The Mountain (Elizabeth Bishop poem) Quizzes

The Mountain (Elizabeth Bishop poem) Quiz

1 Which of the following is an instance of metaphor?

"bird-calls / dribble"

The poem contains no metaphors

"I start for a second"

"Tell me how old I am"
2 How many stanzas are in this poem?

6

4

8

9
3 The phrase "fly their kites" contains which of the following?

Verbal irony

Alliteration

Sibilance

Assonance
4 What does "staggeringly" mean in this context?

In a stumbling manner

Drunkenly

With emphatic movements

Unbelievably
5 What types of stanzas make up this poem?

Tercets

Sestets

Quatrains

Couplets
6 What does "sift" most closely mean here?

Sicken

Fall

Split

Dirty
7 What does "blench" mean?

Crush

Fall

Flinch

Belch
8 Which of the following is a refrain?

"The claws are lost somewhere."

"Nobody tells me anything."

"I am growing deaf."

"Tell me how old I am."
9 Which best describes the extended metaphor of the mountain enviroment?

It is a paradisal space representing heaven

It is a harsh, strange landscape representing old age

It is a dangerous landscape representing illness and death

It is a quiet, pastoral place representing the paired tranquility and boredom of age
10 The phrase "Nobody tells me anything" is an instance of which of the following?

Hyperbole

Personification

Simile

Understatement
11 Which poetic form does "The Mountain" resemble?

The sonnet

The haiku

The sestina

The villanelle
12 In what year was "The Mountain" first published?

1996

1928

1884

1952
13 The phrase "like cotton in my ears" is an instance of which of the following?

Metonymy

Simile

Metaphor

Personification
14 What does "impenetrable" mean?

Impossible to get through

Intimidatingly beautiful

Impossible to contain

Incapable of thought
15 Where does the speaker live?

Brazil

London

This isn't stated in the poem

Massachusetts
16 What does "clambering" mean?

Struggling

Confusing

Climbing

Cooking
17 Which of the following is NOT an example of personification?

"They say it is my fault"

"the valleys stuff/impenetrable mists"

"An open book confronts me"

"stars go fly their kites."
18 Who is the poem's speaker?

An unidentified elderly person

A young woman imagining her old age

A young man addressing his beloved

An older man looking back on his life
19 Which best describes the poem's major conflict?

It is the speaker's attempt to reach the top of the mountain

It is the speaker's struggle to maintain dignity and comfort in old age

It is the speaker's argument with her daughter about living together

It is the speaker's discussion with her past self as she grows old
20 In which magazine did this poem first appear?

The Paris Review

Time

Poetry

The New Yorker
21 What does "demarcation" mean?

Tarnish

Disagreement

Vacation

Division
22 The phrase "deepest demarcation" is an instance of which of the following?

Alliteration

Assonance

Onomatopoeia

End rhyme
23 Which of the following best describes this poem's tone?

Jolly

Serene

Resigned

Anxious
24 What is the poem's rhyme scheme?

ABABAB CDCDCD EF

It has no regular rhyme scheme

AABB CCDD

ABADACAD
25 What is the poem's meter?

Iambic pentameter

Spondaic monometer

Iambic hexameter

Though the poem has rhythmic patterns, it has no regular meter

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