The Mountain (Elizabeth Bishop poem) Quizzes

The Mountain (Elizabeth Bishop poem) Quiz

1 Which of the following is an instance of metaphor?

"Tell me how old I am"

The poem contains no metaphors

"bird-calls / dribble"

"I start for a second"
2 How many stanzas are in this poem?

4

9

8

6
3 The phrase "fly their kites" contains which of the following?

Alliteration

Verbal irony

Sibilance

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

Drunkenly

Unbelievably

In a stumbling manner

With emphatic movements
5 What types of stanzas make up this poem?

Couplets

Tercets

Sestets

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

Sicken

Dirty

Split

Fall
7 What does "blench" mean?

Flinch

Belch

Crush

Fall
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 harsh, strange landscape representing old age

It is a paradisal space representing heaven

It is a quiet, pastoral place representing the paired tranquility and boredom of age

It is a dangerous landscape representing illness and death
10 The phrase "Nobody tells me anything" is an instance of which of the following?

Hyperbole

Simile

Personification

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

The haiku

The sonnet

The sestina

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

1952

1884

1996

1928
13 The phrase "like cotton in my ears" is an instance of which of the following?

Personification

Simile

Metaphor

Metonymy
14 What does "impenetrable" mean?

Intimidatingly beautiful

Impossible to contain

Incapable of thought

Impossible to get through
15 Where does the speaker live?

London

Massachusetts

This isn't stated in the poem

Brazil
16 What does "clambering" mean?

Struggling

Climbing

Confusing

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

"They say it is my fault"

"the valleys stuff/impenetrable mists"

"stars go fly their kites."

"An open book confronts me"
18 Who is the poem's speaker?

A young woman imagining her old age

An unidentified elderly person

An older man looking back on his life

A young man addressing his beloved
19 Which best describes the poem's major conflict?

It is the speaker's discussion with her past self as she grows old

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

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
20 In which magazine did this poem first appear?

The Paris Review

Time

Poetry

The New Yorker
21 What does "demarcation" mean?

Disagreement

Division

Vacation

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

End rhyme

Assonance

Alliteration

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

Serene

Anxious

Resigned

Jolly
24 What is the poem's rhyme scheme?

ABADACAD

AABB CCDD

ABABAB CDCDCD EF

It has no regular rhyme scheme
25 What is the poem's meter?

Spondaic monometer

Iambic hexameter

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

Iambic pentameter

The Mountain (Elizabeth Bishop poem) Questions and Answers

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

Ask Your Own Question

Study Guide for The Mountain (Elizabeth Bishop poem)

The Mountain (Elizabeth Bishop poem) study guide contains a biography of Elizabeth Bishop, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

Read the Study Guide for The Mountain (Elizabeth Bishop poem)…