Death of a Naturalist – Reasoning Q&A (20+ Questions)

Complete the following sentences by providing a brief reason. Do not write the question.

1. The flax-dam is described as festering and decaying because __________

2. The speaker collects frogspawn into jam jars because __________

3. The poem divides into two distinct stanzas marked by "Then" because __________

4. The adult frogs are described as "great slime kings" because __________

5. The speaker believes the frogs are "gathered there for vengeance" because __________

6. The speaker imagines the spawn will "clutch" his hand because __________

7. Miss Walls encouraged collection of frogspawn because __________

8. The tone shifts dramatically from first to second stanza because __________

9. The speaker experiences physical sickness ("I sickened, turned, and ran") because __________

10. The "warm thick slobber of frogspawn" is emphasized in the first stanza because __________

11. The poem is written in blank verse without regular rhyme because __________

12. The transformation of tadpoles to adult frogs parallels the speaker's development because __________

13. The speaker once felt comfortable near the flax-dam but now fears it because __________

14. Heaney uses enjambment throughout the poem because __________

15. The speaker projects human emotions onto the frogs because __________

16. The "death of a naturalist" refers to a metaphorical rather than literal death because __________

17. The poem's rural Irish setting is significant because __________

18. The first stanza emphasizes description of decay and unpleasant details because __________

19. The speaker cannot reclaim his innocence once he fears the frogs because __________

20. Heaney presents the frogs as menacing rather than scientifically interesting because __________

21. The poem suggests that knowledge and maturity have a psychological cost because __________

Answer Key

i) The flax-dam represents the natural world's cycles of growth, decay, and transformation that the innocent child observes without fear.

ii) He is studying the frogspawn with scientific curiosity encouraged by classroom learning, treating nature as an object of innocent fascination.

iii) The volta at "Then" marks the turning point where the speaker's perspective shifts from fascination to fear and disgust.

iv) They symbolize the dominant, threatening power of adult nature compared to the harmless tadpoles the speaker once observed.

v) He feels guilty for stealing the spawn earlier and projects human revenge onto the frogs, indicating emerging adolescent consciousness.

vi) He is projecting his own adolescent anxiety about bodily contamination and sexuality onto the frogspawn itself.

vii) Teachers encouraged scientific observation and collection of natural specimens as educational and appropriate classroom activities.

viii) The speaker's emotional reaction to maturation and confrontation with nature's power transforms his previously innocent perspective completely.

ix) He is overwhelmed by fear and disgust caused by his new awareness of nature's raw, powerful, and threatening aspects.

x) The physical texture emphasizes that nature is not sanitized or beautified but rather raw, organic, and somewhat unpleasant to experience directly.