The Union Buries Its Dead Quizzes

The Union Buries Its Dead Quiz: The Union Buries Its Dead

By Talia Rothstein · Last reviewed August 16, 2019

1 What is the mood of the opening few lines of the story?

Tense

Relaxed and jovial

Sardonic

Somber
2 How do the men pass the time while waiting for the funeral procession to begin?

Taking naps

Waiting on side of the road

Boating on the billabong

Drinking and joking around at the pub
3 How did the young man die?

He drowned while trying to swim horses across the billabong.

He drowned while taking a leisurely swim.

He drank too much alcohol.

He was killed by a rearing horse.
4 Why did the ranks of the funeral party diminish so much?

Many of them decided the deceased's memory would be better honored by remaining at the pub.

Many of them were too drunk to continue on.

Many of them were anti-union and didn't want to attend a union man's funeral.

Many of them realized the deceased was Catholic and decided not to attend the funeral.
5 Why did the deceased man have a funeral in town if he was a stranger?

He was a member of the union.

It was custom in the town to provide funerals even for strangers.

His mother once lived in the town.

He was the same religion as most of the members of the town.
6 What is the setting of the story?

A town called Bourke in the rural Australian outback

The city of Sydney, Australia

A suburb called Bourke just outside Sydney, Australia

A rural town in England
7 What is the town's response to the funeral procession?

They throw a party and get in drunk in honor of the man's life.

Pubs remain open defiantly.

No one stops, simply going about their business as usual.

Pubs close respectfully and men take off their hats as the procession passes.
8 How does the narrator describe the day of the funeral?

Chilly

Extremely hot and dusty

Windy

Extremely hot, tropical, and rainy
9 What is the conversation like among the men on the way to the funeral?

They make grim jokes.

They speak reverently of the dead.

They wonder who the dead was.

They are completely silent.
10 What might the narrator's walking companion mean when he says "over yonder"?

In the afterlife

At the union office

In the city of Sydney

Inside the coffin
11 About how many men end up accompanying the hearse on the way to the funeral?

The entire town

5 or so

30

14-15
12 What makes the narrator realize the dead man in the coffin is the same as the one he met on the river the day before?

He realizes when he reads the name of the deceased on the coffin as it is lowered into the ground.

A drunk tells him about the incident at the pub and he connects the dots.

His walking companion tells him on the way to the funeral.

He inquires at the union office.
13 What do the men suggest they may have done differently the day before if they knew the man on the river was about to die?

Help him across the river

Ask his name

Invite him back for a drink

Speak longer to him and pay more attention to him
14 How does a man in the procession refer to the priest?

As a shearer

As the Devil

As a woman

As a drunk
15 What does the sprinkling of holy water do to the coffin, in the narrator's opinion?

It makes it appear shabbier than before.

It sanctifies the coffin.

It makes the whole event seem surreal.

It makes the coffin appear more grand.
16 Why does the narrator disapprove of the publican's actions?

He thinks they makes a mockery of the whole event.

He thinks them disrespectful of the dead man.

He thinks the priest's hat is ugly.

He thinks them unnecessary.
17 What does the narrator assume are the motivations of the publican?

To demonstrate his wealth

To show his reverence for the church

To show his reverence for the dead

To impress the men gathered at the funeral
18 Why is the narrator relieved when the coffin is lowered into the grave?

He wanted the funeral to be over and done with.

He had been afraid it wouldn't fit.

He was afraid it would rain.

He was afraid one of the drunk men would vomit on it.
19 How does the narrator feel about the sound of the dirt clods falling on the coffin?

He thinks the sound doesn't matter much, and that it sounds like dirt falling on any wooden box anywhere.

He thinks it is shameful that the grave-diggers chose such heavy soil for the task.

He finds the sound melancholic and sentimental.

He worries that others might take offense.
20 What is a possible reason the narrator might list some of the things "left out" from the description of the funeral?

To romanticize the funeral

To show that the town went to every expense possible for the funeral

In order to depict the funeral with as much detail as possible

To comment on the lack of sentimentality present at the funeral
21 How do most of the men find out the dead man's name?

By passing his union card around

By seeing it at the funeral

From the priest's speech

From the police report
22 What is the twist at the end of the story?

The dead man's loved ones had been looking for him for weeks.

James Tyson wasn't the man's real name.

The man is named James Tyson.

A Sydney newspaper was at the funeral to report on the death.
23 What river did the man drown in?

The Darling

The Yarra

The Mississippi

The Pacific
24 Why does the narrator say he will not be of use to a loved one of the deceased man?

The only thing found in the man's belongings was a union card.

The man did not leave behind a fortune.

The narrator only spoke with the man briefly when he was alive.

He has already forgotten the man's real name.
25 What is the tone of the story's conclusion?

Hope

Dry resignation

Calm contentment

Sorrow

Essays for The Union Buries Its Dead

The Union Buries Its Dead essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of The Union Buries Its Dead by Henry Lawson.

Lawson's uses of language to portray ideas about Australian identity and culture

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