On my First Son Quizzes

On my First Son "On my First Son"

1 Who is the poem about?

The child Jesus

Jonson's seven-year-old son

A fictional character

Jonson's friend's son
2 What does the speaker say his greatest mistake was?

Liking his son too much

Resenting God for taking his son

Not telling his son he loved him when he had the chance

Having high expectations for his son's future
3 Who does the speaker compare himself to?

A father

A debtor

A loaner

A God
4 Which word in the ninth line is an unconventional addition to a cliché?

Here

Soft

Peace

Rest
5 What is Jonson's tone in the first line?

Despairing

Angry

Wistful

Bitter
6 What is the genre of the poem?

Limerick

Lyric

Sonnet

Epitaph
7 How does "On my First Son" compare to "On my First Daughter"?

Less conventional and more impassioned

More conventional and distant

More conventional and impassioned

Less conventional and more distant
8 Who of the following is a famous contemporary of Ben Jonson?

Marvell

Shakespeare

Milton

Chaucer
9 Which of the following is NOT one of the traditional three parts of an epitaph?

Recrimination

Commemoration

Lamentation

Consolation
10 What do the lines, "Seven years tho' wert lent to me, and I thee pay, / Exacted by thy fate, on the just day" suggest about the speaker's relationship with God?

The speaker is losing his faith in God

The speaker sees God as actively malicious

The speaker has a close and loving relationship with God

The speaker sees God as a distant but righteous force
11 Why is the line "O, could I lose all father now!" ambiguous?

It isn't clear whether the speaker is referring to himself or God

It isn't clear whether the speaker is referring to himself or his own father

It isn't clear whether the speaker really means what he says

It isn't clear whether the speaker is actively trying to get rid of fathers
12 How does Jonson present the relationship between fatherhood and grief?

Being a father means you're always grieving, whether your children live or die

Being a father means he can't help but grieve his son's death

Being a father means you're too busy to grieve

Being a good father means being strong and not grieving
13 Which of the following is NOT an attribute of an "ideal" patriarch?

Dominant over the family

Economically powerful

Politically powerful

Emotionally stoic
14 What is the most important similarity between God and Jonson in the poem?

Both are male

Both are heartbroken

Both are creators

Both are just
15 How does Jonson treat his own poetic work in this poem?

As relatively insignificant

As a powerful antidote to death

As immortal but superficial

As his most important work
16 What is the tone of the end of the poem?

Mournful

Angry

Bitter

Resigned
17 What does the final line of the poem present?

A chance for hope

A resolve to fight

A bold new vow

An impossible predicament
18 What was Jonson best known for during his life?

His plays

His poems

His aristocratic status

His love for his children
19 Who first used the language of debt to speak about religious matters?

Early Christians

Ben Jonson

Elizabethan theologians

Medieval Christians
20 What is original sin, according to orthodox Christianity?

Sin everyone is born with

The first sin someone commits

Adam and Eve's first sin

The most important sin
21 What is unusual, for early-modern poetry, about Jonson's description of his son as a poem?

Describing the son as a poem, rather than the poem as a son

Referring to poetry in a poem

Describing the poet as a creator

Describing writing a poem as akin to having a child
22 What is NOT implied by Jonson's account of the world as miserable?

The speaker currently has a pessimistic attitude

The speaker wants to end his own life

The speaker finds his own life difficult

The speaker cannot console himself
23 What is Jonson's relationship to his son in the poem?

Formal

Ignorant

Tense

Intimate
24 What is the speaker's attitude towards the body?

Indifferent

Passionate

Negative

Positive
25 Which literary device does NOT appear in the poem?

Personification

Apostrophe

Metaphor

Simile

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