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

Jonson's friend's son

The child Jesus

A fictional character
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 debtor

A loaner

A father

A God
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?

Despairing

Wistful

Bitter

Angry
6 What is the genre of the poem?

Epitaph

Sonnet

Lyric

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

More conventional and distant

Less conventional and more distant

Less conventional and more impassioned

More conventional and impassioned
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?

Lamentation

Recrimination

Commemoration

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 has a close and loving relationship with God

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 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 is actively trying to get rid of fathers

It isn't clear whether the speaker really means what he says
12 How does Jonson present the relationship between fatherhood and grief?

Being a father means you're too busy to grieve

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

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

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

Emotionally stoic

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

Both are heartbroken

Both are male

Both are just

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

As relatively insignificant

As a powerful antidote to death

As his most important work

As immortal but superficial
16 What is the tone of the end of the poem?

Resigned

Bitter

Angry

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

An impossible predicament

A resolve to fight

A bold new vow

A chance for hope
18 What was Jonson best known for during his life?

His aristocratic status

His plays

His poems

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

Elizabethan theologians

Medieval Christians

Early Christians

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

The first sin someone commits

Adam and Eve's first sin

Sin everyone is born with

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

Referring to poetry in a poem

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

Describing writing a poem as akin to having a child

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

The speaker currently has a pessimistic attitude

The speaker cannot console himself

The speaker finds his own life difficult

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

Formal

Intimate

Ignorant

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

Passionate

Negative

Indifferent

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

Apostrophe

Metaphor

Personification

Simile

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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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