Bringing the Shovel Down Quiz

Take our free Bringing the Shovel Down quiz below, with 25 multiple choice questions that help you test your knowledge. Determine which chapters, themes and styles you already know and what you need to study for your upcoming essay, midterm, or final exam. Take the free quiz now!

Which is supposed to bring a sense of calm safety in the poem? (from Lines 1 – 90)

An upturned nest

Entwined bodies in bed

Groups of children

Max's steel cable

Which best summarizes the poem? (from Lines 1 – 90)

The speaker tells the beloved a story about a group of kids who convince a young boy that an old dog named Max is rabid. The boy frees Max and finds catharsis in the coming dawn.

The speaker tells the beloved a story about a group of kids who convince a young boy that an old dog named Max is rabid. The boy kills Max and finds catharsis in the coming dawn, and the speaker brings details of this instance into the poem's present.

The speaker tells the beloved a story about a group of kids who convince a young boy that an old dog named Max is rabid. The boy frees Max and finds catharsis in the coming dawn, and the speaker brings details of this instance into the poem's present.

The speaker tells the beloved a story about a group of kids who convince a young boy that an old dog named Max is rabid. The boy kills Max and finds catharsis in the coming dawn.

Why is the boy's catharsis false? (from Lines 1 – 90)

The boy does not experience catharsis, but rather undergoes terrible guilt at what he has done.

The boy feels relief and connection to the natural world without understanding that he murdered an innocent being.

The boy was forced to kill Max by the group of older kids. Eventually he sees a therapist and resolves his trauma.

The boy finds relief after releasing the old neighborhood dog and feeding him hot dogs.

What role does naming play in the poem? (from Lines 1 – 90)

Naming is unnecessary.

Naming children helps get a sense of who they are.

Naming makes it easier to tell a story.

Naming leads to empathy.

Why might the speaker be unreliable? (from Lines 1 – 90)

The speaker is disembodied because part of him or her is a machine inside the beloved's body.

The speaker compares his or her own telling of the story to the "yarn" that the kids spin about Max.

The speaker is the boy in the story.

The speaker is very much in love, and is lovesick as a result.