On my First Son Quizzes

On my First Son "On my First Son"

1 Who is the poem about?

Jonson's friend's son

Jonson's seven-year-old son

A fictional character

The child Jesus
2 What does the speaker say his greatest mistake was?

Having high expectations for his son's future

Liking his son too much

Resenting God for taking his son

Not telling his son he loved him when he had the chance
3 Who does the speaker compare himself to?

A debtor

A father

A loaner

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

Soft

Rest

Peace

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

Angry

Wistful

Despairing

Bitter
6 What is the genre of the poem?

Lyric

Limerick

Sonnet

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

Less conventional and more impassioned

More conventional and impassioned

More conventional and distant

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

Chaucer

Marvell

Milton

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

Commemoration

Lamentation

Recrimination

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 sees God as actively malicious

The speaker sees God as a distant but righteous force

The speaker is losing his faith in God

The speaker has a close and loving relationship with God
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 really means what he says

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

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 good father means being strong and not grieving

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
13 Which of the following is NOT an attribute of an "ideal" patriarch?

Economically powerful

Dominant over the family

Emotionally stoic

Politically powerful
14 What is the most important similarity between God and Jonson in the poem?

Both are creators

Both are just

Both are heartbroken

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

As his most important work

As immortal but superficial

As relatively insignificant

As a powerful antidote to death
16 What is the tone of the end of the poem?

Bitter

Resigned

Angry

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

An impossible predicament

A resolve to fight

A chance for hope

A bold new vow
18 What was Jonson best known for during his life?

His love for his children

His plays

His poems

His aristocratic status
19 Who first used the language of debt to speak about religious matters?

Early Christians

Elizabethan theologians

Medieval Christians

Ben Jonson
20 What is original sin, according to orthodox Christianity?

The first sin someone commits

The most important sin

Sin everyone is born with

Adam and Eve's first sin
21 What is unusual, for early-modern poetry, about Jonson's description of his son as a poem?

Describing writing a poem as akin to having a child

Referring to poetry in a poem

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

Describing the poet as a creator
22 What is NOT implied by Jonson's account of the world as miserable?

The speaker wants to end his own life

The speaker currently has a pessimistic attitude

The speaker cannot console himself

The speaker finds his own life difficult
23 What is Jonson's relationship to his son in the poem?

Intimate

Ignorant

Formal

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

Negative

Passionate

Positive

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

Personification

Simile

Metaphor

Apostrophe

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