wayground logo

Free Printable Worksheets

Font size

S
M
L
XL
Worksheets

Norman MacCaig - Basking Shark

Total questions: 12

Worksheet time: 7mins

Name
Class
Date
1.

"To stub an oar on a ______ where none should be,"

a)

Stone

b)

Shark

c)

Rock

d)

Boat

2.

What effect is created by using the word "slounge"?

a)

To make it seem like the shark is looming out of the water

b)

To show the quick, rapid movements of the shark

c)

To make the shark seem scary

d)

To show the slow, ponderous movements of the shark

3.

"Is a thing that happened once (too often) to me." What tone is being created by the parenthesis?

a)

Humour

b)

Sadness

c)

Fear

d)

Anger

4.

"a sea tin-tacked with rain" - What effect is created by this quote?

a)

It makes the reader happy

b)

It makes the reader hear the sound of the rain

c)

It makes the reader hear the sea

d)

It makes the reader question their place in the world

5.

"That roomsized monster with a matchbox brain." creates a (a)  

6.

"this decadent townee" - what does MacCaig mean by this?

a)

He lives in a city

b)

He doesn't care about the past

c)

He has immersed himself in nature and giving help to others

d)

He has separated himself from nature and is focused on hedonism.

7.

"Swish up the dirt" - Swish is an example of what technique?

a)

Simile

b)

Onomatopoeia

c)

Alliteration

d)

Synecdoche

8.

"Emerging from the slime of everything" - what point is being made here?

a)

That we are all disgusting

b)

That we all come from the same origins

c)

That the shark has serious mucus issues

d)

That the narrator has fallen in the water

9.

"So who’s the monster?" shows us the narrator is beginning to think that...

a)

Nothing is monstrous

b)

The shark is a monster

c)

Everything is a monster

d)

Humanity is the monster.

10.

"The thought made me grow pale

For (a)   seconds"

11.

"The tall fin slid away and then the tail." This makes the shark seem...

a)

Elegant

b)

Fast

c)

Slow

d)

Clumsy

12.

What are the main themes of this poem?

a)

Humanities connection to nature

b)

Love

c)

The human condition

d)

Conflict