On my First Son Quizzes

On my First Son "On my First Son"

1 Who is the poem about?
Jonson's seven-year-old son

The child Jesus

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

Having high expectations for his son's future

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

A father

A God

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

Peace

Soft

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

Bitter

Angry

Despairing
6 What is the genre of the poem?
Epitaph

Sonnet

Limerick

Lyric
7 How does "On my First Son" compare to "On my First Daughter"?
More conventional and distant

Less conventional and more impassioned

More conventional and impassioned

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

Milton

Marvell

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 a distant but righteous force

The speaker has a close and loving relationship with God

The speaker sees God as actively malicious
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 his own father

It isn't clear whether the speaker is actively trying to get rid of fathers

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

It isn't clear whether the speaker is referring to himself or God
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 you're too busy to grieve

Being a good father means being strong and not grieving

Being a father means he can't help but grieve his son's death
13 Which of the following is NOT an attribute of an "ideal" patriarch?
Economically powerful

Dominant over the family

Politically powerful

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

Both are male

Both are just

Both are heartbroken
15 How does Jonson treat his own poetic work in this poem?
As immortal but superficial

As a powerful antidote to death

As relatively insignificant

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

Resigned

Bitter

Mournful
17 What does the final line of the poem present?
A resolve to fight

A bold new vow

A chance for hope

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

His aristocratic status

His plays

His poems
19 Who first used the language of debt to speak about religious matters?
Medieval Christians

Elizabethan theologians

Ben Jonson

Early Christians
20 What is original sin, according to orthodox Christianity?
Sin everyone is born with

The first sin someone commits

The most important sin

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

Describing the poet as a creator

Referring to poetry in a poem

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 cannot console himself

The speaker wants to end his own life

The speaker finds his own life difficult

The speaker currently has a pessimistic attitude
23 What is Jonson's relationship to his son in the poem?
Formal

Tense

Intimate

Ignorant
24 What is the speaker's attitude towards the body?
Negative

Indifferent

Passionate

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

Simile

Apostrophe

Personification

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On my First Son study guide contains a biography of Ben Jonson, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

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