Quiz: "Ulysses"
Multiple-choice questions on Tennyson's "Ulysses."
English 11AP
Multiple-Choice Quiz – “Ulysses”
Name
- 1. The poem as a whole is BEST described as
- A. an heroic episode that concludes a famous epic
- B. a poignant elegy that mourns the death of a hero
- C. a blistering satire that censures modern ennui
- D. a dramatic monologue that celebrates living
- E. a reflective ode that explores a family relationship
- 2. According to lines 1-5, Ulysses’ tenure as king is
- A. marred by his incompetence
- B. maintained by his tyranny
- C. furthered by his compassion
- D. toppled by his corruption
- E. frustrated by his alienation
- 3. Lines 4-5 portray Ulysses’ subjects as being all of the following EXCEPT
- A. avaricious
- B. rebellious
- C. ignorant
- D. slothful
- E. barbaric
- 4. The poet employs flashback in lines 7-17 primarily to emphasize the
- A. sheer brutality of Ulysses’ tactics
- B. nostalgic part of Ulysses’ nature
- C. wide diversity of Ulysses’s experience
- D. sedentary nature of Ulysses’ existence
- E. relative insignificance of Ulysses’ career
- 5. In lines 12-21 Ulysses is frustrated by
- A. his idle stewardship
- B. his lack of renown
- C. his failed marriage
- D. the end of the Trojan War
- E. the elusiveness of experience
- 6. Ulysses’ claims, that “Life piled on life/Were all too little” for him (lines 24-25) and that he will “follow knowledge, like a sinking star,/Beyond the utmost bound of human thought” (lines 31-32), reveal his desire for life’s experiences to be
- A. stultified
- B. insatiable
- C. reckless
- D. dispassionate
- E. ignoble
- 7. Ulysses’ attitude towards his son in lines 33-43 is BEST characterized as
- A. doting
- B. critical
- C. impatient
- D. macabre
- E. disappointed
- 8. Ulysses most likely decides to leave Telemachus “the sceptre and the isle” (line 34) because he himself
- A. is eager to abdicate a mundane lifestyle
- B. has failed to quell the people’s unrest
- C. is aware that his own feebleness warrants succession
- D. desires to make amends for his frequent travel
- E. is awed by his son’s administrative talents
- 9. Ulysses’ greatest argument for decisive action in lines 44-53 is the
- A. frenzied passing of the day
- B. imminent departure of the vessel
- C. inevitable proximity of death for all
- D. rapidly worsening weather
- E. burning desire to see Achilles
- 10. The phrase “sitting well in order” (line 58) most probably refers to the mariners’
- A. mutual familiarity
- B. admirable discipline
- C. youthful hardiness
- D. rowing position
- E. respective rank
- 11. Line 50, “Old age hath yet his honor and his toil,” exemplifies the figure of speech known as
- A. allusion
- B. euphemism
- C. personification
- D. apostrophe
- E. paradox
- 12. Which of the following lines draw together the theme of Ulysses’ quest and his own mortality?
- A. lines 7-11
- B. lines 12-17
- C. lines 24-28
- D. lines 59-61
- E. lines 65-67
- 13. All of the following objects are figuratively used in the poem to convey Ulysses’ lust for life EXCEPT
- A. a fireplace
- B. a cup
- C. an arch
- D. a star
- E. a ship
- 14. Which of the following does NOT contribute to the poem’s aura of approaching death?
- A. the implied metaphor of the “unburnish’d” sword (line 23)
- B. the metonymy of “eternal silence” (line 27)
- C. the simile of the “sinking star” (line 31)
- D. the symbol of “the long day wanes” (line 55)
- E. the allusion to the “Happy Isles” (line 63)
- 15. In which of the following does Ulysses display scorn?
- A. “. . . I am become a name” (line 11)
- B. “As though to breath were life!” (line 24)
- C. “Well-loved of me . . .” (line 35)
- D. “Old age hath yet his honor and his toil” (line 50)
- E. “Though much is taken, much abides . . .” (line 65)
- 3. The idea contained in lines 1-5 is BEST RESTATED by
- A. “I cannot rest from travel; I will drink/Life to the lees” (lines 6-7)
- B. “. . . I am become a name;/For always roaming with a hungry heart/Much have I seen and known . . .” (lines 11-13)
- C. “How dull it is to pause, to make an end/To rust unburnish’d, not to shine in use!” (lines 22-23)
- D. “. . . you and I are old;/Old age hath yet his honour and his toil.” (lines 49-50)
- E. “The long day wanes; the slow moon climbs; the deep/Moans round with many voices. . .” (lines 55-56)
- 17. Ultimately the poem suggests that man
- A. can overcome physical death
- B. must often suffer in solitude
- C. is merely a pawn of fate
- D. need not be subservient to age or infirmity
- E. can never attain true knowledge