poem?
A coral reef

The beach

A harbor

The deck of a ship
6 Which of the following things is personified as man in the poem?
Seagulls

Mermaids

A whaling ship

The ocean
7 Who is the poem's protagonist?
The speaker's dog

The frigates

The mermaids

The speaker
8 What is the most famous story about mermaids?
"Undine"

"The Little Mermaid"

"The Sea Lady"

"Creature from the Black Lagoon"
9 How many stanzas does the poem have?
2

3

6

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

Sirens

Salamanders

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

ABBA

None

ABCB
12 Who wrote the The Little Mermaid?
H.G. Wells

Herman Melville

Emily Dickinson

Hans Christian Anderson
13 What grabs the speaker?
The arms of a man

The hands of a mermaid

Ropes from a frigate

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

Confident

Insecure

Uneasy
15 To what does the speaker compare being devoured by the ocean?
A dewdrop on a dandelion sleeve

A needle in a haystack

A grain of a sand in the desert

A bee in a hive
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's attempt to escape the water

The arrival of the speaker's dog

The speaker feeling like a mouse

The speaker seeing the mermaids
18 The lines "And Frigates – in the Upper Floor / Extended Hempen Hands" contain which of the following?
Personification

Onomatopoeia

Irony

Understatment
19 When was the poem published?
1891

1981

1861

1955
20 Who is the antagonist of the poem?
The hempen hands

The mermaids

The masculine ocean

The speaker's dog
21 What best describes the poem's genre?
Nature poetry

Light verse

Limerick

Romantic poetry
22 How does the line "I felt his Silver Heel" function in the poem's fourth stanza?
It reveals the speaker as an unreliable narrator

It underscores class

It connotes danger and panic

It shows the creature that has been hiding the waves
23 How does the poem end?
With the departure of a ship

With the swimming of mermaids

With the speaker's narrow escape

With the speaker's demise
24 What does Dickinson refer to with the phrase "hempen hands"?
Ropes aboard a ship

Rock on the beach

The pull of the waves

The hands of sea creature
25 What mythological creature does the poem allude to?
Leviathan

The Loch Ness Monster

Sea serpents

Mermaids

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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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