Poetic Genres Trivia Quiz

Answer: Allegory

In "Rime of the Ancient Mariner", Samuel Coleridge uses the killing of an albatross to speak about sin. In particular, he addresses the putting of the life of one of God's creatures below your own. He goes on to say that no one should love one of God's creatures above the other. God loves them all, so should we.

Answer: Allegory

Grantland Rice was a nationally known sportswriter in the 1920s. He was known for his elegant prose and his use of numerous literary devices.

"Alumnus Football" was written in 1908 for a meeting of Vanderbilt University alumni. It is not a well-known poem, but it is worth reading for its last two lines.

Answer: Epic

This epic poem that has been attributed to Homer. It tells the story of Odysseus' long and often tortuous journey home to Ithaca after the Trojan War. Odysseus had angered the god Poseidon, god of the Sea, but with the help of the goddess Athena he finally returns after a journey that lasted ten years.

Answer: Lyric

Emily Dickenson's lyric poem deals with a common theme in lyric poetry - the desires of the heart. She writes that the heart first seeks pleasure; failing that, it seeks painlessness.

Answer: Epic

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem is considered an epic mainly due to its length, but there is a consistent rhythmic quality and flow to the poem, making it sound almost like a chant or song. "The Song of Hiawatha" is based on the stories and legends of many Native American tribes.

Hiawatha is the poem's mythical hero whose life is portrayed through a series of adventures, his love for Minnehaha, and the deep connection between nature and the spiritual world.

Answer: Satire

In his poem "Velocity of Money", Allen Ginsberg uses satire to ridicule capitalism. His poem is filled with the evil consequences of capitalism like inflation and greed. An excerpt provides an example:

"The velocity's what counts as the National Debt gets higher
Everybody running after the rising dollar."

Answer: Lyric

"The Road Not Taken" is Robert Frost's lyric poem that deals with the reality of choice and division. As the poem states, choices make a difference. The traveler is faced with the dilemma of having to choose which path to take. He/She chooses the path less travelled.

Answer: Satire

Dorothy Parker was a witty and cynical satirist and social activist. In this short poem she lists the normal methods of committing suicide, debunks them all and concludes that "You might as well live". She wrote for Vogue, Vanity Fair and The New Yorker.

She was blacklisted by Hollywood for her leftist views. She donated her ashes to Martin Luther King, Jr. even though she had never met him.

Answer: Epic

"Paradise Lost" is the retelling of the book of Genesis by John Milton. It tells the story of the creation of man. More significantly, it recounts man's misdeeds, the consequences of which result in paradise being lost.

Answer: Epic

"Beowulf" was written somewhere between the end of the 1st and the beginning of the 2nd Century AD by an anonymous author. It tells the classic story of the noble prince Beowulf and his slaying of numerous evil dragons. In the end Beowulf must face the final dragon and in doing so choose between challenging death and proving his own individual courage, or living and protecting his people as their king.

This final encounter results in the deaths of the dragon and Beowulf. The poem suggests Beowulf choose wrongly, "when one man follows his own will/many are hurt"'

Answer: Allegory

Emily Dickinson's "Fame is a Bee" is a famous example of allegorical poetry. She refers to "buzzing" as the constant hype that comes with fame, The sting refers to how the smallest misstep by someone famous is illuminated, and finally the winging, showing how fame is fleeting.

Answer: Lyric

Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven" is an example of a narrative or free verse form of lyric poetry. The poem has a musical rhythm do it. Poe uses several lyrical devices, such as alliteration and repetition throughout the poem.

Answer: Satire

In "The Rape of the Lock" Alexander Pope uses satire to mock the vanity and the torpidity of the aristocratic society in 18th century England. The poem also criticizes society in general for placing an inordinate amount of value on trivialities.

Answer: Satire

Ogden Nash's "Song of the Open Road" is a satire on the way commercialism is ruining nature. In this very short poem Nash complains that billboards are obscuring our views of nature along the roadside. The poem also reminds us of our responsibility to protect the environment.

Answer: Lyric

"And Still I Rise" is Maya Angelou's expression of the emotions and degradations African Americans have experienced, especially in the 1980s and 1990s. The poem is an admonishment of white society with its use of the word "you", while at the same time expressing the determination of black Americans to rise above oppression. This is an example of the Free Verse form of Lyric poetry.