On my First Son Quizzes

On my First Son "On my First Son"

1 Who is the poem about?

A fictional character

Jonson's friend's son

Jonson's seven-year-old son

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

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

Resenting God for taking his son
3 Who does the speaker compare himself to?

A father

A God

A debtor

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

Peace

Rest

Soft

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

Angry

Despairing

Wistful

Bitter
6 What is the genre of the poem?

Limerick

Epitaph

Sonnet

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

More conventional and impassioned

More conventional and distant

Less conventional and more distant

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

Milton

Shakespeare

Marvell

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

Commemoration

Consolation

Lamentation

Recrimination
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 a distant but righteous force

The speaker has a close and loving relationship with God

The speaker sees God as actively malicious

The speaker is losing his faith in God
11 Why is the line "O, could I lose all father now!" ambiguous?

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 his own father

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 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?

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 male

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

As relatively insignificant

As his most important work

As immortal but superficial

As a powerful antidote to death
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 resolve to fight

An impossible predicament

A chance for hope

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

His poems

His aristocratic status

His love for his children

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

Elizabethan theologians

Medieval Christians

Ben Jonson

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

Sin everyone is born with

The most important sin

The first sin someone commits

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 poet as a creator

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
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?

Tense

Formal

Ignorant

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

Positive

Negative

Indifferent

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

Metaphor

Personification

Apostrophe

Simile

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