Q.1
Who is the 'I' of the first line?
  • The poet
  • The hawk
  • The reader
  • A murderer
Q.2
What is the hawk doing at the beginning of the poem?
  • Looking for a kill
  • Practicing flying
  • Resting
  • Tearing off heads
Q.3
Find examples of the language Hughes uses to express the violent mood of the poem.
  • Falsifying, rehearse, inspection, sophistry
  • Kills, lock, tearing, assert
  • Inaction, revolve, bones, permitted
  • Buoyancy, rough, direct, right
Q.4
The mood, while violent, is also one of...
  • fascination with nature
  • disgust with the hawk
  • humour
  • indifference
Q.5
Looking again at the words which express violence and comparing these with the poem, you will see that it is the images, more than individual words, which fully convey the mood. Which one of the following images does NOT contribute to the violence of the poem?
  • 'It took the whole of Creation / To produce my foot, my each feather'
  • 'Or fly up, and revolve it all slowly --'
  • 'The one path of my flight is direct / Through the bones of the living'
  • 'Now I hold Creation in my foot'
Q.6
'Juxtaposition' is to place two things / ideas / words side by side in order to invite comparison or contrast. In which line(s) do we find juxtaposition?
  • Line 1
  • Lines 10-12
  • Line 20
  • Lines 23-24
Q.7
What is the significance of these words: sophistry, manners, allotment, arguments, assert, right, permitted?
  • They remind the reader of the hawk's nature
  • They are words which apply to people, rather than hawks
  • They reinforce the mood of fascination with nature
  • Hughes did not intend to use these words - he couldn't think of better choices
Q.8
Considering the answer to question seven - this is an example of which poetic or literary device?
  • Simile
  • Onomatopoeia
  • Personification
  • Assonance
Q.9
Why does the hawk say 'I am going to keep things like this'?
  • The hawk is aware that things will change
  • The hawk knows, as the sun is going down, that his death is near
  • The hawk will remain in the air forever
  • The way the world works suits the hawk perfectly; the views of his prey do not count
Q.10
The hawk believes himself to be...
  • almighty, all powerful
  • thoughtful, sophisticated
  • justified, ready to argue for his rights
  • ashamed, wanting to change
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