The House (poem) Quizzes

The House (poem) Quiz

1 What was the name of Warsan Shire's first poetry collection?
Extreme Girlhood

Her Blue Body

Lemonade

Teaching My Mother How to Give Birth
2 Where was Warsan Shire born?
Somalia

England

America

Kenya
3 Which of these themes is "The House" NOT about?
Sexual abuse

Love

Migration

Memory
4 What happens to the character Johnny in "The House"?
He wakes up in a bathtub full of ice

He breaks into the basement of dreams

He calls God through the window but receives no answer

He sneaks into the speaker's house and ends up chained in the basement
5 Which of Warsan Shire's poems went viral first?
The House

Backwards

River of Milk

For Women Who are Difficult to Love
6 What is the name of Warsan Shire's audio-poetry album on Bandcamp?
Lemonade

Her Blue Body

The House

warsan versus melancholy
7 Warsan Shire was the Younger Poet Laureate of...
London

Los Angeles

Nairobi

Mogadishu
8 Shire edits which magazine...?
SPOOK

Diode

Honeysuckle

Ebony
9 Shire is often called a voice for...
Diaspora

Pacifism

Radicalism

Christianity
10 From where does "The House" get its title?
From something the speaker thought of

From something the speaker's father said

From something the speaker's mother said

From something the speaker's first love said
11 "The House" uses what form to separate its stanzas?
Bullet points

Numbers

Roman numerals

Letters
12 The sentence "Nin soo joog laga waayo, soo jiifso aa laga helaa" is in what language?
Zulu

Afrikaans

Xhosa

Somali
13 What is an example of a motif in "The House"?
The apple

The house

The kitchen of lust

The jam jar
14 The phrase "new, neat procedure" is likely referring to...
A sex change

A birth

A murder

Castration
15 Near the end of the poem the speaker is questioned by whom...
A teacher

A true love

A police officer

A social worker
16 Which is an example of a motif in "The House"?
The bathtub

Johnny's bottle of bleach

The narrator's mother's warnings

The house as a feminine body
17 What is one of Warsan Shire's main poetic subjects?
Diaspora and displacement

The trappings of ambition

The American dream

Queerness and gender identification
18 What is the function of humor in "The House"?
It adds lightness to contrast the poem's heaviness

It represents the narrator's desire to connect with others

It is a way of making other people laugh

It manages the darkness of what the narrator is saying
19 Warsan Shire's poetry was featured in which of these in 2016?
The Museum of Modern Art

Beyoncé's Lemonade

The Nuyorican's slam poetry finals

Janelle Monae's Dirty Computer
20 Warsan Shire was born in what year?
1988

1963

1997

1984

The House (poem) Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for The House (poem) is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

Ask Your Own Question

Study Guide for The House (poem)

The House (poem) study guide contains a biography of Warsan Shire, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

Read the Study Guide for The House (poem)…