The Mountain (Elizabeth Bishop poem) Quizzes

The Mountain (Elizabeth Bishop poem) Quiz

1 Which of the following is an instance of metaphor?

The poem contains no metaphors

"bird-calls / dribble"

"I start for a second"

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

6

4

9

8
3 The phrase "fly their kites" contains which of the following?

Alliteration

Sibilance

Assonance

Verbal irony
4 What does "staggeringly" mean in this context?

Drunkenly

With emphatic movements

Unbelievably

In a stumbling manner
5 What types of stanzas make up this poem?

Sestets

Tercets

Couplets

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

Fall

Sicken

Split

Dirty
7 What does "blench" mean?

Crush

Belch

Fall

Flinch
8 Which of the following is a refrain?

"Tell me how old I am."

"The claws are lost somewhere."

"I am growing deaf."

"Nobody tells me anything."
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 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

Understatement

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

The villanelle

The sestina

The haiku

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

1952

1928

1884

1996
13 The phrase "like cotton in my ears" is an instance of which of the following?

Metonymy

Personification

Simile

Metaphor
14 What does "impenetrable" mean?

Impossible to get through

Intimidatingly beautiful

Incapable of thought

Impossible to contain
15 Where does the speaker live?

Massachusetts

London

This isn't stated in the poem

Brazil
16 What does "clambering" mean?

Climbing

Cooking

Struggling

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

"An open book confronts me"

"the valleys stuff/impenetrable mists"

"stars go fly their kites."

"They say it is my fault"
18 Who is the poem's speaker?

An unidentified elderly person

A young man addressing his beloved

An older man looking back on his life

A young woman imagining her old age
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 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 attempt to reach the top of the mountain
20 In which magazine did this poem first appear?

The New Yorker

Time

The Paris Review

Poetry
21 What does "demarcation" mean?

Division

Tarnish

Disagreement

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

Onomatopoeia

Assonance

Alliteration

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

Resigned

Serene

Anxious

Jolly
24 What is the poem's rhyme scheme?

AABB CCDD

It has no regular rhyme scheme

ABABAB CDCDCD EF

ABADACAD
25 What is the poem's meter?

Iambic pentameter

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

Spondaic monometer

Iambic hexameter

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)…