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

The child Jesus

A fictional character
2 What does the speaker say his greatest mistake was?
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

Liking his son too much
3 Who does the speaker compare himself to?
A father

A God

A loaner

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

Rest

Here

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

Despairing

Bitter

Wistful
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 impassioned

Less conventional and more distant

Less conventional and more impassioned

More conventional and distant
8 Who of the following is a famous contemporary of Ben Jonson?
Milton

Chaucer

Shakespeare

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

Consolation

Commemoration

Lamentation
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 has a close and loving relationship with God

The speaker is losing his faith in God

The speaker sees God as a distant but righteous force

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 really means what he says

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

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
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 too busy to grieve

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

Economically powerful

Politically powerful

Dominant over the family
14 What is the most important similarity between God and Jonson in the poem?
Both are just

Both are heartbroken

Both are creators

Both are male
15 How does Jonson treat his own poetic work in this poem?
As a powerful antidote to death

As relatively insignificant

As his most important work

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

Resigned

Angry

Bitter
17 What does the final line of the poem present?
A chance for hope

A bold new vow

A resolve to fight

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

His aristocratic status

His poems

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

Early Christians

Elizabethan theologians

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?
Referring to poetry in a poem

Describing writing a poem as akin to having a child

Describing the poet as a creator

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 finds his own life difficult

The speaker wants to end his own life

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

Intimate

Tense

Formal
24 What is the speaker's attitude towards the body?
Positive

Negative

Indifferent

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

Simile

Apostrophe

Metaphor

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