Mametz Wood Quizzes

Mametz Wood Quiz

1 What historical event is this poem based on?
The 39th (Welsh) Division fought for control of Mametz Wood during World War One.

The Germans fought for control of Mametz Wood during World War Two.

The 38th (Welsh) Division fought for control of Mametz Wood during World War One.

The 38th (Welsh) Division fought for control of Mametz Wood during World War Two.
2 What is the form and meter of the poem?
Six tercets written in free verse.

Seven tercets written in iambic pentameter.

Seven tercets written in free verse.

Six tercets written in unrhymed iambic pentameter.
3 Describe the narrator of the poem.
Unspecified perspective of someone visiting the scene of the historic battle at Mametz Wood in the present day.

First-person perspective of soldier.

First-person perspective of a skeleton.

Unspecified perspective of someone visiting the scene of the historic battle at Mametz Wood using a time machine.
4 Which of the following is a simile that best communicates what the poet argues must be done in the present day?
"as if the notes they had sung / have only now, with this unearthing, / slipped from their absent tongues" (Lines 19-21)

"the earth stands sentinel" (Line 10)

"like a wound working a foreign body to the surface of the skin" (Line 12)

"nesting machine guns" (Line 9)
5 Which of the following best describes the purpose of the metaphors employed in the second stanza?
They might suggest the soldiers' bones.

They provide explicit comparisons with the soldiers' bones.

They imply a responsibility on the part of the reader.

They portray the earth as a sentinel.
6 Which of the following is an example of consonance?
"as if the notes they had sung" (Line 19)

"all mimicked now in flint...in white" (Line 7)

"in boots that outlasted them," (Line 16)

"a chit of bone, the china plate of a shoulder blade" (Line 4)
7 Which is an example of assonance?
"a chit of bone, the china plate of a shoulder blade" (Line 4)

"like a wound working a foreign body" (Line 12)

"nesting machine guns" (Line 9)

"...broken bird's egg..." (Line 6)
8 Which best describes the tone of the poem?
reflective, optimistic, and assertive

peaceful, nostalgic, and airy

reflective, bleak, and mocking

reflective, bleak, and straightforward
9 What is significant about the fact that it is farmers that find the bones in the poem?
The work of farmers is to sustain human life by growing food. Their slow work and connection to nature alludes to the violence of war.

The work of farmers is to sustain human life by growing food. During the war, they had to give up their plows and fight.

The work of farmers is to sustain armies by growing food. They must work fast to meet the demand.

The work of farmers is to sustain human life by growing food. Their slow work and connection to nature contrasts with the violence of war.
10 Describe an example of irony in the poem.
The skeletons of the soldiers are uncovered "in boots that outlasted them," (Line 16).

It is farmers who find the bones.

The bones have not been unearthed until recently.

The earth is personified as a guard.
11 Who is/are the protagonist(s) of the poem?
The archaeologists who uncover the grave.

The farmers who uncover the bones.

The young men killed in battle.

The speaker.
12 What is the climax of the poem?
When the earth stands sentinel, "reaching back into itself for reminders of what happened" (Line 11).

When farmers come across the remains of soldiers as they plow the field.

When thirty soldiers are discovered buried with linked arms, their skeletons "paused mid dance-macabre" (Line 15).

When twenty soldiers are discovered buried with linked arms, their skeletons "paused mid dance-macabre" (Line 15).
13 Describe an example of foreshadowing that appears in the poem.
The "boots that outlasted them" foreshadows the "notes they had sung" (Lines 16 and 19).

Farmers uncovering the bones of soldiers as they "tended the land back into itself" foreshadows the earth tenting to its wound (Line 3).

Farmers uncovering the bones of soldiers as they "tended the land back into itself" foreshadows that they will discover the grave of soldiers with linked arms (Line 3).

The "broken bird's egg of a skull" foreshadows the skeletons paused mid dance-macabre (Lines 6 and 15).
14 What collection was this poem published in?
Owen Sheers's 2006 Y Gaer

Owen Sheers's 2007 Skirrid Hill

Owen Sheers's 2005 Skirrid Hill

Owen Sheers's 2006 The Blue Book
15 What is personified in the poem?
The soldiers' boots

The earth

The farmers' plows

The broken bird's egg
16 Which best expresses the poet's message concerning the theme of war?
"...the earth stands sentinel, / reaching back into itself for reminders of what happened / like a wound..." (Lines 10-12)

"paused mid dance-macabre" (Line 15)

The "broken bird's egg of a skull" (Line 6)

"all mimicked now in flint, breaking blue in white / across this field..." (Lines 7-8)
17 What does the quote "mid dance-macabre" mean?
Dancing skeletons are horrible.

This is the allegorical Dance of Death from the Renaissance art form.

This is the allegorical Dance of Death from the Medieval art form.

The skeletons are celebrating Dia de los Muertos.
18 When does the poem take place?
The poem takes place in the past.

The poem takes place in the present.

The poem situates itself in the future.

The poet moves between the past and the present.
19 Which best describes the contrast apparent in the phrase "nesting machine guns" (Line 9)?
The word "nesting" evokes the danger and violence inherent in machine guns.

It makes it seem as though the guns belong there as part of the natural landscape.

The word "nesting" evokes an animal building a shelter for itself and its young, which is something that machine guns are obviously able to do.

The word "nesting" evokes hope for the future.
20 What is something in this poem that appears in other works by the poet?
The earth must deal with humanity like a "wound working a foreign body to the surface of the skin" (Line 12)

Nature is personified in order to become more like humans.

Nature is personified in order to model something humans must learn.

Humans love nature.
21 What is most significant about the grave with the twenty men?
Someone had taken the time to arrange them with linked arms.

They are dancing.

They are found in the present day of the poem.

The grave was looted.
22 Who are the wasted young?
The men who fought and died in the Battle of Mametz Wood

The men who fought and died in the Battle of the Marne

The farmers

The poem's implied readers
23 Where does the poem use enjambment?
In between the description of the skeletons paused mid dance-macabre and the detail that they are a broken mosaic of bone.

In between the description of the skeletons paused mid dance-macabre and the detail that they wear boots that the notes they had sung can be heard.

In between the description of the skeletons paused mid dance-macabre and the detail that they wear boots that outlasted them.

In between the description of the skeletons paused mid dance-macabre and the detail that they wear boots that decayed along with them.
24 What line does the detail about the "broken bird's egg of a skull" best connect to?
The china plate of a shoulder blade

The earth stands sentinel

The nesting machine guns

Their socketed heads tilted back at an angle
25 Which line best exemplifies the poet's attitude about war?
"the relic of a finger" (Line 5)

"the wood and its nesting machine guns" (Line 9)

"the wasted young" (Line 2)

"breaking blue in white" (Line 7)

Mametz Wood Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for Mametz Wood is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

Ask Your Own Question

Study Guide for Mametz Wood

Mametz Wood study guide contains a biography of Owen Sheers, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

Read the Study Guide for Mametz Wood…