The Yellowhammer’s Nest Quizzes

The Yellowhammer's Nest "The Yellowhammer's Nest"

1 During what century did John Clare write the majority of his poems?

Nineteenth

Eighteenth

Seventeenth

Twentieth
2 What literary movement was John Clare a part of?

Romantic

Gothic

Modernist

Classical
3 Which of the following is Clare's poetry NOT known for?

Simplicity of style

Fantasy elements

Melancholy tone

Attention to detail
4 Who were John Clare's parents?

Factory workers

Middle-class professionals

Poor farmers

Aristocrats
5 "The Yellowhammer's Nest" is a representative of what era of Clare's career?

Late career

Mid-career

Childhood writings

Early career
6 In what collection did Clare publish "The Yellowhammer's Nest"?

He never published the poem

His first collection

His second collection

His final collection
7 What is a yellowhammer?

A type of songbird

A brightly colored tool

Slang for any singing bird

Another word for yellowjacket
8 Which of the following best characterizes the relationship between speaker and reader in "The Yellowhammer's Nest"?

Rivalry

Tense

Intimate

Distant
9 What is the tense at the beginning of the poem?

Present tense

Past tense

Unclear

Future tense
10 What is ecology?

The study of biological creatures

The study of biological relationships

The study of the importance of environmental factors

The classification of biological creatures
11 Which of the following best characterizes Clare's portrayal of natural creatures?

He portrays them as intrinsically better than humans

He portrays them as pests who steal the harvest

He instills them with the same emotional depth as humans

He portrays them as beautiful decorations in the countryside
12 Which of the following is NOT an example of Clare paying unusual attention to detail?

Its husk seeds tall and high—'tis rudely planned

Five eggs, pen-scribbled o'er with ink their shells

A happy home of sunshine, flowers and streams.

'Tis scarcely deep enough a bee to drown,
13 What is ironic about the beginning of the poem?

The speaker invites his companion to see the nest, even though his companion only wants to harvest berries

The speaker feels close to the yellowhammer, even though he ends up destroying its nest

The yellowhammer flies off to protect itself from the cowboy, which actually allows the snake to destroy its nest

The speaker characterizes the stream as harmless by saying what it could harm
14 Which of the following is NOT a central theme of "The Yellowhammer's Nest"?

The importance of little things

The importance of friendship

The inescapability of death

Nature's capacity as a poet
15 How does Clare depict the snake's attack on the nest?

As a tragedy

As a victory for the snake

As an example of the yellowhammer's weakness

As just part of the circle of life
16 What is Castalay?

A spring frequented by nymphs in Greek mythology

Clare's childhood home

A famous forest in Britain

The home of the muses in Greek mythology
17 What does Clare's allusion to Parnassus imply?

The yellowhammer's partner is a fantasy

The yellowhammer's partner is her muse

The yellowhammer's partner is the real poet

The yellowhammer's partner is a poor singer
18 Which of the following best characterizes the relationship between the speaker and the yellowhammer?

The speaker sees himself and the yellowhammer as having different but complimentary strengths

The speaker sees himself as better than the yellowhammer, even though she is really more wise

The speaker admires the yellowhammer's beauty but scorns her weakness

The speaker stoops to the yellowhammer's level and sees the world from her perspective
19 Which line most closely parallels "A happy home of sunshine, flowers and streams"?

Leaving a houseless home, a ruined nest—

And mournful hath the little warblers sung

Yet in the sweetest places cometh ill,

Most poet-like where brooks and flowery weeds
20 Which of the following is NOT true of the snake attack as Clare describes it?

It has already happened

It is a possibility

It is a tragedy

It is all-consuming
21 Thinking about "The Yellowhammer's Nest" as a whole, which of the following best describes its mood?

Disinterested

Tragic

Cheerful

Bittersweet
22 What is the meter of "The Yellowhammer's Nest"?

Iambic tetrameter (each line is made up of four pairs of one unstressed and one stressed syllable)

Iambic pentameter (each line is made up of five pairs of one unstressed and one stressed syllable)

Trochaic pentameter (each line is made up of five pairs of one stressed and one unstressed syllable)

Trochaic tetrameter (each line is made up of four pairs of one stressed and one unstressed syllable)
23 What is the rhyme scheme of "The Yellowhammer's Nest?"

ABAB

ABABCDCC

No fixed rhyme scheme

ABACBCDD
24 Which of the following contains a metaphor?

And like as though the plague became a guest,

Five eggs, pen-scribbled o'er with ink their shells

And that old molehill like as Parnass' hill

When such like woes hath rent its little breast.
25 Which of the following is an example of allusion?

And like as though the plague became a guest,

And that old molehill like as Parnass' hill

Leaving a houseless home, a ruined nest—

'Tis scarcely deep enough a bee to drown,

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