Question 1

What is this poem mostly about?

Accepted Answer

A man who keeps a promise to his friend Sam to cremate him, and when he keeps the promise and cremates his friend who has frozen to death, he comes back to life

Answer

Two friends on a dog sledding adventure through the arctic, who freeze to death and then come back to life

Answer

A man and his friend Sam who journey to the Arctic for gold, only to find the cold to be too much, so they journey back and Sam dies along the way

Answer

A man named Sam who freezes to death because he misses his home, Tennessee, where it is warm

Question 2

Why does the author write out "cre-ma-tor-eum" in the tenth stanza?

Accepted Answer

To maintain the rhythm of the poem

Answer

To emphasize the word

Answer

To create a hesitant tone

Answer

To clarify the pronunciation of the word

Question 3

Which of the following is a theme in this poem?

Accepted Answer

mortality

Answer

the Arctic

Answer

self reliance

Answer

teamwork

Question 4

What is the author's purpose in this poem?

Accepted Answer

to entertain

Answer

to describe

Answer

to persuade

Answer

to inform

Question 5

Why has Sam traveled to the Arctic when he hates the cold?

Accepted Answer

To find gold

Answer

To go on a dog sled adventure

Answer

Because he was interested in visiting the Arctic

Answer

Because his friend (the speaker) was traveling there, so he went along

Question 6

In this stanza, what strategies does the author use to show the intensity of the cold? -

"On a Christmas Day we were mushing our way over the Dawson trail.
Talk of your cold! through the parka's fold it stabbed like a driven nail.
If our eyes we'd close, then the lashes froze till sometimes we couldn't see;
It wasn't much fun, but the only one to whimper was Sam McGee."

Accepted Answer

figurative language

Answer

a miserable tone

Answer

characterization

Answer

setting imagery

Question 7

Which theme is most present in this stanza? --
"There wasn't a breath in that land of death, and I hurried, horror-driven,
With a corpse half hid that I couldn't get rid, because of a promise given;
It was lashed to the sleigh, and it seemed to say: 'You may tax your brawn and brains,
But you promised true, and it's up to you to cremate those last remains.'"

Accepted Answer

friendship

Answer

facing the truth

Answer

hope

Answer

sympathy

Question 8

How does the setting affect the way we come to understand Sam's character?

Accepted Answer

The arctic makes Sam feel hopeless and complains a lot. This might just be the kind of person he is, but it might be simply due to the cold.

Answer

The setting shows us how cold Sam feels in the arctic.

Answer

The setting shows how weak Sam's body is, since he ends up freezing to death while the narrator of the poem does not.

Answer

The setting puts Sam in a bad situation, so we can see how he isn't a great friend to the narrator.

Question 9

The first stanza includes the phrase, "The Arctic trails have their secret tales
      That would make your blood run cold." What does this line tell us about the poem?

Accepted Answer

It foreshadows the horror of the death and cremation of Sam later in the poem

Answer

It shows that the poem will be about a secret

Answer

It tells the reader that the Arctic is so cold, that it will even chill your blood

Answer

It gives the entire poem a mysterious tone

Question 10

What does the word "raved" mean in the line, "He crouched on the sleigh, and he raved all day of his home in Tennessee"

Accepted Answer

rambled

Answer

complained

Answer

explained

Answer

planned

Question 11

What does Sam mean when he says, "Cap, I'll cash in this trip, I guess;
And if I do, I'm asking that you won't refuse my last request."

Accepted Answer

I'm probably going to die on this trip, so if I do I hope you'll carry out my final wish

Answer

I'm feeling very cold and weak, so will you do me a favor?

Answer

I'm done looking for gold. It isn't worth it, so I hope you'll agree with me.

Answer

I'm giving up on this trip to the Arctic, so I hope you'll agree to go home too

Question 12

Why does Sam want to be cremated?

Accepted Answer

Because he can't stand the cold and doesn't want to be buried in the snow

Answer

Because he wants the narrator to prove his friendship

Answer

Because he wants to be buried in Tennessee

Answer

Because he feels that it is a more proper way to dispose of his body

Question 13

What is the rhyme scheme of this poem?

Accepted Answer

AABB

Answer

ABCB

Answer

AAAA

Answer

ABAB

Question 14

How does the author help the reader get to know the narrator of the poem?

Accepted Answer

Through indirect characterization

Answer

Through imagery

Answer

Through direct characterization

Answer

Through dialogue

Question 15

Which of these lines help to create a more lighthearted tone in this poem despite the dark topic?

Accepted Answer

"And I looked at it, and I thought a bit, and I looked at my frozen chum;
Then 'Here,' said I, with a sudden cry, 'is my cre-ma-tor-eum.'"

Answer

"If our eyes we'd close, then the lashes froze till sometimes we couldn't see;
It wasn't much fun, but the only one to whimper was Sam McGee."

Answer

It was lashed to the sleigh, and it seemed to say: "You may tax your brawn and brains,
But you promised true, and it's up to you to cremate those last remains."

Answer

"'Yet 'tain't being dead—it's my awful dread of the icy grave that pains;
So I want you to swear that, foul or fair, you'll cremate my last remains.'"

Related quizzes

Related quizzes